The Takeaway

Conservatives have long invoked the specter of the 1857 Supreme Court decision in Dred Scott vs. Sandford in their fight against abortion rights, likening embryos and fetuses to slaves with no due process. Progressives now, too, are drawing parallels between the stripping of rights from people who may get pregnant and the infamous majority opinion penned by then-Chief Justice Roger Taney, who wrote, "a Black man has no rights which the white man was bound to respect." Missing from this historic analogy, however, are the experiences of Black women, whose enslavement and forced reproduction was fundamental to America's rise. We speak with Dr. Deborah Gray White, Distinguished Professor of History and Women's and Gender Studies at Rutgers University, about this not-so-distant history and the possibilities it holds for all American women.   

Alok Vaid-Menon is a gender non-conforming writer and performer who grew up in Texas to Indian immigrant parents. They use their creativity and platform to explore themes of gender, race, trauma and belonging, advocating and bringing visibility to the trans community. We speak with Alok about their work and advocacy, and what they learned from their aunt, Urvashi Vaid, the beloved LGBTQ rights activist who spent more than a decade working for equality at the National LGBTQ Task Force.

We speak with comedian Jenny Slate about bringing back her viral character “Marcel the Shell with Shoes On” for a feature length film.

During his first days in office, President Biden suspended the Migrant Protection Protocols, or the ‘remain in Mexico' program, which required migrants to wait in Mexico instead of crossing the border into the United States while the United States government adjudicated their cases. Republicans in Texas and Missouri sued the Biden administration, and a federal judge in Texas ruled that MPP be reinstated with approval from Mexico. Now, SCOTUS will decide whether the Biden Department of Homeland Security can, in fact, legally suspend the program. We discuss immigration policy under Biden and the upcoming SCOTUS decision with CBS News immigration reporter, Camilo Montoya-Galvez.

On Monday, an abandoned truck on the outskirts of San Antonio, Texas, was found on the side of a desolate road.  Responders discovered a tragedy: dozens of migrants, trapped in the back of the truck in deadly heat.  The death toll is now over 50 people, with several survivors still in hospitals fighting for their lives. We speak with Jason De León, professor of anthropology at UCLA and director of the Undocumented Migration Project, who studies clandestine border crossings, about how and why tragedies like this happen.

The Supreme Court's decision overturning Roe v. Wade, and ending the constitutional right to abortion, could have meaningful repercussions on assisted reproductive technology, including in vitro fertilization, also known as IVF. IVF is one of the most widely known forms of assisted reproductive technology (ART). Assisted reproduction plays a role in 2 percent of all births in the United States. Some fertility experts worry that the existing language in state laws could complicate or even limit the choices of would-be parents. Guests:Dr. Kim Thornton, Director of the Division of Reproductive Endocrinology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and a reproductive endocrinologist at Boston IVF. Dr. Thornton, thanks for being with us. Dr. Louise King, an ethicist and surgeon who serves as Director of Reproductive Bioethics at the Harvard Medical School's Center for Bioethics,  and Vice Chair of the Ethics Committee of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

Researchers at the Polar Science Center at the University of Washington have recently a population of polar bears in Southeast Greenland that appear to be adapting their hunting habits to climate change induced impacts on their environment.  Polar bears typically hunt seals from the edge of sea ice, however due to climate change the sea ice is breaking up earlier and earlier in the spring, shortening the hunting season for polar bears. According to the new research paper titled "Glacial ice supports a distinct and undocumented polar bear subpopulation persisting in late 21st-century sea-ice conditions" published in Science, a particular population of polar bears in Southeast Greenland has begun supplementing their hunting from the sea ice environment to freshwater ice melt environments, from calving glaciers. We speak with Kristin Laidre, principal researcher for the Polar Science Center at the University of Washington, to hear what this finding means for polar bears' ability to survive through the climate crisis.  

Both the Democratic and Republican parties have been using abortion as a wedge issue to generate votes for decades, but with the Supreme Court's ruling to overturn Roe vs. Wade, many Democratic voters are questioning whether the party did enough to prevent the loss of the constitutional right to abortion. We speak with Rebecca Traister, writer-at-large for New York Magazine's The Cut and the author of Good and Mad: The Revolutionary Power of Women's Anger.  

