Posting and Hosting
Swinging through the Southwest and into the host chair and back again...
Good afternoon! Today, I’m rounding out a few weekends of guest hosting All Things Considered (with last weekend away to attend my stepdaughter’s law school graduation and visit some in-laws in lovely - if dry! - Arizona).
I’m really proud of the work I’ve been able to do with the team here at ATC (that’s our NPR jargon for the evening show) over the past month:
I started with a swing through New Mexico and Texas, and brought back long segments on a local abortion fight that could have national implications, and a profile of Jonathan Mitchell, the architect of the Texas abortion ban known as S.B. 8, which relies on civil lawsuits for enforcement. Mitchell is involved in a number of “culture wars” fights around the country, and he’s helped devise a strategy intended to push the U.S. Supreme Court to revive parts of the Comstock Act - an anti-obscenity law from the 1800s - that had been largely ignored under newer court decisions including Roe v. Wade.
My trip out west to attend the law school graduation got me thinking about how unique the experience of the Class of 2023 - especially those finishing high school or college - has been. This was the class that start high school (or college) in the pre-pandemic world only to have it all upended. So we gathered up a few graduating seniors from high schools around the country to talk about what that strange and challenging high school experience has been like for them.
And because there’s always news on the repro beat, I brought in a conversation with Washington Sen. Patty Murray, who says if there ever was a time to expand access to birth control, this is it. She’s re-introduced legislation that would require health insurance companies to cover over-the-counter birth control at no cost, as required for most other contraceptives under the Affordable Care Act, when and if the FDA signs off on dispensing the pill without a prescription.
As a Midwestern girl, I find the Saguaro Cactus to be absolutely fascinating and so different from the flora I grew up around. And can you see those birds?!/Sarah McCammon
Loved hearing you on Weekend ATC. Was wondering if that was going to be your new gig, now that Rachel Martin is on ME?
Great hearing you in the host chair as always! The discussion with the HS kids was an excellent window into one of the most serious long-term impacts of the pandemic. Glad you enjoyed the amazing Arizona beauty.