Puerto Rico: Before And After The Storm

09/17/18 • 11 min

Facing the criticism that nearly 3,000 people died in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, President Trump has claimed that the death toll was a fabrication by Democrats. Joining On The Media is Yarimar Bonilla, political anthropologist. She argues that Trump's lies could be an opportunity. Instead of allowing the president to drag the debate back to the basic facts of Maria, Bonilla says, Puerto Ricans and their allies could harness the attention for deeper understanding of how the island's problems do not begin or end with President Trump.

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November In New York

On The Brian Lehrer Show, Susan Lerner, executive director of Common Cause New York, argues New York's elections are in need of reforms. Later, Gloria Pazmino, politics reporter at Politico New York, talks about who may be on the ballot in the November election, and how thay might affect the political makeup of the New York State Senate.

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Revisiting Anita Hill's Testimony

Allegations that Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted a high school classmate decades ago have thrown the judge's Supreme Court confirmation into disarray. The Senate has been here before, in 1991, when Anita Hill testified that she was sexually harassed by Clarence Thomas. In the 27 years since then, lots of things have changed, including the number of women in the Senate who will decide whether or not Kavanaugh will be confirmed. This season the WNYC podcast The United States of Anxiety looks at the role of gender in today's political landscape.