Cases of the monkeypox virus have been spreading in several countries, including the U.S.. Many of those contracting the virus are gay and bisexual men, although the virus is believed to be spreading through close physical contact but not sexual transmission. New York City recently made monkeypox vaccines available to men who have sex with men, but the city has not had enough supply to meet demand among those seeking to get vaccinated. We speak with epidemiologist Gregg Gonsalves about monkeypox and then get an update from him on where we're at in this point in the Covid pandemic.

In the wake of the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe vs. Wade, we check in with Dr. Ghazaleh Moayedi, an OB-GYN, abortion provider in Texas and founder Pegasus Health Justice Center.  Even before the ruling, thirteen states had “trigger” laws that enacted bans contingent on Roe being overturned and nine states had pre-existing bans which presumably go back in effect now that Roe has been overturned. Texas has both, and Planned Parenthood and Whole Woman's Health, along with other providers, stopped providing abortions as of Friday, based upon Attorney General Ken Paxton's statement that “abortion providers could be criminally liable for providing abortions starting today.” We spoke with Dr. Moayedi about where things go from here.  

In a week of monumental developments in gun rights, both houses of Congress passed bi-partisan gun control regulation that President Biden signed into law over the weekend. It comes in the wake of the tragic mass shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde, and marks the first time Congress has made significant progress on gun control since 1994. But it wasn't all good news for gun control advocates: in a 6-3 decision on Thursday, the Supreme Court found that New York's concealed carry law was unconstitutional. That law required individuals to show a “proper cause” and a special need to defend themselves in order to carry a handgun in public. We speak with a constitutional law professor and gun law expert Jacob Charles, the executive director of Duke University's Center for Firearms Law, about what these developments will mean for gun laws and guns on the street.

Musician Bartees Strange broke out in the fall of 2020, when he released the album Live Forever to critical acclaim. This month, he's out with a new album, Farm to Table, which finds Strange celebrating everything he's achieved, while taking his music in new sonic directions.  The Takeaway spoke with Strange about his journey from a childhood in western Oklahoma to a career playing stages across the world.

The Supreme Court has issued its ruling in the much anticipated case Dobbs. V. Jackson Women's Health Organization. The decision has two parts. All of the court's conservative justice ruled in a 6 to 3 decision to uphold Mississippi's ban on abortion after 15 weeks. In a second portion of the decision explicitly overturning Roe v. Wade, the court decision was 5 to 4, as chief Justice John Roberts joined with the more liberal members of the court.  The outcome overrules Roe v. Wade and ends federal recognition of a constitutional right to an abortion after nearly 50 years.  We speak with Kenji Yoshino, the Chief Justice Earl Warren Professor of Constitutional Law at NYU School of Law, and Melissa Murray, Law Professor at NYU, faculty director of the Birnbaum Women's Leadership Network and co-host of the legal podcast called “Strict Scrutiny.”   

We speak with Planned Parenthood president Alexis McGill-Johnson about the ramifications of the Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe vs. Wade and what reproductive healthcare organizations will be doing in the wake of the decision.

