novelist and playwright
Jonna Ivin is a playwright and the author of three books, including the memoir Will Love for Crumbs.
PROFILE
Jonna Ivin
Guest
FROM Jonna Ivin
To the Point
Does the "American Dream" still have a future? Dr. Martin Luther King famously had a "Dream" — and it's related to the "American Dream," a phrase first used back in 1931. It's when children make better pay, own more property and enjoy life's comforts more than their parents. Now, the "American Dream" can actually be measured. The numbers are not encouraging. The odds for children exceeding their parents' standard of living have dropped like a stone for the poor and the Middle Class. And the concentration of wealth has increased by orders of magnitude. On this MLK Day we hear what that means for the "American Dream."
To the Point
The 'American Dream:' Does it have a future? The "American Dream" has been defined as an increased standard of living from generation to generation. It's when children make better pay, own more property and enjoy life's comforts more than their parents. Now, the American Dream can actually be measured. The numbers are not encouraging. The odds for children exceeding their parents' standard of living have dropped like a stone for the poor and middle class, and the concentration of wealth in the economic stratosphere has increased by orders of magnitude. We hear what that means for the "American Dream."
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To the Point
Terrorism and tweets, hate speech and murder Just days before an election, Britain is coping with a rash of deadly terrorism, and Prime Minister Theresa May is on the defensive. And again today, President Trump has tweeted criticism of the Mayor of London. Later, a double murder in Portland, Oregon has revealed the ugly past of a supposedly “progressive” city. One immediate question: is “hate speech” protected by the First Amendment?
To the Point
Who's to blame for the opioid crisis? Some of the lawyers who took on Big Tobacco are now going after Big Pharma. It’s all about the deadly epidemic of opioid use. Are the drug companies to blame? What about the users? Later, on today’s Talking Point: making sense of Britain’s upset election.
To the Point
Trump's new look at civil rights and global warming President Trump is reportedly ready to pull the US out of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. We look at the possible consequences. On the second half of the program, we hear about cuts in Obama-Era civil rights programs called for by the Trump Administration's first budget plan.
To the Point
Trump plays scolder-in-chief with NATO allies At the opening of NATO’s dramatic new headquarters in Brussels today, President Trump acknowledged that Article 5 — promising that “an attack on one nation is an attack on all” -- has only been invoked one time: in the aftermath of September 11. But the President failed to provide what 27 other Alliance members have been waiting for: a re-commitment by America’s new leader to Article 5. Instead, they got a scolding.