Context, Please

Around the country, students, parents, teachers, and staff of schools are being asked a seemingly impossible question: how many people are we willing to let die so that we can open our school buildings? In the midst of their own global pandemic, Americans in 1918 faced the same question. The answers they came up with and the lessons they offer for us today, this week, on Context, Please. Sources and Visualizations of the data are available at this episode's webpage. To stay up to date on all our latest episodes and research, follow us on Instagram and Facebook

Season Two starts tomorrow - and we've got a lot to cover. Catch up on past episodes and find out more about the podcast at our website, and be sure to follow us on Facebook and Instagram to keep up with all of the latest news and get special visual content.

It was a recurring theme during the Obama presidency.  Late, every November, we would hear of another episode in the War on Christmas.  Far from a new phenomenon, the wars on Christmas have been a part of the United States since well before its founding. Some lesser known battles, and what they can tell us about the supposed war of today -- this week, on Context, Please. Sources and additional Visuals are available at this episode's webpage. To stay up to date on all our latest episodes and research, follow us on Instagram and Facebook: @contextpleasepod

Last Tuesday, Ken Cuccinelli, the acting director of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, made waves when he said in an interview with NPR that the Statue of Liberty stood for the poor, huddled masses who could stand on their own two feet. The history of the Statue of Liberty, the poem that accompanies it, and its varied use as a symbol of American liberty throughout its existence. This week, on Context, Please. Sources and additional Visuals are available at this episode's webpage. To stay up to date on all our latest episodes and research, follow us on Instagram and Facebook: @contextpleasepod

Last Thursday, Attorney General William Barr announced that the Trump Administration was restarting the use of the death penalty at the federal level, a process that had been left dormant for several years despite continuing at the state level. Where does our use of the death penalty place us on the world stage?  Why do we still have it and what are the arguments for and against its use? This week, on Context, Please. Sources and Visualizations of the data are available at this episode's webpage. To stay up to date on all our latest episodes and research, follow us on Instagram and Facebook: @contextpleasepod