“We live in the United States, the richest country in the history of the world. And we have 140 million people who are poor or one health care crisis, one job loss, one storm, one tornado away from economic ruin.” - Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis, Co-Chair of the Poor People's Campaign Even before the excruciating weight of the COVID-19 pandemic, poverty rates rose for the first time in five years. In 2020, there were 3.3 million more people living in poverty than in 2019. Poverty rates rose among white and Hispanic Americans, and for the 1 in 5 Black Americans already living in poverty, there wasn't much room for the rate to go up. All were poorer in 2020 than the year before. A package of pandemic-era policies stemmed rising poverty in 2021; however, many of those temporary measures have expired as consumer prices continue to rise, leaving many American families and workers economically vulnerable. According to the Center on Poverty and Social Policy at Columbia University, the monthly child poverty rate increased from 12.1 percent in December 2021 to 17 percent in January 2022, the highest it's been since the end of 2020. Black and Latinx children experienced the largest increases in poverty rates. This 4.9 percent increase accounts for the nearly 3.7 million more children living in poverty after the Child Tax Credit ended. The monthly Child Tax Credit payments "buffered family finances amidst the continuing pandemic, increased families' abilities to meet their basic needs, reduced child poverty and food insufficiency, and had no discernable negative effects on parental employment." "I think one of the core themes of my work–across multiple sectors and fields–has been a focus on poverty. And the fact that poverty is not an ordained or natural system or condition, but a system of policy choices," says Dorian Warren, co-host of our Deep Dives, co-president of Community Change, and co-chair of the Economic Security Project.  The the experience of poverty is even more widespread than the official definition tells us. Yet, the perception of poverty remains contentious for many Americans. Research shows that Americans overwhelmingly identify themselves as 'middle-class,' even when they're not. Groups like Confronting Poverty have developed tools like the poverty risk calculator to help people better understand economic hardship and risk. Awareness is just one facet of the ongoing fight against poverty. The anti-poverty and low wage workers movement is leading “a national call for moral revival.”  On June 18, 2022 the Poor People's Campaign led a mass demonstration in Washington, D.C. Thousands of people from all over the country attended. Ahead of the march, we spoke with the Poor People's Campaign co-chairs Bishop William Barber and Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis, Director of Kairos Center for Religions, Rights and Social Justice at Union Theological Seminary. Dorian was there as well, both as an organizer and observer, covering the march for The Takeaway. In this Deep Dive, Dorian joins The Takeaway in critical conversation around today's anti-poverty and labor movement and the voices defining what economic, racial, and social justice can and should look like.   

"We were born this way" was the unofficial mantra of the movement for LGBTQ rights in the 1970s and 1980s—a counter to the idea that people "choose" to be lesbian or gay or bisexual or transgender. But the message raises as many questions as it answers. We speak with Dr. Lisa Diamond, Professor of Psychology and Gender Studies at the University of Utah, about how this language took root in our culture and what the science actually says about it. Then, Chase Strangio, Deputy Director for Transgender Justice with the ACLU, explains how "born this way" language became entrenched in our legal system's treatment of constitutional rights, and how we might strive for a world with more nuance.

Today marks 50 years since Title IX was signed into law, banning sex-based discrimination in educational programs and activities at federally funded institutions. The statute itself is only 37 words long, but that one sentence expanded educational opportunities for millions of women. Before Title IX, many educational institutions set quotas for the number of women admitted, or barred them from access altogether. As a result, according to a Census report, in 1970, only 8 percent of women were college graduates compared to 14 percent of men. And according to the most recent census data, a greater percentage of current U.S. college graduates are women than men.  The statute extends far beyond access and admissions – it applies to discrimination in classrooms and grading, extracurricular programs and activities, and sexual harassment and assault on school campuses.  Title IX has also been used to protect LGBTQ students, too. Last week, the Department of Education issued a policy directive stating that Title IX protects against discrimination towards students on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. To get a better understanding of the legal framework provided by Title IX, we spoke with Chai Feldblum, long-time civil rights activist, scholar, and former Commissioner of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. And shortly after Title IX was passed, the law set in motion equity in high school and collegiate athletics – opening new opportunities for women in sports and attempting to level the playing field.   According to a report from the Women's Sports Foundation, in 1972 there were about 300,000 women participating in high school athletics. In the 2018-2019 school year, that number was nearly 3.5 million…. And at the college level, the number of women athletes competing on teams rose. In 1972, they made up just 15 percent of college athletes. By the 2020-2021 school year, they made up 44 percent.For more on Title IX and sports and the gaps that still exist, we spoke with Donna Lopiano, the president and founder of Sports Management Resources, the former CEO of the Women's Sports Foundation, and a National Sports Hall of Fame 4- sport athlete.

The 146th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show concluded late on the evening of the 22nd of June. Just under 3,500 dogs competed this year for the title of Best in Show at the Lyndhurst Estate in Tarrytown, New York. Trumpet the bloodhound won Best in Show, which was the first time in Westminster's 146-year history that a hound took the prize. We speak with journalist Sarah Montague, The Takeaway's Westminster Dog Show correspondent, who shares highlights and canine coverage from this year's show.

