-
Jan 13, 2025 | 
thecity.nyc | Sarah Weiser |Heru Muharrar
A series of recent violent attacks in the New York City subways have refocused attention on the question of if — and when — involuntary removal and hospitalization should be used to address what city officials have called a crisis of homelessness and untreated mental illness. New York City has pushed these measures as a key part of the solution to the problem, and Gov. Kathy Hochul recently announced plans to propose a change to state law that would make it easier to forcibly hospitalize someone.
-
Jan 10, 2025 | 
retroreport.org | Sarah Weiser |Heru Muharrar |Scott Michels
New York City’s renewed efforts to tackle homelessness and untreated mental illness is raising complex questions about civil liberties, public safety and effective care. When Mayor Eric Adams announced a similar plan in 2022, critics like Sam Tsemberis, the founder of the Pathways Housing First Initiative, argued that the approach missed the bigger picture.“This is just a smokescreen,” he said, emphasizing the need for systemic solutions.
-
Sep 20, 2024 | 
retroreport.org | Matthew Spolar |Heru Muharrar
Gaffes have cast a shadow on many U.S. elections, from the tense final days of the battle between Grover Cleveland and James G. Blaine in 1884 to modern-day missteps that spread like wildfire across the Internet. Amid our ever-changing media environment, discover how a single phrase or blunder can end up dominating our political discourse, from the 19th century to today. Stay up to date. Subscribe to our newsletters.
-
Aug 22, 2024 | 
retroreport.org | Emily Orr |Brian Kamerzel |Heru Muharrar
Which candy bar deserves to be the official candy bar of America? Students present arguments in a classroom hearing. For teachers Lesson plan 1: Civics Skills: Candy Bar Hearing Reflection Read transcript Book a producer
-
Jun 20, 2024 | 
retroreport.org | Kit R. Roane |Jeff Bernier |Heru Muharrar
Even before the Covid pandemic shut down schools, closed businesses and introduced the idea of social distancing, medical experts were seeing an alarming increase in Americans struggling with isolation. The U.S. surgeon general has called this trend an epidemic of loneliness, as harmful to health as smoking cigarettes. To counteract isolation, some Americans are turning to a living arrangement known as cohousing.
-
Apr 17, 2024 | 
retroreport.org | Matthew Spolar |Heru Muharrar
Within Democratic President Lyndon Johnson’s landslide victory in 1964, there was a compelling regional story: many voters in the Deep South, long loyal to a conservative wing of the Democratic Party, voted for the Republican candidate. Two years later, the 1966 midterm elections would continue that trend, with voters across the South electing Republicans to offices for the first time in nearly 100 years.
-
Jan 4, 2024 | 
retroreport.org | Matthew Spolar |Heru Muharrar
From its earliest days, the idea of American democracy has been disputed and contested. Though the founders wanted to experiment with a democratic system in their new country, they were also deeply wary of ceding too much power to the people. This video chronicles the often violent development of American democracy from just after the end of the Revolutionary War through the tumultuous debates over slavery that led to the Civil War.
-
Oct 26, 2023 | 
retroreport.org | Kit R. Roane |Emily Orr |Heru Muharrar
After a football coach at a public high school knelt in prayer on the field after games, school district officials tried to stop him on the grounds that his actions were coercive, making students feel that they were being forced to pray. The case landed in the Supreme Court, which ruled in 2022, in Kennedy v. Bremerton, that the school district had overstepped, saying it had violated his freedom of religion under the First Amendment.
-
Sep 12, 2023 | 
retroreport.org | Heru Muharrar |Emily Orr
A worldwide effort to heal damage to the ozone layer is showing early progress. The Montreal Protocol has been recognized as a template for encouraging science-based policy and global cooperation to address environmental challenges. Today, as global warming caused by burning fossil fuels has become the most pressing climate problem, will the world be able to duplicate the Montreal Protocol’s success? This documentary was released in partnership with Scientific American. Stay up to date.
-
Jul 25, 2023 | 
retroreport.org | Anne Checler |Kit R. Roane |Heru Muharrar
Ruling in a case that challenged practices that colleges use to select a diverse student body, the Supreme Court reverses itself. In this video, Retro Report looks at an important test case in 2003, when Justice Sandra Day O’Connor cast the crucial vote to uphold race-based admissions policies, despite her concerns about unintended consequences. This video was released in collaboration with Pulitzer Center, The Hechinger Report and WCNY/PBS. Stay up to date. Subscribe to our newsletters.
