Author: The Daily Signal

James Lednicky, a student at Arizona State University, joined the Veterans Heritage Project because he wanted to learn more about the sacrifice of our men and women in uniform. 

He was matched with a Vietnam veteran, retired Lt. Col. Fred Shirley, and was tasked with documenting Shirley’s story.  

Lednicky says he was a little nervous about interviewing Shirley, but “as soon as Fred and I got talking, we really just had a conversation about his time in the military, and it was just a great conversation.”

Lednicky plans to serve in the military himself and says his conversations with Shirley have influenced how he hopes to one day lead as a Marine. 

The way in which Shirley led with “humility" is "something that really struck me,” Lednicky says.  

The way Shirley looked after “those that serve under [him] ... it makes me want to lead my Marines the same way, to care about them deeply, and to let them know that I care, like Fred did,” he says. 

Lednicky and Shirley join “The Daily Signal Podcast” to share their experience in the Veterans Heritage Project and how we can all care for our veterans. 

We also cover these stories:

• Inflation rates have hit a new 30-year record high.
• The American Medical Association’s recently released "Advancing Health Equity" guide comes under fire.
• America’s most elite private K-12 schools are teaching critical race theory, according to a new study by CriticalRace.org, founded by Cornell law professor William Jacobson. 

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Sen. Josh Hawley discusses the "crisis" of manhood in the United States with The Daily Signal. Hawley suggests that liberal messaging on "toxic masculinity" has driven able-bodied men to forsake their masculinity and withdraw into idleness. The Missouri Republican calls for a new message to be sent to the men of America: one that focuses on what men can accomplish if they orient their masculinity towards the good.

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COVID-19 vaccine mandates are wreaking havoc across the country as employees are forced to get vaccinated or possibly risk losing their jobs. Employees' religion-based objections to vaccination are clashing with those mandates, and often, the mandate wins out.

Hunter Creger was suspended from his job at a Colorado-based spacecraft launch service after he refused the vaccine on religious grounds.

"It was awful," Creger explains. "These are people that I work for, and that I've developed a relationship with, and they're telling me that … . They walked me out the door. They had security walk me out the door because I didn't want to take the shot."

Creger joins the show to share his story and to offer advice to others who find themselves in circumstances similar to his. 

We also cover these stories:

• The Biden administration insists that mandating COVID-19 vaccines and testing for employees of larger companies is necessary to keep the public safe.
• Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat, signs legislation amending state law to make it more difficult for Illinoisans to refuse to be vaccinated.
• Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra refuses to address GOP accusations that he violated federal conscience protections and worked at "the behest of the abortion lobby."

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Diversity officers slowly are corrupting K-12 education by bringing diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives into schools and teaching children divisive topics such as critical race theory, a Heritage Foundation scholar says.

A new report from Jay Greene, a senior research fellow in education at Heritage, highlights how harmful these diversity officers and their initiatives can be. Worse than simply indoctrinating children, the report says, proposals to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion contribute to a widening achievement gap between advantaged and disadvantaged students.

In some cases, the gaps between advantaged and disadvantaged students can be utterly crippling, he explains.

"So it's easy to understand, this is how many grade levels apart the average white student is from the average black student in that [school] district. That average, by the way, is almost two grade levels," Greene says at one point.

Greene joins "The Daily Signal Podcast" to discuss diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives and how they negatively affect disadvantaged students.

We also cover these stories:

• The Biden administration encourages schools to promote the new COVID-19 vaccine for children.
• The president’s approval ratings are in bad shape, according to a new USA Today/Suffolk University poll.
• America is now open to travelers from Europe, Canada, and Mexico, providing they're fully vaccinated against COVID-19. 

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"What if Christian parents of children reading comic books don’t want their kids exposed to bisexual characters?"

Sophia Nelson thought it was a reasonable question in the wake of DC Comics' announcement that Superman's son, Jon Kent, would have a pink-haired boyfriend in an upcoming comic.

Nelson, a scholar-in-residence at Christopher Newport University in Virginia and a bestselling author, never expected her Oct. 11 tweet to ignite her own ordeal with cancel culture.

Students petitioned, professors protested, and the university's president—a former Republican U.S. senator from Virginia—acquiesced to the pressure rather than defending Nelson.

Today, Nelson joins "The Daily Signal Podcast" to share her concerns about cancel culture, fear of returning to campus, and what she has planned next.

Enjoy the show!

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President Joe Biden has rolled out a COVID-19 vaccine mandate affecting about 80 million American workers.

Biden is ordering all businesses and other organizations with 100 or more employees to make sure those employees either become vaccinated or are tested weekly for the disease.

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., says he is outraged by what he views as a massive government overreach.

Vaccine mandates "are freedom-robbing," Johnson says. "They're unbelievably coercive."