Tangerine Records, founded by Ray Charles and now run by record producer and collaborator John Burk, released two new records of the legendary pianist's past work. Ray Charles Live in Stockholm 1972 includes concert recordings only discovered last year and A Message from The People has just been reissued in a 50th anniversary album. Burk joined to discuss the new releases and to share what it was like working with musical legend Ray Charles. 

Global food prices have remained close to record highs in June, in part due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. As the world's fourth largest exporter of grain, about 20 million tons is sitting in storage in Ukraine without any efficient way to get it to market because of a Russian blockade in the Black Sea, which is preventing shipping containers from transporting the grain. We speak with Ukrainian-American Anna Nagurney, Chair in Integrative Studies at the Isenberg School of Management at The University of Massachusetts - Amherst and board member at the Kyiv School of Economics, about the latest on Russia's blockade of Ukrainian food exports, and how it is affecting global food prices and supply.

With average national gas prices hovering around $5, the Biden administration is feeling the pressure to take more actions that will lower prices and take some heat off of Democrats running in the midterms. President Biden is currently deciding whether to implement a federal gas tax holiday, which could decrease gas prices by roughly 18 cents, but could also be a bigger help to gas and oil companies than to consumers. We take a look at the economics and politics of gas prices. We speak with Joel Payne, former aide to Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign and CBS News political contributor, and Denvil Duncan, Associate Professor of Economics at Paul H. O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University.

Grammy award-winning musician and producer Adrian Quesada, known for his work as part of Black Pumas joins us to discuss his latest project, Boleros Psicodelicos which takes its inspiration from the golden era of Psychedelic Balada Music of the 1960's and 70's.

Americans like to believe we're in complete control of our own health—but structural racism has shaped everything from food access to living environments, meaning that racial disparities in health and healthcare persist. We speak with Linda Villarosa, contributing writer at The New York Times Magazine, an educator at CUNY's Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism, and author of the new book, Under the Skin: The Hidden Toll of Racism on American Lives and on the Health of our Nation.

Gun control laws, the power of federal agencies to enforce regulations, the First Amendment's Religion and Equal Protection Clauses are just a few of the major issues at stake during this Supreme Court term. We talk with James Romoser, editor of SCOTUSblog, about some recent decisions and what to expect from the ones we're still waiting on.

While countries around the world have been eating seaweed for thousands of years, commercial seaweed farming is a new industry in the United States. Seaweed is not only nutritious, but it can be used to produce biofuels and bioplastics. A particular red algae strain of seaweed called asparagopsis has also been added to cattle feed with surprising results. Seaweed just may be the answer to reducing over 80% of methane gasses into our atmosphere. We speak with Jaclyn Robidoux, a Marine Extension Associate with the University of Maine's Sea Grant program, and a seaweed specialist, about the benefits of seaweed.

James Spooner, who directed the documentary Afro-Punk in 2003 and co-launched the Afropunk music festival in 2005, recently published a graphic novel memoir. The High Desert: Black. Punk. Nowhere. focuses on his childhood as the son of a Black dad and a white mom, living in a small California town where white supremacy flourished. We speak with him about growing up afropunk, and how afropunk itself has grown since he helped establish the movement.

Ahead of the Poor People's March this weekend we spoke with Bishop William Barber And Dorian Warren, co-president of Community change, the co-chair of the Economic Security Project walks us through what the campaign is all about.

Looking ahead to World Refugee Day, recognizing the more than 100 million forced from their homes and countries due to conflict and disaster, we reflect on the recent refugee crises caused by the war in Ukraine and the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan. We hear from Chef Hamidullah Noori, who after resettling in the United States from Afghanistan opened an Afghan restaurant where he welcomes and feeds new refugees from the country. And Andrii Kokorin, a refugee from Ukraine who recently journeyed to the United Kingdom with his family, describes the value of a welcoming community. 

Brenda Rae is one of the most sought-after singers in opera today–a regular at the  Met and other leading opera houses.  She's also an identical twin–and she and her transgender twin, Drew, speak with us about growing up inseparable, singing together, and they tell us about their journey to become identical brother and sister. Drew transitioned 11 years ago, and the twins remain as close as ever.

