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The American Criminal Justice system is flawed, to put it mildly. It’s oversized, inefficient, and unfair, and it often seems that we can’t even agree what it’s supposed to be doing. Until recently, there was a growing bipartisan consensus on the need for radical new approaches to sentencing and incarceration, but the current administration seems to have reversed course. W...
What went right and what went wrong with health care under the Obama Administration? Surely some reasoned, thoughtful answers lie between the firmly held poles where ideologues have staked their ground. Julie Rovner, Chief Washington Correspondent at Kaiser Health News, digs into health policy in conversation with Kathleen Sebelius, who helped to implement the ACA as Secre...
Despite repeated attempts, Congress has not repealed the Affordable Care Act, although the Trump Administration has chipped away at some of its provisions. The requirement that all insurance plans offer “ten essential benefits” has been softened and the individual mandate to carry a minimum level of coverage has been repealed. Conservatives remain united in their distaste...
Since 1980, the number of people incarcerated in the United States has more than quadrupled; the nation now has the largest prison population in the world. The criminal justice system is not only inefficient, it is also ineffective. Reducing mass incarceration and reforming the criminal justice system is bringing together an unexpected and diverse coalition, including Repu...
Instances of wrongful convictions, misconduct by some prosecutors, public concern over mass incarceration, and evidence of racial bias in our justice system have appropriately focused attention on the actions and decisions by prosecutors, who wield unsurpassed power in our justice system. But some prosecutors are changing the role of the modern prosecutor, focusing on crim...
The crown prince Mohammed bin Salman has embarked on the social and economic renewal of Saudi Arabia, launching a national program known as Vision 2030 and announcing $500 billion to build a city of the future, Neom. Social changes looked promising: Gender segregation was easing up as women were granted attendance to sporting events, and the kingdom adopted an official g...
Bipartisanship is as rare a commodity in Washington as perhaps it has ever been. But as we look to transition from several decades of incarceration-focused criminal justice, Democrats and Republicans often find themselves on the same page. What are the driving values of each party’s proposals for reform? What priorities, ideas, and solutions are the bases for consensus—and...
US Senator Mitch McConnell has just announced that he will bring health reform legislation to the Senate floor for a vote next week. What is actually proposed in this bill, which is designed to replace the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and has been crafted largely out of public view? And what does it mean for health care? Three top health reporters - Margot Sanger-Katz (...
Criminal justice reform has been a rare area of bipartisan agreement in recent years, with leaders from both sides of the aisle and a broad coalition of seemingly unlikely partners committed to fixing the system. However, recent federal action has reversed course on sentencing reform, which is seen by many as central to any meaningful change. What has to happen in 2018 and...
From her national community policing tour to help improve the relationship between local law enforcement and communities they serve, to transgender rights, to her bold stances on criminal justice reform, Attorney General Loretta Lynch epitomizes the Obama administration's end-of-tenure posture of not shying away from tough issues. Join us for this very special hour with th...
What are newsrooms and technology companies doing to combat false news? What did journalists learn in 2016 that they can apply to political coverage in 2020?
We don’t always know how to express it, but many of us feel it: There’s something wrong with America today. The mood is tense. More Americans say they won’t have children because of climate change and other future catastrophes. But are things really as bad as they seem? Is decline something we need to accept—or is there a case for a new optimism?
Many experts argue that massive government mobilization on the scale of World War II deployment is needed to address the catastrophe of climate change. Such is the scope of the Green New Deal, a policy calling for 100 percent renewable energy by 2030, universal health care, living wages, and jobs guarantees. But some economists argue it could cost between $51 trillion and...
History has made the term "socialism" vague and unproductive, according to linguistics professor John McWhorter. Should it be retired?
Robert Mueller's final report left almost as many open questions as there were before he began his probe. At the same time, others argue that the president has been cleared, it’s time to move on, and any further probes should target the investigators and the media that they feel predetermined Trump’s guilt. What did Mueller really say in the report? Did the president commi...
Where does classical liberalism come from? What comfort and lessons are we to take from our forebearers? In the aftermath of the 2016 election, acclaimed author and essayist Adam Gopnik traced the moral and philosophical trajectory of liberalism as a way to contextualize the election for his daughter. Gopnik takes the audience on a tour of the great places and people who c...
The designers of our democratic republic created a political system and institutions intended to avoid concentrated power, mob rule, and to defuse factions. Is the America we live in today so different from theirs that only fundamental reform can fix what ails us?
While Congress looks less and less likely to take on any meaningful move on comprehensive immigration reform, hundreds of thousands of people live in limbo every day. Many of them face daily trials, ranging from inconveniences to crippling uncertainty to, in some communities, hatred and outright danger. What’s it like to be at the mercy of our immigration system today?