New America Foundation
Theodore Johnson is a fellow at New America Foundation.
Johnson is a former writer for the Atlantic with a focus on race and politics and a former professor of public policy at Georgetown University. He is a former speechwriter for the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and a retired commander in the United States Navy.
What is patriotism in the Trump Era? Pro-quarterback and civil rights activist Colin Kaepernick has been named GQ Magazine's "Citizen of the Year." However, he wouldn't make the president's cut for what makes a patriot. So, what is being patriotic really about? And how has President Trump tried to change the perception of who is and isn't a patriot?
Does Black Lives Matter have staying power? "Black Lives Matter" was a phrase used on Facebook after the killing of Trayvon Martin in 2012. Then it became a hashtag that's become a nationwide network using social media, making race an unavoidable topic of conversation in the last days of the Obama Administration. Protesters show up on TV news: denouncing police shootings, interrupting speakers, and blocking streets and highways. There's still no particular leader, but now the network is one of 60 black-led organizations formally demanding specific changes in public policy. Some claim it's indirectly responsible for the killings of police. Others call it the latest phase in the civil rights movement.
Will the Senate write a healthcare bill in secret? While Democrats and Republicans argue White House relations with Russia, another question is being decided behind closed doors: who gets help buying health insurance and who doesn't? We hear how the pros and cons are being shrouded in secrecy.
What happens when America retreats from the world? Is President Trump taking his "America First" agenda to extremes, withdrawing the country from the international stage on trade and climate change, distancing America from its traditional allies across the Atlantic and even threatening to physically isolate the country through the building of a wall along its southern border? León Krauze guest hosts.