The moment on December 1, 1955, when Mrs. Rosa Parks refused to give up her Montgomery, Alabama city bus seat to a white man, has come to define Mrs. Parks' legacy. It sparked the Montgomery Boycott and galvanized the Civil Rights Movement. But throughout her lifetime, she was involved in the struggle for Black liberation, working for school desegregation and reparations. A new documentary explores these facets of her life: The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks. We're joined by the documentary's executive director and co-director Yoruba Richen, and Dr. Jeanne Theoharis, who penned the book of the same name on which this documentary is based. 

Pride month is about celebrating the LGBTQ community and bringing light to the issues the community still faces, ranging from homophobia and transphobia to economic insecurity to civil rights and liberties. Today, we're highlighting another set of issues: something that members of the B in LGBTQ struggle with: biphobia, or bi-antagonism, and bi-erasure. Many people in the bi-plus community – which includes bisexual, pansexual, omnisexual folks, among others – feel invisible, invalidated, and dismissed by members in and outside of the LGBTQ community. Pressured to “choose a side” –  in other words, to identify as straight or gay–many bi-plus people find themselves in limbo when it comes to finding acceptance and understanding, and as a consequence, can struggle with adverse physical and mental health issues. In fact, according to the Bisexual Resource Center, bi-plus people face even higher rates of depression and anxiety than lesbians and gay men. For more on this we speak with Belle Haggett Silverman, President of the Board of Directors of the Bisexual Resource Center.

Eleven states in the country are currently using child welfare tracking algorithms to better identify children at risk. According to research conducted by Carnegie Mellon University, the algorithms target a disproportionate number of Black and low-income families. We discuss the implementation of child welfare tracking algorithms with Anjana Samant, senior attorney at the ACLU and Nico'Lee Biddle, Senior Program Manager at the Center for the Study of Social Policy.

The first Pride marches were radical acts for queer people occupying public space loudly and proudly. Today, Pride Month gatherings are more likely to be described as parades than marches. And with rainbow flags adorning the storefronts of big corporations, it might be easy to think the struggle is over. But many LGBTQ activists worry that Pride's commercialization has diluted its political legacy and lets corporations off the hook for supporting anti-LGBTQ politicians. We speak with jodi nicole, an organizer with Reclaim Pride NYC, and Dr. Katherine Sender, professor of Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Cornell University, about the commercialization of Pride.

People from different generations, different experiences, and different sexuality and gender identities use the word "queer" in different ways, and some prefer not to use the word at all. We untangle the powerful and painful politics of queer with Michael Bronski, long time activist, Professor of the Practice at Harvard University, and author of "A Queer History of the United States" and "A Queer History of the United States for Young People."

The new animated documentary Home is Somewhere Else tells the stories of immigrant children and their undocumented families. At a time when immigration policy is at a crossroads, can an animated documentary contribute to having a more compassionate and human-centered conversation? To find out, we spoke with director and producer Carlos Hagerman and Jose Eduardo Aguilar (El Deportee), one of the subjects of the film.

In 1999, the British network Channel 4 debuted a radical new show about the lives of gay men living in Manchester. Full of nudity, sex, drugs and hedonism, the show took a frank look at gay culture and took on taboo subjects. A year later, Showtime debuted the US version of Queer as Folk, which ran for five seasons and changed the game for American television's representation of LGBT culture. Set in Pittsburgh, the US series started off as a literal remake of the British version, but quickly found a voice of its own and eventually outlast the original's run.  Now, there's a new “Queer as Folk” reboot . It reflects a much more diverse LGBTQ representation in terms of race and gender identity, and is based in the vibrant city of New Orleans. The show premiered on Peacock on June 9th, and follows the cast of characters as their lives intersect within queer friendships, family, love, tragedy, and everyday struggles. For the series, showrunner Stephen Dunn expressed his love for unique found sounds, and so for the relaunch of “Queer as Folk,” composer Jasha Klebe took inspiration from sounds around him to score the show and create specific character themes. We spoke to Jasha about working on the show and composing his music.

According to zoologist Lucy Cooke, scientists have traditionally defined females in the animal kingdom with Victorian, sexist stereotypes. In her new book, “Bitch: On the Female of the Species,” Cooke debunks these outdated notions using examples throughout the animal kingdom of females breaking out of their passive roles and displaying aggression, competitiveness, and promiscuity. We spoke with Lucy Cooke about looking at female animals with a new lens, one that shows that males and females are not as different as previously thought.

