Professor of Anthropology and History, University of Illinois
Professor of Anthropology and History at the University of Illinois, and Director of its Program in Jewish Culture and Society; incoming Artistic Director of the Chicago Humanities Festival and author of Anti-Semitism and Islamophobia: Hatreds Old and New in Europe
Germany Ignites Debate on Multiculturalism, Integration Memories of the Holocaust made Germany sensitive to ethnic discrimination after the Second World War. But the demand for labor has led to the immigration of two million Turks who are now living in ethnic ghettos. A new book saying immigrants of inferior intelligence are changing the nation has become a best seller, and this week, Chancellor Angela Merkel told a political meeting that "multiculturalism has failed, totally."
Germany's Identity Crisis Memories of the Holocaust made Germany sensitive to ethnic discrimination after the Second World War. The country's demand for cheap labor has produced a Turkish minority two million strong in a nation of 80 million. New immigration laws allow Germany citizenship, but the Turks are living in ethnic ghettos, featuring women in veils and street signs in Turkish. Chancellor Angela Merkel says "multiculturalism" is a failure and that it's time for a change. Have the Turks refused to assimilate, or are they unwelcome? A best-selling anti-Islamic book has raised fears of a right-wing nationalism that's all too familiar given Germany's Nazi past.
Replacing Obamacare: Now you see it… now you don’t As the Senate deliberates replacing Obmacare, health coverage for millions of people is at stake. There've been no public hearings, and a draft measure won't be made public. Is the House version so unpopular that that Senate is hiding a version that looks much the same?
White House budget proposal slashes and burns President Trump's first budget request is considered dead on arrival in Congress — a familiar development in Capitol Hill. We hear what it reveals about the priorities of the new administration. What's likely to die… and what might survive?
Human Rights in the era of Donald Trump President Trump’s UN Ambassador, Nikki Haley, said today the US might pull out of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council. Serious violators of human rights are members of the Council itself–and a US resignation could make things worse. Later on today’s show, now that he’s into his second term, comedian turned US Senator Al Franken is telling jokes again.