America: Are We Ready?
-
Fred Vigeant
Election 2020 is upon us and WNYC is resuming the national conversation on America Are We Ready? which include the themes of the pandemic, racial justice, and the middle class.
Join us Tuesday September 22 to Thursday September 24 8:00pm to 10:00pm for these conversations. Each night will be hosted by WNYC’s Brian Lehrer with special guests and calls from listeners everywhere.
September 22 Night One: America Are We Ready To Vote In A Pandemic?
- Co-hosted by Christina Greer, assoc. professor of political science at Fordham University and politics editor at thegrio.com
- Hour One: Voting In A Pandemic: How To Decide About How To Decide This year especially, there’s not one “Election Day” — More people can choose to vote early or vote by mail. What does that mean for this presidential election and for our expectations of when the votes will be counted?
- Hour Two: Is There A Liberal And Conservative Way To End A Pandemic? Trump’s vs. Biden’s plans for handling the pandemic, including how much any further response should be national in scope, what tone to take, and where to spend federal tax dollars.
September 23 Night Two: America Are We Ready For Truth And Reconciliation?
- Co-hosted by Kai Wright, host of WNYC’s The United States of Anxiety
- Hour One: Truth The extent of racial disparity as it exists today, more than 150 years after the end of slavery, more than 50 years after the Civil Rights Act, is a big issue in this year’s election. In this hour we’ll account for disparities in wealth and income, health, political power and more, and point to the policies of both parties that have been most responsible for perpetuating those disparities.
- Hour Two: Reconciliation Reconciliation doesn’t mean everyone smiles and all is forgiven. When you reconcile a financial statement, you determine who owes who what, and where the money actually goes. Who owes who what, financially and otherwise, to approach real equality in America? What and how serious are the Trump and Biden or Democratic and Republican approaches to getting there?
September 24 Night Three: America Are We Ready To Save The Middle Class?
- Co-hosted by Maria Hinojosa,
- Hour One: A Generational Reckoning In the 30 years since we “won” the Cold War, we’ve seen the first generations of Americans come of age who are not likely to have better standards of living than their parents. What do the statistics show and how did this happen in a post-communist world in which a rising tide of capitalism and democracy was supposed to lift all boats?
- Hour Two: The Capitalist to Socialist Spectrum Ideology aside, how much of either approach really contributes to saving the middle class from extinction and reversing income equality? Where are Biden and Trump and the power brokers in their parties along this spectrum?
America Are We Ready? broadcasts 8:00pm to 10:00pm on WITF.
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