California held primary elections at all levels of government on June 7, 2022. We talk with Marisa Lagos, KQED's California Politics and Government correspondent and co-host of the podcast Political Breakdown, about the results and ramifications.

Sunday, a bi-partisan group of Senators announced they had reached a deal on gun control. Their proposed legislation falls short of many of the actions  endorsed by President Biden, including passing federal “red flag” gun laws, also commonly known as extreme risk protection laws. These laws typically prevent the possession or purchase of guns from individuals who are deemed a threat to themselves or to others. 19 states and Washington D.C. currently have some version of red flag gun laws on their books. But, while there is seemingly momentum and signs of capitulation from Republicans, historically the powerful gun lobbies have wielded their power to prevent meaningful gun legislation from passing. First, we'll hear from Jennifer Mascia, reporter for The Trace and former New York Times reporter covering gun violence, about what the research says about how effective red flag gun laws are, and how gun lobbies have prevented gun legislation like red flag laws from being enacted. Then we'll speak with Cole Wist about his experience trying to get a red flag gun law passed in his state, and the retaliation it was met with from the gun lobby. In 2018, Cole Wist, a former Republican Colorado state representative (2016-2019) with an “A” rating from the NRA, sponsored a bill red flag bill in the state following the shooting death of a sheriff deputy close to his home. The bill passed the House, but was killed in the Republican state senate at the time, and a state wide gun lobby came after him. Wist, who was up for reelection at the time was called “Cole the Mole” in social media posts and flyers. He eventually lost reelection, and the bill did not pass. Colorado did eventually pass an even more restrictive red flag bill in 2019 once the state senate flipped Democrat.

The 75th Tony Awards will be taking place this coming Sunday. Frontrunners include the musical “A Strange Loop” and the play “The Lehman Trilogy.” The Takeaway speaks with New York Times critic-at-large Maya Phillips about some of the highlights of the past year and whether it looks like the support Black theater artists received this season will be sustained going forward.

Thursday marked the first of six proposed public hearings of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol. It occurred during prime time from 8pm-10pm. What did we learn from this first round? Did the committee make its case? And will the mounting evidence result in charges against administration officials? We break all of this down with Adam Serwer, staff writer for The Atlantic Ideas.  Live Stream the Select Committee Hearing below.  

As many as 23 million people in the United States are struggling with long Covid. The sometimes debilitating symptoms include brain fog, fatigue, difficulty breathing, and depression or anxiety.  But almost a year after the Biden administration released guidance stating that people with long Covid can be included under the Americans with Disabilities Act, receiving benefits has been a struggle. Even before the pandemic, roughly one in four Americans were living with a disability. And while people with disabilities are more likely overall to experience financial difficulties…that is particularly true for people of color with disabilities. According to The Century Foundation, one in four Black disabled people were living in poverty as of 2020. That's compared to one in seven white disabled people.At the end of May, the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Diversity and Inclusion held a hearing on financial inequities for people with disabilities, including those with long Covid. Disability rights advocate and Century Foundation fellow, Vilissa Thompson testified at the hearing, and spoke with us more about the economic barriers that people with a disability face and gave us an intersectional framework for understanding economic justice for people living with a disability.

Many dancers are independent contractors with virtually no labor protections. While there are some unionized dance companies, the nature of the work is inherently precarious, with grueling training and policing of dancers' bodies that seems intentionally designed to break them—physically and emotionally. In the past few months, more stories have come to light about serious abuses in dance companies: sexual harassment, revenge porn, etc. In all these stories, the abuse and corruption go straight to the top, and the institutions protect the abusers. How can dancers increase workplace protections, what obstacles do they face to organizing, and how do realities like young age and the hyper-focus of body image exacerbate the power imbalances here? We discuss current issues facing ballet workers with Chloe Angyal, Senior Editor at VICE News and author of “Turning Pointe: How a New Generation of Dancers is Saving Ballet From Itself.” 

Top Gun: Maverick is flying high at the box office. This newest installment in the Top Gun franchise features Phoenix, the franchise's first female pilot. We wanted to find out how real the portrayal of her experience was: so we turned to Commander Becky Dowling Calder, the first female pilot ever to graduate from the Naval Fighter Weapons School—a.k.a. Top Gun.  

