Forget polls—are gambling websites the real way to predict politics?
Guest: Nitish Pahwa, business and tech writer at Slate
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Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme and Rob Gunther.
French teacher Peter Vlaming was fired in 2018 for shunning the use of pronouns to refer to a transgender-identifying student. On Sept. 30, the West Point School Boardin Virginia agreed to pay him $575,000 in damages and attorneys’ fees.
"I'm so relieved that our basic fundamental rights of freedom of expression, of freedom of religion have been formally upheld," Vlaming told The Daily Signal.
The School Board cleared Vlaming’s termination from his record and changed its policies to conform to the new Virginia education policies established by Gov. Glenn Youngkin, R-Va.
Vlaming is a Christian, so he believes God created male and female. Still, the teacher was willing to respect the rights of his students to disagree.
When one of his female students started identifying as male, Vlaming avoided referring to her with pronouns, instead using her preferred name. On Halloween of 2018, his students participated in a virtual reality tour of French catacombs, during which the transgender-identifying student almost ran into a wall.
"Don't let her hit the wall!" Vlaming called out instinctively.
The student called her parents, who complained to the school. Vlaming was placed on administrative leave and given an ultimatum that he would be fired if he didn't use preferred personal pronouns. Vlaming refused to comply and was fired.
Nearly six years later, Vlaming, represented by the religious liberty nonprofit law firm Alliance Defending Freedom, won his case.
"Stand your ground with love," Vlaming advises other teachers. "Stand your ground. Live truthfully with love. You'll give others courage as well. At least that's what I hope and pray for."
How did your governor perform on various fiscal policy metrics? Cato's Chris Edwards details the Fiscal Policy Report Card on America’s Governors 2024.
We start today with Alex and Felix explaining a notoriously filthy video game streamer and his repellent political views/personal hygiene to Will. Then, we check in on the Harris campaign as it continues to search for meaning, substance, moral clarity, strategic vision, & more while election day looms. Meanwhile, in MAGA-land, a look at the J6 defendants behind bars: putting on plays, podcasting, recording billboard #1 hits, punching holes in the prison drywall…is life in the big house better than what they left?
Vic Berger’s “THE PHANTOM OF MAR-A-LAGO”, a found footage mini-doc about Trump’s life out of office in his southern White House premieres Tuesday, Oct. 15th (Today!) exclusively at patreon.com/chapotraphouse.
Order Matt’s Book (and check out the new merch!): https://chapotraphouse.store
Come to our 11/4 Election Eve show in LA with E1: https://link.dice.fm/b1eb3de54f54
Amanda Holmes reads Lucille Clifton’s “water sign woman.” Have a suggestion for a poem by a (dead) writer? Email us: podcast@theamericanscholar.org. If we select your entry, you’ll win a copy of a poetry collection edited by David Lehman.
This episode was produced by Stephanie Bastek and features the song “Canvasback” by Chad Crouch.
Mia talks with Rosewater, an organizer with the Sunrise Movement, about how the UAW's plan for a 2028 general strike has changed ecological organizing.
Three weeks and a day until Election Day, and the presidential candidates are both in battleground Pennsylvania. North Carolina man under arrest for allegedly threatening FEMA workers. Slow recovery in Florida following both Helene and Milton. CBS News Correspondent Jennifer Keiper with tonight's World News Roundup.
Jury selection in the federal corruption trial of former Illinois House speaker Michael Madigan continues this week. Madigan was long known as the “velvet hammer” for his subtle but powerful grip on state politics. He was the longest-serving speaker in American history, a position he held for 36 years under seven Illinois governors. In March 2022, he was indicted on 22 counts of racketeering and bribery charges for “allegedly using his official position to corruptly solicit and receive personal financial rewards for himself and his associates,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois.
Reset discusses with Chicago Sun-Times federal courts reporter Jon Seidel what you need to know to follow WBEZ and Sun-Times reporting on the trial as it unfolds.
For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.
The MAGA movement has just taken a hard turn to the extreme right with openly fascist messaging from Donald Trump about “migrant crime,” “occupied cities,” and “bad genes.” We take a moment to absorb this alarming reality before Matt also explains how US immigration policy has always been the leading edge of American protofascism--and why Adolf Hitler personally admired it--before taking a look at Trump’s actual 2024 immigration promises and what keeping them would mean for us all.
