0:08 – Impeachment Watch: Trump acquitted for a second time, 57-43
Geoffrey Kabaservice (@RuleandRuin) is a historian and Director of Political Studies at the Niskanen Center and the author of a number of books, including Rule and Ruin: The Downfall of Moderation and the Destruction of the Republican Party, from Eisenhower to the Tea Party.
0:34 – COVID call-ins
John Swartzberg is clinical professor emeritus of infectious diseases at UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health.
1:08 – America Unmasked: The Massacre That Spawned the Alt-Right
Shaun Assael (@shaunassael) is an investigative journalist and best-selling author — shortly when Cat interviewed him a year ago, he published an article on the Greensboro Massacre. It happened in 1979, when a gang of Klansmen and Nazis murdered five communists in broad daylight. He argues it’s the origin of the modern alt-right.
1:34 – Special rebroadcast of the award-winning audio documentary ‘Evicted’
When the coronavirus pandemic hit the U.S. many of us were told to “shelter in place” in order to minimize the spread of disease. But, for a lot of people who are forced to live on the street, its not possible to just close the door and retreat into safety. In this award-winning audio documentary, our long form reporter Lucy Kang follows two women as they undergo several evictions, even thought they’re already living in encampments. And we talk about the impact these ongoing displacements have on their mental and physical health. Then, we take a look at how homeless communities are dealing with COVID-19 and finally, we talk about market forces in the housing crisis and how to fight for “the right to housing.”
We’re excited to announce that an updated and re-edited version of this story broadcast by Making Contact received the 2021 Excellence in Journalism Award from the Society of Professional Journalists’ Northern California chapter for on-going coverage. The award was given to producer Lucy Kang and former UpFront host and producer Salima Hamirani, who’s now at Making Contact.
We also have a 2021 update from producer Lucy Kang about the folks you just heard about:
- Joe DeVries is now Oakland’s Director of Interdepartmental Operations. The city now has a written protocol that covers cold weather, hot weather and poor air quality.
Producer Lucy Kang also caught up with some of the people you heard from in the fall of 2019, a few months after the story originally aired:
- Kimberly found housing after the Tuff Sheds. As of 2019, she moved into a house in Oakland that was temporarily subsidized through Bay Area Community Services, or BACS. Still, she told KPFA at the time that she’d rather buy a trailer so she’ll never have to worry about being evicted again – by the city or anyone.
- Tracy and Morgan went back out onto the street, not far from the Tuff Sheds where they were evicted. After getting kicked out of the Tuff Sheds, Morgan says she shuffled between different places, sometimes staying up all night at informal gambling shacks for safety. She told our producer that she had been in and out of battered women’s shelters, where she found it nice to just live in a house with electricity, a washing machine and a tv.
- Tracy was the victim of a violent attack a few months after being evicted and sustained a serious head injury. Tracy blames her assault on living on the street after being evicted from the Tuff Sheds and having her vehicle towed by Oakland police.