Congresswoman Tlaib talks about The Squad’s role and how grassroots activism is shaping the future of the Democratic Party. Infectious disease expert Dr. Celine Gounder, a member of the Biden Covid-19 task force, offers insights into two promising vaccines. Scholar Robert P. Jones discusses the intersection of religion and politics, and bestselling author Yaa Gyasi tells us about her new book, her Ghanaian roots, and removing the stigma around mental health.

Episode 9 Rundown

2:42 Representative Rashida Tlaib on how she continues to fight for her constituents despite working in a polarized Congress. 

4:28 Representative Tlaib reminisces on her upbringing in Detroit and how her community was so accustomed to inequality, they didn’t realize they had the short end of the stick. 

9:12 When talking about The Squad, Representative Tlaib says it’s all about the grassroots support, and how that supports the progressive policies she champions.

13:14 Dr. Celine Gounder dives into the goals of President-Elect Joe Biden’s Covid Task Force. 

15:05 Dr. Gounder breaks down the challenges that low-income and rural communities will have distributing a Covid vaccine.

21:12 Learn about how experts like Dr. Anthony Fauci envisions the rollout of the vaccine in our weekly Covid update.

22:28 Lonnae O’Neal of ESPN’s “The Undefeated” investigates the intersection of race, sports and health in America.

25:00 The distrust of the medical system among the Black community dates back decades, O’Neal explains.

27:03 Errin Haines of The 19th shares her take on current events as a political contributor for Our Body Politic.

27:53 Haines says the division between those who trust and those who don’t trust election results speaks to a wider disenfranchisement of Black and brown voters.

30:29 The Biden-Harris administration has a plan to put people in historically underrepresented communities into his cabinet, Haines explains, but where are the Black women?

32:23 Robert P. Jones, CEO and founder of The Public Religion Research Institute, gives listeners some insight on the influence of religion on how people vote.

37:17 Jones breaks down the cultural divide we are seeing in the country, “It really comes down to this big question of who is America, who gets to be an American, what does an American look like?”

41:45 Yaa Gyasi talks about writing, her Ghanaian roots, and finding her identity in America.

46:20 Growing up, Gyasi recalls her parents finding community in the church and explores the topic of finding community in her book.

Amani and Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib check in about the state of progressive values in the 2020 elections. The first Muslim congresswoman pushes back on the idea of “falling in line” and offers building community as our only option. 

We've partnered with Lyft to get people to the polls no matter who or what you vote for. Use code "2020VOTE" on Election Day and see lyft.com/vote for more info.

Coronavirus has disproportionally hurt poor and black Americans, in addition to the elderly. Michigan's 13th congressional district is the 3rd poorest in America and is 60 percent African-American. For decades, it was represented by the legendary congressman John Conyers Jr. and now, it is represented by first-term congresswoman Rashida Tlaib. She joins Michael to discuss how she is helping her constituents cope with Covid-19, racial and environmental injustice, what makes Detroit so special and defeating Donald Trump in November.

Follow Rashida on Twitter here:

https://twitter.com/RashidaTlaib

Do Jews really need to worry about the possibility of Palestinian-American congresswoman Rashida Tlaib being in Israel? Hosts Michael and Alex pose the question to writer Dave Hazzan, who also chats about his recent CJN essay on the difficult double life of being a patrilineal Jew.

The Canadian Jewish Shmooze is hosted by Michael Fraiman and Alex Rose, and edited by Michael Fraiman. Our intro music is by Vanya Zhuk, and our outro music is by Latché Swing. Like The CJN Podcast Network on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. Find Dave Hazzan on Twitter here.

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