Catch Me Up 2 Speed Ralph Gaston & Joan Obra

The Podcast returns with a look back at the two highly consequential decisions from the Supreme Court's last term: Affirmative Action and the 303 Creative case.
 
Ed Blum speaks to Houstion Chinese Alliance, 2015
Affirmative Action, Mismatch, and Economic Mobility After California’s Proposition 209 (UC Berkeley Goldman School of Public Policy)
Conservative activist behind US affirmative action cases sues venture capital fund (Reuters)
303 Creative LLC vs. Elenis (League of Women Voters)
Michigan hair salon Studio 8 turns away trans clients, limiting service for LGBTQ patrons (USA Today)

We're back with the second installment of our Courts & Constitution episodes! In Part II we continue the discussion about SCOTUS' role in interpreting the Constitution, and the potential of the highly important Moore vs. Harper case to set more uncharted precedent. We also examine the movement by well-funded groups to rewrite the Constitution, which could concentrate power even more in the hands of the few.
 
Moore v. Harper - SCOTUSBlog.com
Elections Clause, US Constitution
SCOTUS' biggest case this term threatens American Democracy - Washington Post
​​Republicans' next big play - re-writing the Constitution (Business Insider)
13th - ALEC & Stand your Ground laws (YouTube)
The right is seeking to re-write the Constitution - Center for Media & Democracy
Who is Barre Seid? (The Hill)
Patagonia founder donates company to fight climate change - CNBC.com
State of money in politics - opensecrets.org
Rebecca Solnit: Hope is an embrace of the unknown - The Guardian

The first of a two-part series on the Federal Courts & the Constitution, Part I focuses on the history & ideologies driving SCOTUS decisions today.
uscourts.gov - basic info on the Supreme Court
Justice Antonin Scalia on Charlie Rose Show: Philosophy of an Originalist
Elie Mystal: Allow Me to Retort: A Black Guy's Guide to the Constitution
SCOTUS ‘should reconsider’ contraception, same-sex marriage rulings (POLITICO)
Justice Sotomayor on 60 Minutes, 2013 (excerpt)
A second Constitutional Convention? Some Republicans want to force one (NY Times)

We are back with Season #2 of Catch Me Up To Speed!  Our second season begins with a review of our 5 news tips in action. We showcase the coverage of California primary election results as an example of how these tips can work in concert to provide a fuller view of current news events.
NY Times: Progressive Backlash in CA Fuels Dem Debate on crime (June 8, 2022)
Newsweek: Progressives face urban revolt (June 8, 2022)
Mission Local: on the SF Recall (Prop H)
Alec Karakatsanis Substack: How to Spin an Election (June 9, 2022)
NY Magazine: CA 'Law & Order' narrative didn't survive late returns
LA Times: CA primary lesson for pundits:Don’t speak too soon in the age of mail-in voting (June 22nd)
Philadelphia Inquirer: PA House to investigate DA Krassner
Philadelphia Inquirer: Committee to Investigate DA Krassner's office selected (July 13th, 2022)

Our first podcast of 2022 features special guest Kortnei Morris, who gets us up to speed on 4 exceptional black women as a fitting send-off to Black History Month: Ida B. Wells, Fannie Lou Hamer, Pauli Murray, and Susie Revels Cayton.
Bio of Ida B. Wells-Barnett
Fannie Lou Hamer
https://www.paulimurraycenter.com/
Susie Revels Cayton
https://www.jstor.org/

We're back with Episode #14, where we take a look at how  our foreign policy is shaped in politics & media, the array of think tanks that do the shaping, and two popular past foreign policy visions that are all but forgotten: FDR's 'Good Neighbor' policy and JFK's 'Alliance for Progress.'
JFK Revisited: Through the Looking Glass (Showtime)
Global Go-To Think Tank index report (2020)
Anti-colonial policies of FDR (JStor, Political Science Quarterly)
JFK & Hammarskjold vs. the Power Elite (James Dieugenio)
HR McMaster on Afghanistan (PBS News Hour, August 16, 2021)
Kennedy, Johnson & the nonaligned World (Robert Rakove)
Battling Wall Street (Donald Gibson)