A sweeping and surprising new understanding of extreme poverty in America from the authors of the acclaimed $2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America.
Three of the nation’s top scholars – known for tackling key mysteries about poverty in America – turn their attention from the country’s poorest people to its poorest places. Based on a fresh, data-driven approach, they discover that America’s most disadvantaged communities are not the big cities that get the most notice. Instead, nearly all are rural. Little if any attention has been paid to these places or to the people who make their lives there.
This revelation set in motion a five-year journey across Appalachia, the Cotton and Tobacco Belts of the Deep South, and South Texas. Immersing themselves in these communities, pouring over centuries of local history, attending parades and festivals, the authors trace the legacies of the deepest poverty in America—including inequalities shaping people’s health, livelihoods, and upward social mobility for families. Wrung dry by powerful forces and corrupt government officials, the “internal colonies” in these regions were exploited for their resources and then left to collapse. The unfolding revelation in The Injustice of Place: Uncovering the Legacy of Poverty in America (Mariner Books, 2023) is not about what sets these places apart, but about what they have in common—a history of raw, intensive resource extraction and human exploitation. This history and its reverberations demand a reckoning and a commitment to wage a new War on Poverty, with the unrelenting focus on our nation’s places of deepest need.
Stephen Pimpare is a Senior Fellow at the Carsey School of Public Policy at the University of New Hampshire.
In the United States Senate, there is a procedural rule which is very uncommon among legislative bodies.
According to the Senate rules, senators may speak for as long as they wish on any subject until 3/5ths of the members of the body vote to end debate.
While this might seem like a rather innocuous rule, the implications of it have been wide-ranging.
Learn more about the filibuster, how it came to be, and how it has been used on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
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We'll tell you what record was broken at the U.S.-Mexico border and what's being done about it.
Also, the U.S. could get closer to universal background checks on guns, even without Congress. We'll explain.
Plus, everything you need to know about Labor Day weekend travel, why X says it needs to collect a lot more data about its users, and how to see Taylor Swift at the movies.
Two more leaders of the Proud Boys were sentenced yesterday for their roles in the January 6th insurrection. Joe Biggs was sentenced to 17 years in prison while Zachary Rehl was sentenced to 15 years. Plus, Donald Trump pleaded not guilty on Thursday in the Georgia criminal case where he’s accused of racketeering in his efforts to upend the 2020 presidential election results in the state.
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas officially disclosed yesterday that Republican megadonor Harlan Crow footed the bill for his private jet trips in 2022 to both attend a speech in Texas and to vacation at Crow’s home in the Adirondacks. With this disclosure, he also included a statement defending his travel with Crow.
And in headlines: at least 74 people died and more than 50 were injured after a fire broke out in Johannesburg, South Africa, federal student loans will once again start accruing interest, and Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour is coming to a movie theater near you this October.
Show notes:
WAD is taking a break for Labor Day. We’ll be back on Tuesday, September 5th.
Crooked Coffee is officially here. Our first blend, What A Morning, is available in medium and dark roasts. Wake up with your own bag at crooked.com/coffee
Committees and hearings play a critical role in the operations of Congress. But how are members assigned to committees? And do congressional hearings actually advance legislation and investigations?
Kyle Brosnan, chief counsel for The Heritage Foundation's Oversight Project, goes beneath the surface in today's edition of "The Daily Signal Podcast" to explain how Congress really works and the critical role Capitol Hill staff play in those operations. (The Daily Signal is the news outlet of The Heritage Foundation.)
As Twitt—sorry, X—continues to go through tumult, an unlikely, long-time player is emerging as the last acceptable place to post.
Guest: Sarah Frier, tech editor at Bloomberg Businessweek.
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 Dear Prudence—and you’ll be supporting the work we do here on What Next TBD. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to help support our work.
Liz and Andrew tackle the latest right-wing nonsense freakout talking point: that Joe Biden, as Vice-President, used secret email accounts to backchannel his criminal plotting to his son Hunter. Learn how every bit of this claim is complete nonsense as we break down the latest FOIA lawsuit filed by the Southeastern Law center.
After that, the two discuss Sidney Powell's hilarious motion to sever her criminal indictment from everyone else in Fulton County, Georgia AND the ongoing saga of Trumpland lawyers and their conflicts.
And if all that isn't enough, in the Patreon bonus, Liz and Andrew talk about the most recent developments with Trump lackey Peter Navarro.
Today's episode focuses on two thrillers that our host, Andrew Limbong, read while on parental leave. First, R.F. Kuang speaks with NPR's Mary Louise Kelly about her novel Yellowface and the complicated nuances of writing about friendship and cultural appropriation. Then, Japanese-American author Joe Ide takes a walk with Karen Grigsby Bates, formerly of NPR's Code Switch team, to explain how his upbringing in South Central L.A. informed his series I.Q. and his choice to write from the perspective of a Black protagonist.
Food allergies have risen in the United States over the last few decades. Research suggests that 40 years ago the actual prevalence of food allergies was less than 1%. But this year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released data showing that almost 6% of U.S. adults and children have a food allergy. But this trend is not present in all countries — and what people are allergic to varies globally. Today, we dive into the complex world of food allergies with Dr. Waheeda Samady. She's the Director of Clinical Research at Northwestern University's Center for Food Allergy and Asthma Research.