Advocacy in Crisis with Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha
Rebroadcast Dates: March 30-April 3, 2020 In April 2014, officials in Flint, Michigan, switched the source of the city’s water from the Detroit water supply to the Flint, River. It was a cost-saving move, but it touched the lives of citizens across that city. Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha helped blow the story open. With science and determination, she proved the decision was poisoning the children of Flint. Dr. Hanna-Attisha is an … Read More
Inspiring the Next Generation Through Story with Chelsea Clinton
This episode was made possible through our partnership with the Rhode Island Center for the Book. Air Dates: March 23-29, 2020 President John F. Kennedy once said, “[one person] can make a difference. And everyone should try.” Chelsea Clinton is the author of a series of books for young readers inspired by that same sense of idealism. Chelsea Clinton is the Vice Chair of the Clinton Foundation and works alongside … Read More
Defense and Climate Change: Adapting to a Changing Physical Landscape with Michael Klare
Air Dates: March 16-22, 2020 The partisan split on climate change is unmistakable. Democrats view the climate as one of their top-two national issues. Republicans tend to worry more about the economic disruption that may result from efforts to reduce carbon emissions. Dr. Michael Klare argues that for the a-political men and women who lead the U.S. military, the challenge of defending the nation and its interests in an age … Read More
The Makings of Mass Incarceration in the United States with Elizabeth Hinton
Air Dates: March 9-15, 2020 While the United States contains less than five percent of the planet’s population, it has nearly one-quarter of the world’s prison population. Elizabeth Hinton traces the politics and policy decisions since President Lyndon’s Johnson’s War on Poverty that created the nation’s reliance on mass incarceration. Elizabeth Hinton is Professor in the Departments of History and African and African American Studies at Harvard University. Hinton’s research … Read More
Telling the Stories of the Voiceless with Sara Jordenö
Air Dates: March 2-8, 2020 In the course of producing “Story in the Public Square” each week, co-hosts Jim Ludes and G. Wayne Miller revel in the chance to sit down with incredibly gifted story-tellers and artists, to hear them describe their craft, and to benefit from their unique perspectives on the world. Sara Jordenö is all of those things and more. Jordenö is a filmmaker, visual artist and researcher … Read More
Experiencing Climate Change Through Story with Elizabeth Rush
Air Dates: February 24-March 1, 2020 Climate change is reshaping America’s coast-line—from Maine to the Gulf of Mexico; from Staten Island New York to California. For most of us, the change is invisible, but Elizabeth Rush tells us that is, in part, because we don’t know what we’re seeing. Rush is the author of “Rising: Dispatches from the New American Shore,” a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in General Nonfiction, and “Still Lifes … Read More
Pell Center and League of Women Voters, Newport County to Celebrate Centennial of Women’s Suffrage
See the Newport Daily News’ Coverage of this event. Newport, R.I. – The Pell Center at Salve Regina University and the League of Women Voters, Newport County will host Susan Ware, historian and leading feminist biographer to present “Why They Marched: Celebrating the Centennial of Women’s Suffrage” on March 3, 2020 as part of the Pell Center’s spring lecture series. The struggle for women’s suffrage raised fundamental questions about women’s roles … Read More
The Questions Matter
I watched the Democratic primary debate from Las Vegas last night. I don’t know if what we saw was good for Democrats, good for Republicans, or good for the country. I know politics is fierce. It’s bare-knuckled. It’s theatrical. And last night’s debate had its fair share of drama. But there are so many issues worthy of a national discussion that I’m mystified why debate moderators don’t ask better questions, … Read More
The Expanding News Desert with Penny Abernathy
Air Dates: February 17-23, 2020 It wasn’t so long ago that small and mid-sized American communities were served by multiple news outlets. Penny Abernathy warns of the expansion of “news deserts,” or areas without dedicated local coverage because of shifting technology and consumer behavior. Penelope (Penny) Abernathy is the Knight Chair in Journalism and Digital Media Economics at the University of North Carolina and former executive at The Wall Street … Read More
Our Republic is on the Ballot
The most important player in a republic—including ours—is the citizen. From our consent, leaders derive the authority to govern: to raise taxes, to declare war, to enforce laws and treaties, and to do all the things we expect of government. From the ranks of citizens, our government draws its judges, its soldiers, its officials at every level—including our representatives in the House and Senate as well as the White House. … Read More