Iowa is one of six states suing the Biden administration over the president's plan to forgive billions in student loan debt.
“Canceling student loan debt is not legal,” Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird says. “In order for that to happen, something would have to pass the House, the Senate, [and] be signed by the president. It's basic constitutional law.”
Last year, President Joe Biden announced plans to forgive $10,000 of debt for individual student loan borrowers who make less than $125,000 per year ($250,000 for households) and $20,000 for borrowers who received a Pell Grant.
Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and South Carolina sued the Biden administration over the loan forgiveness plan and on Tuesday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments on the legal challenge.
Bird, Iowa's first Republican attorney general since 1979, was at the Supreme Court during the arguments and joins “The Daily Signal Podcast” to explain her key takeaways and how she thinks the justices will rule on the case.
Instead of electing politicians to represent us…what if we just represented ourselves? Peer to peer. Neighbor to neighbor. Baratunde talks with Claudia Chwalisz about citizens’ assemblies—groups randomly-selected by lottery that are shifting political and legislative power into the hands of everyday people. Claudia is one of the world’s leading voices on citizens’ assemblies and founder and CEO of DemocracyNext, an organization working to build new institutions for the next democratic paradigm.
SHOW ACTIONS
Internally Reflect - Imagine life with citizen assemblies
Our reflection prompt is inspired by the DemocracyNext launch event, which you can view on YouTube. Imagine it’s 10 years in the future, and we’ve established new civic rituals. Election Day is out and Sortition Day – the day that people selected by lottery are assigned to various citizen assemblies – is in. What might it feel like to serve in one of these well-facilitated and compensated assemblies with your neighbors? Imagine what it would be like to read media coverage of the deliberations that focus on a community’s attempt at finding common ground, rather than who made the most outlandish statements. What headlines do you see? How do politics feel in this future?
Become Informed - Learn from global citizen assembly experiments
Publicly Participate - Get involved with DemocracyNext and direct democracy powered by everyday people
Subscribe to the DemocracyNext newsletter - they'll be launching a global community of enthusiasts wanting to learn more and help build this next democratic paradigm.
And if you’re ready to roll up your sleeves and start practicing democracy this way with others, look to the non-profit org Democracy Without Elections for resources to get started locally.
SHOW NOTES
Check out our episode from season 2 with writer and organizer Astra Taylor for more on this idea of citizen assemblies as envisioned by the Greeks.
Find How To Citizen on Instagram or visit howtocitizen.com to join our mailing list and find ways to citizen besides listening to this podcast!
Please show your support for the show by reviewing and rating. It makes a huge difference with the algorithmic overlords and helps others like you find the show!
How To Citizen is hosted by Baratunde Thurston. He’s also host and executive producer of the PBS series, America Outdoors as well as a founding partner and writer at Puck. You can find him all over the internet.
CREDITS
How To Citizen with Baratunde is a production of iHeartRadio Podcasts and Rowhome Productions. Our Executive Producers are Baratunde Thurston and Elizabeth Stewart. Allie Graham is our Lead Producer and Danya AbdelHameid is our Associate Producer. Alex Lewis is our Managing Producer. John Myers is our Executive Editor and Mix Engineer. Original Music by Andrew Eapen and Blue Dot Sessions. Our Audience Engagement Fellows are Jasmine Lewis and Gabby Rodriguez. Special thanks to Joelle Smith from iHeartRadio and Layla Bina.
Additional thanks to our live audience voices Robert B., Sara H., Liza W, and Nick C.
On this week’s episode of The Waves, Slate senior editor Shannon Palus talks with Heather Havrilesky about the divine tedium of marriage. They discuss Heather’s book, Foreverland and the explosive response the book initially got (especially when Heather called her husband “a heap of laundry”). Later in the show, they dig into what to do when your husband is truly being a little bit of a patriarchal jerk.
In Slate Plus, a behind the scenes look at what goes into writing the Ask Polly column.
Podcast production by Cheyna Roth and Tori Dominguez with editorial oversight by Daisy Rosario and Alicia Montgomery.
Send your comments and recommendations on what to cover to thewaves@slate.com.
Make an impact this Women’s History Month by helping Macy’s on their mission to fund girls in STEM. Go to macys.com/purpose to learn more.
President Biden’s student loan debt relief plan goes before the Supreme Court this week. Though the court’s conservative majority seems opposed to the program, debt-relief detractors are struggling to answer a major question: who does this program harm?
If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Amicus—and you’ll be supporting the work we do here on What Next. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to help support our work.
Make an impact this Women’s History Month by helping Macy’s on their mission to fund girls in STEM. Go to macys.com/purpose to learn more.
Scientist Alice Hamilton’s investigations into toxins in Chicago’s factories led to some of the first workplace safety laws in the country. She was known for her “shoe leather” epidemiology, wearing out the soles of her shoes from all the trips she made to Chicago homes, factories and even saloons to figure out what was making people sick. Reporter Edie Rubinowitz has her story.
Scientist Alice Hamilton’s investigations into toxins in Chicago’s factories led to some of the first workplace safety laws in the country. She was known for her “shoe leather” epidemiology, wearing out the soles of her shoes from all the trips she made to Chicago homes, factories and even saloons to figure out what was making people sick. Reporter Edie Rubinowitz has her story.
Willie Mae Brown was a little girl in Selma, Alabama in the 1960s. In her new YA book, My Selma, she recalls growing up during the height of the Civil Rights Movement in the South. As she tells Here & Now's Robin Young, those core childhood memories include going to church to see Martin Luther King, Jr. speak – which moved Brown's mother to tears as she held the author – and her siblings getting arrested for trying to accompany teachers who were planning to register to vote. But, she says, there was also a lot of joy and community as a child on the frontlines of justice.
When Abra Lee became the landscape manager at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, she sought some advice about how to best do the job. The answer: study the history of gardening. That led to her uncovering how Black involvement in horticulture in the U.S. bursts with incredible stories and profound expertise, intertwined with a tragic past. She's now teaching these stories and working on a book, Conquer the Soil: Black America and the Untold Stories of Our Country's Gardeners, Farmers, and Growers. Abra Lee talks with former Short Wave producer Eva Tesfaye about uncovering Black horticultural history and several of the hidden figures who shaped it.
The most valuable crypto stories for Wednesday, March 1, 2023.
Tensions have gone public between Aptos and Sui, two startup blockchains staffed by teams of individuals who emerged from Facebook's defunct Diem stablecoin project. Plus, "The Hash" hosts discuss Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong's latest opinion piece published on CNBC. The crypto exchange executive explains how the U.S. can strengthen its status as a geopolitical powerhouse.
This episode has been edited by Ryan Huntington. The senior producer is Michele Musso and the executive producer is Jared Schwartz. Our theme song is “Neon Beach.”
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