In 1996, 16-year-old Almeer Nance was an accomplice in an armed robbery in Knoxville, Tennessee during which 20-year-old Robert Manning shot and killed a worker. Despite the fact that Nance didn't commit the murder, he was convicted of felony murder and sentenced to a minimum of 51 years in prison under Tennessee's strict mandatory minimum laws. The other accomplice in the case, a white woman, only spent one year in prison for her involvement in the robbery. For "51 Years Behind Bars," a new documentary from Al Jazeera English's "Fault Lines," correspondent Josie Duffy Rice and producer Jeremy Young interviewed Nance and other people connected to his case to learn more about the consequences of his lengthy sentence. The Takeaway spoke with Josie Duffy Rice about this reporting and how it coincides with recent developments in juvenile sentencing.

On June 8, Disney Plus' "Ms. Marvel" will premiere. It brings New Jersey-based Pakistani-American teenager Kamala Khan's story to Marvel viewers for the first time and represents a major moment for Asian American and Muslim representation in Hollywood. Filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy directed multiple episodes of the show, marking a major transition in her career. "Ms. Marvel" is the first fictional live action work Obaid-Chinoy has directed, after a successful career making documentaries and animated films.

The Land Back movement to return ancestral lands back to Indigenous tribes has gained momentum lately.  However, the efforts of tribal native reclamation are not new.  For decades, Indigenous peoples and allies have been working to restore land to Indigenous tribes through the courts, through protest, and through policy. Some tribes, such as the Kaw Nation in 2002, have even purchased parts of their ancestral lands back.   First, we hear from Nick Tilsen, president and CEO of NDN Collective and a citizen of the Oglala Lakota Nation, about the origins of the Land Back movement and what it means to different Indigenous communities. Then, We speak with James Pepper Henry, Kaw Nation vice chairman and executive director of the First Americans Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, who was instrumental in the Kaw Nation purchasing 160 acres of their ancestral homeland in Kansas back in 2002.

The First Nations Version of the New Testament is a "translation" of the Christian text by Indigenous peoples that embraces tribes' traditions, storytelling and language patterns in English. We speak with Terry Wildman, the lead translator of the text, about how language choices impact religious beliefs and how the historic relationships between Christian institutions and Indigenous people gave rise to this translation.

LGBTQ activists Kris Williams and Rebekah Wilson got married in 2019. In August of that year, Kris and Rebekah welcomed a baby boy into their family, and both women were recorded as mother and mother on the birth certificate. After two years, however, the couple divorced, and Rebekah petitioned the court to remove Kris from their son's birth certificate. Oklahoma County Judge Lynne McGuire ruled in favor of removing Kris's name from the birth certificate stating that Kris should have adopted her own son. Last week, Judge McGuire reversed her decision and recognized Kris Williams as a legal parent. We speak with Toby Jenkins, CEO and executive director of Oklahomans for Equality about this ruling and what it means for LGBTQ parents and all non-gestational parents in Oklahoma.

Service dogs can help veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder by providing calming support with everyday tasks. A law signed in August 2021 allowed the Department of Veteran Affairs to launch a new program in which veterans with PTSD help train service dogs for other veterans. We speak with Rick Yount, the Executive Director of Warrior Canine Connection, a nonprofit that teaches veterans how to train service dogs for other veterans, about how involving veterans in dog training can help them heal. 

At Coosa High School in Rome, GA, five Black students and their parents are suing the Floyd County School District in a civil lawsuit in which they allege that the school district has continually shown indifference to racial discrimination. The school garnered national attention after a group of white students carried Confederate Flag memorabilia and shouted racial slurs at students of color. In response, a multiracial coalition of students moved to organize a Black Lives Matter demonstration. The principal of the school denied the request to demonstrate and only suspended the five Black students in the lawsuit.    We spoke with Andrea Young, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia, about the Coosa High School lawsuit and what it means for the state of civil rights. Editor's Note: The Takeaway reached out to the Floyd County School District for comment on this story and has not yet heard back. If we do receive a response, we'll post it here.