With Labor Day behind us, and lawmakers preparing to return to Washington, national politics will kick back into high gear over the coming days.
Yet, for the past few weeks, they have been fairly quiet. The biggest story might’ve been the health of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
As it did throughout August, this slow period gives me an opportunity to spotlight politics at the state level in this week’s collection of 21 links, as well as those cultural-political topics and policy issues that often get lost in the shuffle. In many cases, the cultural stories aren’t especially political on their face. Yet, they’ll shape politics all the same.
On the policy end, these pieces include a disturbing story about police shooting and killing a pregnant woman in Ohio. The case raises questions about how we can reduce contacts between police and citizens that too often devolve into violence while also enforcing laws against things like shoplifting? There is also a story on drug pricing and why our system is so broken, and one on a Christian activist who has helped drive the “parental rights” movement.
Culture wise, I’ve spotlighted a piece on how employees are creating a new normal in terms of how much they work in offices, along with a story on the turbulent commercial real estate market that stems from those new practices. This is a topic to watch over the next few years, as it poses real danger to the economy. Additionally, there a fascinating story on the coming high speed rail revolution in America and the role of privately run rail companies.
I’ve also linked to a PBS News Hour segment on the brilliant cover that student journalists at the Daily Tar Heel put together after the murder of a professor and a campus lockdown shook the University of North Carolina last week. It does one of the most effective jobs of illuminating the trauma being inflicted by gun violence in America that I’ve seen. If you haven’t looked at the cover, the story is a must watch.
Finally, I’ve included a story on comments by Pope Francis about the tension between him and the far more right wing Catholic power structure in the United States.
In a different category, I included a link to a new chart that tries to explore media bias in a more scientific fashion. Coders studied hours of programming and rated shows from across the spectrum. The results aren’t necessarily surprising, but they are useful for understanding the media and what you’re getting from all sorts of shows and publications.
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