"I've always thought that nobody should be pressured, coerced, or fear reprisal for refusing any medical treatment, including the COVID vaccine," Johnson adds. "But we've just turned our society, our laws, our ethics on their head during this pandemic. It's time for Americans to reclaim their freedom."

Johnson joins "The Daily Signal Podcast" to discuss what he and congressional colleagues plan to do about Biden's largest vaccine mandate, as well as to share some stories of Americans who have been affected by side effects of the COVID-19 vaccines.

We also cover these stories:

• The Biden administration formally announces its COVID-19 vaccine mandate for many private employers.
• Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Dr. Anthony Fauci get into another heated exchange during a Senate committee hearing.
• Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler calls for over $5 million in additional police department funding nearly a year after Oregon's largest city cut its police budget in response to protests and riots.

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Civics education has become a flashpoint in American politics. Many schools are asking how students should learn about themselves and their country in a way that fully encompasses American history, both good and bad.

Montana Superintendent of Public Instruction Elsie Arntzen recently updated the state’s standards for social studies to better teach students about civics and the things they need to know to be a good American citizen.

When asked what she hopes Montana's students are getting out of their civics education, Arntzen responded, "That our country is a great country. ... We did not want a king ... And I believe that's where our Republic is and our Republic is founded. That yes, there are symbols that have come across from monuments, from our flag, and our Pledge of Allegiance and all of that. And I believe all of those parts are to be honored."

Arntzen joins the show to talk about those changes to the social studies standards, as well as offer insight on how other states can do better with their civics education standards.

We also cover these stories:

• Democrat West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin justifies his cautious stance towards Democrats unprecedented 1.75 trillion dollar spending package as a result of Tuesday's election.
• For the first time in more than a decade, the Supreme Court hears arguments in a major Second Amendment case.
• Florida second grader Fiona Lashells joins Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on a Fox News segment, after the little girl was suspended from school for refusing to wear a mask.

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The 2020 election was unprecedented, what with the COVID-19 pandemic and controversy over expanded early and mail-in voting. 

“There were more lawsuits filed last year before the election trying to change the laws and the rules governing the election process than in any year in our entire history,” Hans von Spakovsky, a senior legal fellow and election expert at The Heritage Foundation. 

The political left used the pandemic to try to undo requirements for voter ID and for witness signatures on absentee ballots, von Spakovsky, who oversees Heritage's Election Law Reform Initiative. (The Daily Signal is Heritage's multimedia news organization.)

The question now is: How do we ensure clean and honest elections across America? In his new book with former Wall Street Journal columnist John Fund, “Our Broken Elections: How the Left Changed the Way You Vote,” von Spakovsky addresses the election issues of 2020 and provides solutions with which lawmakers can prevent voter fraud. 

Von Spakovsky joins “The Daily Signal Podcast” to discuss his new book and why Americans should support safeguarding our elections through measure such as voter ID. 

We also cover these stories: 

• Republican candidate Glenn Youngkin is poised to be the next governor of Virginia.
• Democrat and former New York City Police Captain Eric Adams wins the city’s mayoral election, beating out Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa.
• A proposal to replace the Minneapolis Police Department with a new Department of Public Safety fails.

Enjoy the show!

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Rep. Jim Banks, chair of the Republican Study Committee, shares with The Daily Signal how Twitter censored him for calling Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary Rachel Levine, who now identifies as a woman, a man. The Indiana Republican breaks down why Twitter censored him and what conversations he has had with the social media giant since its censorship. He also explains why it is so important for Americans to pay attention to tech censorship—particularly of a sitting U.S. congressman—and what may be next. 

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It's Election Day in Virginia, and no issue has captured the attention of voters in the Old Dominion more than education.

Battles between school boards and frustrated parents have attracted national attention, and led to a close race for governor.

Ian Prior, a Loudoun County, Virginia, father and executive director of parents-based grassroots organization Fight for Schools, feels the enthusiasm that parents engaged in their children's education are bringing to the election.

"Parents have this burning fire inside of them to protect their children, and it's almost a bit of a hero's journey, like Joseph Campbell, where they have really risen to the occasion and have found skills and strength within them that they may not have known that they've had, and that is really what this movement is about," he says. "It's about parents that have found that inner strength and are willing to put it all on the line."

Prior joins the show to discuss how education took center stage in the race, and implications for parents’ rights in their child’s education. 

We also cover these stories:

• President Joe Biden warns that unless immediate and definitive collective action is taken by the world, the “existential threat” of climate change could destroy people’s lives and livelihoods.
• Demonstrators for and against abortion stand outside the Supreme Court as the justices hear arguments on Texas' heartbeat abortion law.
• Philadelphia becomes the first city to end traffic stops for minor infractions.

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