Your Call

On this week’s media roundtable, we’ll discuss coverage of the deadly earthquake in Mexico, which killed more than 225 people, including at least 25 children at a school in Mexico City.

San Francisco is about to become the first major US city to honor and recognize more than 200,000 women and girls from 13 Asia-Pacific countries who were forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese military during World War II.

Donald Trump has nominated more than five times as many judges to the federal courts as Barack Obama had at this point in his Presidency.

 In her new book Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America, historian Nancy MacLean tells the story of the Nobel Prize-winning political economist James McGill Buchanan who played a key role in the rise of the radical right.

June marked the 50th anniversary of the occupation of the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem. After visiting the occupied territories, renowned novelists and essayists Michael Chabon and Ayelet Waldman marked the anniversary by inviting international writers to bear witness to the human cost of the occupation and share their experiences.

On this week’s media roundtable, we’ll have a conversation with Brooke Gladstone, co-host of WNYC's On the Media, about her new book The Trouble with Reality: A Rumination on Moral Panic in Our Time.

Biometric scans, automated online spies, and facial recognition software were featured in the 1999 science fiction film The Minority Report. Today, they are becoming embedded into the fabric of our daily lives.

In the new documentary The Force, an Oakland police officer tells new recruits, “I don’t want bad cops. Period. I don’t need them.” In the film, director Peter Nicks follows the Oakland Police Department over two years.

In his new book Caesar’s Last Breath: Decoding the Secrets of the Air Around Us, science writer Sam Kean writes that with every breath you take, you inhale the history of the world.

In his new book, The Golden Shore: California's Love Affair with the Sea, marine conservationist David Helvarg takes us on a geographic and cultural journey of the 1,100-mile Pacific coastline.

Why do young people join ISIS and Al-Qaida? In her new book I Was Told to Come Alone: My Journey Behind the Lines of Jihad, Washington Post national security correspondent Souad Mekhennet provides on-the-ground reporting on the rise of Al-Qaida, ISIS, and their victims. 

Who's running the government under Donald Trump? That’s the question journalist John Nichols explores in his new book, Horsemen of the Trumpocalypse: A Field Guide to the Most Dangerous People in America. 

US Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that Donald Trump plans to end DACA, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy.

Three weeks after the deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, how are residents coping?

Native American judges are using traditional concepts of justice to restore their communities rather than punish offenders and send even more people to prison. The new documentary Tribal Justice highlights tribal courts that incorporate indigenous customs and beliefs into their justice systems.

Hurricane Harvey has devastated Houston and other cities along the Gulf Coast. At least 38 deaths have been reported. More than 32,000 people are in shelters across Texas. The city of Port Arthur is under water. Beaumont doesn’t have running water. Over six million people live in the Houston metro area. We’ll discuss media coverage of the devastation, overdevelopment, and climate change.

In 1992, the acquittal of four Los Angeles police officers accused of the brutal beating of black motorist Rodney King, sparked five days of deadly violent protests.

The 1969 reclamation of Alcatraz Island sparked a national Red Power movement as Native Americans united to fight for land reclamation, environmental protection, human rights, cultural preservation, and sovereignty.

Half a million children live in foster care in the US. More than 100,000 are waiting to be adopted. The good news is that attitudes toward foster children are changing. Growing numbers of people who want to adopt say they’d consider adopting a foster child, according to a survey conducted for the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption.

In the wake of the deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville and this weekend’s events in the Bay Area, we are having a much-needed conversation about race in this country.

This week, Donald Trump unveiled plans to expand US military intervention in Afghanistan by sending up to 4,000 more soldiers to the region. How are the media covering the 16-year US invasion and its impacts on the civilian population?

What’s the best response to this weekend’s rallies in San Francisco and Berkeley, which are expected to attract white supremacists and armed militia groups?

While Donald Trump’s outrageous tweets and speeches make headline news, his administration is fundamentally reshaping US health, safety, and environmental rules. A New York Times series explores the “reshaping of regulations under the Trump administration.” Every week, Politico reports on “5 things Trump did while you weren’t looking.”

Vancouver and San Francisco are iconic West Coast cities with many things in common -- including large numbers of people addicted to hard drugs. In recent years, Vancouver has been at the forefront of new approaches to addiction, including safe injection sites. 

Native American judges are using traditional concepts of justice to restore their communities rather than punish offenders and send even more people to prison. The new documentary Tribal Justice highlights tribal courts that incorporate indigenous customs and beliefs into their justice systems.

The horrific stories and images coming out of Charlottesville have sparked widespread outrage and international media coverage. Last week, we saw white supremacists groups carrying torches, guns, confederate flags, and Nazi paraphernalia.

June marked the 50th anniversary of the occupation of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem. After visiting the occupied territories, renowned novelists and essayists Michael Chabon and Ayelet Waldman marked the anniversary by inviting international writers to bear witness to the human cost the Israeli occupation.

Venezuela is dealing with the world’s highest inflation, severe food shortages, high crime, and political repression. Venezuela is also home to the world’s largest oil reserves. So what explains the political and economic turmoil?

Mike Gonzalez, author of Hugo Chavez, argues that as President Nicolas Maduro’s anti-democratic government battles violent right-wing forces, ordinary Venezuelans are watching the gains of Chavismo slip away. 

Guests: