The Takeaway

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine rocked the world last week. While the news media has largely  done its job in keeping up with the latest on the situation, there have been some misfires — especially by Western media.  On Friday, CBS News senior foreign correspondent Charlie D’Agata said about Ukraine:"This isn’t a place, with all due respect, like Iraq or Afghanistan, that has seen conflict raging for decades. This is a relatively civilized, relatively European — I have to choose those words carefully, too — city, where you wouldn’t expect that or hope that it’s going to happen." In another clip from ITV News, correspondent Lucy Watson said, "Now the unthinkable has happened to them. This is not a developing third world nation. This is Europe." For some, the comments from D’Agata and Watson raise questions about the double standard in how journalists cover conflict in different parts of the world.  Language like “civilized” and “third world nation” can further dehumanize non-white, non-European people living through war.  For more on this, The Takeaway spoke with Sarah Ellison, media reporter at the Washington Post. 

Jason Katim’s new dramedy on Amazon Prime, As We See It, follows three 20-something roommates with Autism as they navigate life, love, and social cues. Katim’s commitment to authenticity extends beyond storytelling. Many of the actors, writers and crew members have Autism including three of the show’s lead actors, Rick Glassman, Albert Rutecki, and Sue Ann Pien. We speak with Rick, Albert, and Sue Ann about their experiences in front of the camera and beyond.

On Tuesday night, President Joe Biden delivered his first State of the Union before a crowd of Congressional lawmakers who were no longer required to wear masks and who showed a surprising amount of bipartisan applause to a number of issues he covered.  In his remarks, the president highlighted the country’s role leading the Western response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine; outlined his plans to address inflation; and affirmed his continuing optimism in the American project.  We dissected the issues he discussed and the biggest issues he left out in his speech with Pablo Manríquez, Capitol Hill correspondent for Latino Rebels and Michael Tomasky, editor for The New Republic.     

Throughout the month of March for Women’s History month, The Takeaway is joining forces with the Center for American Women and Politics to bring you the stories of Women Leading Locally. We’re talking to women breaking barriers, shattering ceilings, holding office and holding it down right where they're changemaking directly touches lives. We kicked off this series with one of our partners in this endeavor, Debbie Walsh, director for CAWP at Rutgers University.  

Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, more than 500,000 people are estimated to have fled Ukraine for neighboring countries. Amid the exodus from the country, a number of accounts have emerged on social media and in various news outlets detailing discrimination experienced by people of African descent, as well as other people of color trying to leave Ukraine. Some have accused white Ukrainian citizens and border agents of racism, including forcing groups of Black and brown people to wait while white people board trains to the border. And others have said that border guards in neighboring nations have prevented them from entering. To get a better sense of the racial demographics of Ukraine and how racism might be playing into the experiences of people of color trying to leave Ukraine at the moment, The Takeaway speaks with Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon, PhD student at the University of Pennsylvania Department of History who's studying race in Ukraine and Russia and book review editor for H Net Ukraine.

For nearly half a century, "racial discrimination in agriculture, exclusion from federal relief programs, and laws that preyed upon the economically disadvantaged" squandered the number of Black farmers from nearly one million in the 1920s to less than 50,000 today.  President Joe Biden signed The American Rescue Plan into law in March of 2021 which included $5 billion for farmers to address a history of racial discrimination in the USDA and provide debt relief for farmers of color during Covid. Not only have many farmers of color not received a dime, the USDA has sent letters of foreclosure to those farmers who are behind in their loan repayments. John Boyd Jr., Founder and President of the National Black Farmers Association and April Simpson, senior reporter at the Center for Public Integrity joined us to talk about farming while Black.

To understand more about Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision-making, we speak with Nina Khrushcheva, a professor of international affairs at the New School in New York and the great-granddaughter of former Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev.  In many ways the Russian invasion of Ukraine is unprecedented, but there are other contemporary examples of war waged in urban centers with resisting populations. We talk with Earl Catagnus, Jr, about what we might expect next from both the Russian military forces and Ukrainian military and civilian resistance.   

