A Pandemic Education: It Continues On Into 2021
It’s been ten months since many schools across the nation shifted to online learning. We speak with two education experts about the changes happening in the field as technology plays a bigger role.
Government and Politics Sub-categories:
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The Competitive Nature of Today’s Youth Sports
The world of youth sports can be incredibly stressful. Long practices, hefty investments and increasingly selective teams can add up to parents pushing their kids to the brink. We speak with Rich Cohen, a hockey dad, about the modern pressures of the competitive sport and why some parents end up caring more about the sport than their own kid does.
Spies & Soldiers: Women in the Civil War
Historian Karen Abbott tells the story of several women who helped their respective sides during the Civil War. These women were not just nurses and aides, but endearing female soldiers and spies disguised and embedded in the fight.
The Law of Treason: Its Modern Use
We speak with constitutional law expert, Professor Carlton Larson about its limited use in modern courtrooms and the public’s perception of the law versus its actual scope and definition.
The Unending Toll of Discrimination
Segregation not only divides cities but leads to divided people as well. It fuels biases against people who may look or act different than us, leading to generations of inequity and discrimination. Viewpoints speaks with social justice activist, Tonika Johnson about the many impacts segregation has had on the city of Chicago.
The Modern Diamond Business
The northwestern coast of South Africa & Namibia has been a mining hub for diamonds since the 1900’s. Local workers labor through long shifts and hazardous working conditions in order to feed their families. The pay? Roughly five cents per carat of rough diamonds found. While some may argue that the industry stimulates the local economy, once a company …
Liar, Liar: How To Get To The Truth
How do professionals question people to get the information they want? We talk to an expert in interrogation and lying on this subject, and how law enforcement and job interviewers use the same tactics to find out if someone is lying.
Surviving Parkland: The Perspective of One Teacher
The 2018 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High in Parkland, Florida was the deadliest high school shooting in U.S. history. Viewpoints speaks with high school teacher Jeff Foster who was there that day and is still an active voice in ending gun violence.
The State of Climate Science in the U.S.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, greenhouse gases trap heat in the atmosphere leading to a warmer planet. The largest source of greenhouse gas emissions due to human activities is from burning fossil fuels like coal, oil and natural gas for electricity, heat and transportation. In recent years, the increasingly dry and warm climate in the …
The Native American Vote: A Group Plagued By Voter Marginalization
There are more than 5.2 million Native Americans living in the U.S., yet only a small fraction cast a ballot each election cycle. What factors lead to this low turnout? Viewpoints speaks with two experts about how historical bias feels into the current challenges facing this group.
Good Morning Zoom
You may be familiar with the classic children’s book, Goodnight Moon, but what about Good Morning Zoom? One mom living in New York City wanted to help her children better understand the pandemic, so wrote a parody based off of one of their favorite bedtime stories. The result? A funny, yet realistic look at parenting and getting through this period.
White Collar Crime: The Players & Its Economic Consequences
Each year, white collar crime results in losses that range between 300 and 800 billion dollars. Comparatively, other street-level crimes only total 16 billion dollars. We explore the prevalence of white-collar crime in our country and the systems that allow this corruption to flourish.
The 12 Million Undocumented Immigrants in the U.S.
In 2016, President Trump ran on a platform that vowed to deport all of the undocumented immigrants in the country. However, four years later and this population is still relatively the same. Is it a practical plan to deport millions who have lived in the U.S. for more than a decade, are law-abiding and fill important jobs that would otherwise be vacant?
The Life of a Modern Private Eye
The field of private investigation is rapidly changing. And not entirely for the good. We speak with Tyler Maroney – a journalist turned private eye about the evolution of the industry and the role tech-savvy investigators play in influencing and providing transparency to governments, corporate entities, criminal justice lawyers and other sectors.
The Current Scope of Surveillance in the U.S.
We explore the benefits and consequences of modern surveillance and the reality that every second of the day both private business entities and governments are acquiring information from millions of Americans.
One Country, Two Systems: The Deepening Political Crisis in Hong Kong
With the proposal of a new national security law in late May further tightening China's grip on the semi-autonomous territory of Hong Kong, the region is at a crucial tipping point.
Modern-Day Drones and the Implementation of Remote Identification
Drones are already a multi-billion-dollar business and the industry is only set to grow in revenue over the next five years, reaching an estimated 63 billion by 2025. The unmanned aircraft systems can be applied to a wide breadth of tasks and are an essential resource during war, rescue and public health crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic. Viewpoints …
Deploying School Meals to Those Who Need Them Most Right Now
On a typical day, the National School Lunch Program serves 20.2 million free lunches to students in need, according to the USDA. With sweeping school closures across the U.S. in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, millions of students are going hungry. Viewpoints discusses the new reality foodservice workers face and the balance between staying safe and …
Cannabis: A Complicated History
Throughout history marijuana wasn’t just used in medicinal or recreational settings, but also part of religious ceremonies or used by warriors before wartime battle. We speak with pharmacology expert Dr. Richard Miller about the drugs global history and its prohibition in the U.S. over the last 70 years.
Rethinking Healthcare: How Do You Fix a Flawed System?
The topic of healthcare is one of the most-debated issues so far in the 2020 election – but what’s the fix for the expensive, inefficient system that’s currently in place? So far it’s a murky answer. Millions are struggling with the high cost of care, doctors are burning out and patient-doctor interaction is at an all-time low. We speak with an industry …
Voter Error: How a Trip to the DMV Turned Into Years of Legal Woes
Filipino immigrant Elizabeth Keathley mistakenly registered to vote while at a DMV in Illinois through a federal law best known as the Motor Voter Law. This originally well-intentioned program is now trapping hundreds of immigrants into federal charges and possible deportation for an act they didn’t fully comprehend to begin with.
Frustrated By the 24/7 Political News Machine? Get Involved Instead
It seems like lately political news has hit an all-time high with all of the continuous impeachment coverage and campaign trail updates, including the start of the Iowa caucuses this week. While it’s important to be an informed citizen, are you putting all of this knowledge to use? Is it leading to change? Could you do something better with your time? We …
World War II: The Women of the OSS
More than 75 years ago, a diverse set of men and women making up the Office of Strategic Services were united together in their determination to win World War II. Some served as government spies or propagandists and others gathered terrain intelligence for army invasions. Whatever role they played, the OSS staff worked tirelessly for years and rose to the …
Spreading Word of the 2020 U.S. Census
The 2020 census is just around the corner. We speak with an employee from the U.S. Census Bureau about the importance of taking part in the nationwide survey and how the government is reaching students and their families through new in-school programs.
