UpFront

GOP weaponizes critical race theory in a bid to gin up voters in Northern Virginia; State Sen. Kamlager discusses two police accountability bills waiting to be signed into law; Plus how Juul bought an entire issue of a scholarly medical journal

Loudon County High School by A.J. Jelonek. This image is licensed under CC 3.0.

On today’s show:

0:08 – Maya King (@mayaaking), race and politics reporter at POLITICO, joins us to discuss how critical race theory is being weaponized by Republicans in Loudoun County, Virginia.

0:34 – Dr. John Swartzberg, clinical professor emeritus of infectious diseases at UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health joins us to discuss the latest COVID news and field listener questions.

1:08 – California State Senator Sydney Kamlager (@sydneykamlager) joins us to discuss two police accountability bills awaiting the governor’s signature: AB 118, the CRISES Act, a legislation that she authored; and SB 731, a police decertification bill that she co-sponsored.

1:33 – David Dayen (@ddayen), Executive Director of the American Prospect joins us to talk about Juul, an electronic cigarette startup and how the San Francisco company bought an entire issue of a scholarly medical journal to post research about the health benefits of their products ahead of a critical FDA decision.

1:50 – Vic Bedoian (@VicBedoian) reports on a restoration effort launched by the U.S. Forest Service in the portions of the Giant Sequoia National Monument devastated by last year’s Castle Fire.