Here in the U.S., abortion access is under threat as state legislatures continue to pass increasingly restrictive laws. But that’s not necessarily the case elsewhere in the world.  Across Latin America, there’s been a string of reproductive rights victories in recent years. Just last week, Colombia’s top court decriminalized abortion during the first 24 weeks of pregnancy. Clad in their signature green bandanas, abortion rights activists gathered outside Colombia’s constitutional court in the capital, Bogotá, to celebrate the historic day.  The decision follows rulings in Mexico and Argentina that have similarly expanded access to abortion. It’s part of a sea change across Latin America, which has historically been conservative on the issue of abortion.  For more on this, The Takeaway spoke with Julie Turkewitz, the Andes bureau chief for the New York Times.

Rashad Robinson is an American civil rights leader and president of Color of Change, the nation’s largest online racial justice organization, which organizes campaigns and mobilizes supporters to make tangible change in communities and systems.  He joined for our final, February installment of Black.Queer.Rising. a special project series we launched in accordance with Black History Month. It's a special project series highlighting Black Queer people's impact on American culture and society. Throughout the series, we interview Black, queer trailblazers and changemakers who are making an impact in their lives and in our world.  

On Friday, President Biden nominated Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to serve on the Supreme Court, making good on his promise to appoint the first Black woman to ever sit on the court. Judge Jackson currently sits on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and is a former clerk for retiring Justice Stephen Breyer. The Takeaway speaks with 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,” about Judge Jackson’s experience and her path to confirmation.

For the next part in The Takeaway's series Black.Queer.Rising., we talk with New York Congressman Ritchie Torres (NY-15), who became the first openly gay Afro Latino lawmaker elected to Congress in 2020.

There hasn't been a large-scale war in Europe since World War II. Now it’s on the brink, after Russia launched a military attack on Ukraine. In the weeks leading up to the attack, President Joe Biden imposed economic sanctions against Russia to deter military action. He also enacted measures aimed at hurting some members of the Russian elite, as well as barring Russia from trading debt in the U.S. and Europe.  On Thursday, President Biden took things a step further, announcing yet another slate of sanctions against Russia and vowing to “hold Russia accountable” for the attacks. This time, the president announced sanctions on four of Russia's largest banks. That’s in addition to two financial institutions the U.S. sanctioned earlier this week. The U.S. and allies will also be imposing new export controls on Russia and further hitting Russian elites with sanctions.  President Biden said NATO will be convening on Friday, where the U.S. and allies will be mapping out what comes next — though the president emphasized that U.S. forces would not be going to fight in Ukraine.   For more on this, The Takeaway spoke with Paul McLeary, defense reporter at POLITICO. 

In Texas this week, Governor Greg Abbott issued an order to state agencies criminalizing gender-affirming surgery and medical care for trans youth. This decision followed an opinion issued by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton earlier in the week stating that providing gender-affirming medical care to minors is considered child abuse under Texas law. While Gov. Abbott is saying that gender-affirming care could be considered child abuse, medical organizations including the American Psychological Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics say there are long-standing and significant benefits for social, medical, legal and surgical aspects that assist transgender and gender-nonconforming young people. We heard from Kimberly Shappley and her daughter Kai, about how this directive in Texas is affecting Trans youth and their families. We also heard from Andrea Segovia, Senior Field and Policy Advisor at the Transgender Education Network of Texas.

On Thursday morning, Russia attacked Ukraine resulting in dozens of deaths. We ask what this invasion will mean for the people on the ground in both countries, and the next steps of the Biden administration and their allies. We're joined by Yaroslav Trofimov, Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent for The Wall Street Journal from Kyiv; Anton Troianovski, the Moscow bureau chief for The New York Times; and Robin Wright, columnist at The New Yorker and a Wilson Center Distinguished Fellow. 

How has the proliferation of Black film in recent years helped to define American culture? We’ll talk with The New Yorker Radio Hour producer Ngofeen Mputubele about their upcoming episode The Shape of Black Film which highlights the explosion of Black Films in the last six years.