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Podcast Review: The Megyn Kelly Show

The Megyn Kelly Show is described as an open and honest show with the most interesting and important political, legal and cultural figures today.

Ryan Hedrick

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With less than three weeks left to go until one of the most-contested presidential elections ever, some pundits are rejecting the idea of dueling town halls that featured a moderator who acted more like a debate participant. One of those critics, Marc Thiessen, a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) was a guest on The Megyn Kelly Show.

Thiessen blamed the chaos of last week’s dueling town halls featuring President Trump and presidential nominee Joe Biden on the Commission on Presidential Debates following the unilateral decision to have a virtual debate without consulting either candidate. “Donald Trump didn’t want to have a virtual debate because of course they were going to cut him off,” Thiessen said. “They were going to put too much control in the hands of the moderator.”

Making matters worse, the debate’s would-be moderator, C-SPAN’s Steve Scully claimed his Twitter account was hacked after he was caught communicating with one of President Trump’s biggest critics, former aide, Anthony Scaramucci. Scully asked Scaramucci if he should respond to the president after he referred to Scully as a “never Trumper.” Scully was subsequently suspended by the network after admitting that his account was not hacked. “The commission tried to play doctor a week in advance of the debates,” Kelly said referring to Trump’s COVID diagnosis. “Meanwhile he was symptom-free a week prior to the debates.”

Donald Trump’s town hall was carried on NBC and moderated by TODAY Co-Anchor Savannah Guthrie who Kelly said was “all over Trump” criticizing her for trying to service the NBC audience rather than the general public. “To me she looked more like Trump’s debate opponent.” 

Kelly and Thiessen compared ABC’s town hall moderated by Good Morning America’s George Stephanopoulos. Thiessen praised Stephanopoulos for the job he did, asking questions and letting the audience play their role. “The questions from the audience were good,” he said. “It’s always the high-paid journalists that think they are smarter than everybody else that have to insert themselves into every interaction.”

Thiessen concluded that Trump interacted well with the voters but was interrupted by Guthrie who accused him of not answering their questions. “At one-point Guthrie said to Trump that you’re not somebody’s crazy uncle.” The Trump campaign later attacked Guthrie suggesting she had filled the role of “Joe Biden surrogate”.

Kelly surmised a left-wing bias, pointing out that the audience did not get to ask questions until 20 minutes into the town hall. “It was all Guthrie,” Kelly said. At the start of the town hall, Trump endured a series of questions about COVID testing and condemning white supremacy. “Now contrast that with what Lester Holt asked Joe Biden in his town hall and things are different. It’s like the kid glove approach versus the battering ram.”

The last four years have been tumultuous for Trump, according to Thiessen. From the Mueller probe to the impeachment. He suggested that all the adversity may energize the president’s base at election time. “What Savannah Guthrie and all of the NBC folks did to Trump, it just helped him.”

Kelly also spoke to political analyst Bob Beckel about the latest poll numbers. According to several polls, Biden is cutting into Trump’s support levels with key groups like seniors and non-college voters, pushing him to a 5-point lead in Wisconsin and Arizona. Beckel said anything less than a Biden victory would defy everything that he knows about polling and election data.

“Trump is in the worst shape of any incumbent president trying to get re-elected that I could remember,” said Beckel. “I think we saw two types of American politicians at the respective town halls. I think people are tired of Trump.”

Kelly asked Beckel about the 2016 polls that showed Hillary Clinton leading Donald Trump by more than five percent in key swing states. “Why should we believe that Trump is headed for a defeat?”

“It’s an entirely different race and an entirely different situation,” Beckel said. “I think people may not be overly excited about Biden, but I think they may feel more comfortable with him.”

The Megyn Kelly Show is described as an open and honest show with the most interesting and important political, legal and cultural figures today.

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Sports Talkers Podcast: Danny Parkins, 670 The Score

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Danny Parkins opens up to Stephen Strom about why he is so passionate about defending Chicago. He also gives his best career advice and explains why a best friend is more important sometimes than an agent.

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PODCAST REVIEW: Millennial Money with Shannah Compton Game

Game spotlights rental evictions and how those evictions are impacting the economy. To discuss this issue Game talks to Shabana Baksh, Real Estate Attorney at K&L Gates LLP, and Tendayi Kapfidze, Chief Economist at LendingTree.

Ryan Hedrick

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No one could have predicted what the COVID-19 pandemic was going to do to the economy. Some of the unintended consequences from the spread of last year’s virus include millions of people getting behind in either rent or mortgage payments. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about 10 million people were behind in their rent payments at the beginning of the month.

Recently, President Joe Biden extended the federal eviction moratorium through the end of the month. The Millennial Money podcast withShannah Compton Game spotlights rental evictions and how those evictions are impacting the economy. To discuss this issue Game talks to Shabana Baksh, Real Estate Attorney at K&L Gates LLP, and Tendayi Kapfidze, Chief Economist at LendingTree.

“This temporary moratorium extends some of these vital protections to millions of renters that are at risk of eviction,” said Baksh. “They are also state and local moratoriums that remain in effect who may not qualify for assistance under the federal guidelines.”

Landlords across the country have been put in a tough situation with continuing moratoriums at the federal, state, and local levels. The typical delinquent renter owes nearly $6,000, according to a report published from Moody’s Analytics. The $900 billion relief package passed in December provided $25 billion for both landlords and renters.

“What we have seen happening since the economic crisis related to the coronavirus is that a lot of people who have been affected in terms of the industries that have been adversely affected such as travel, tourism, restaurants, and places where people have to engage directly, a lot of those people happen to be renters,” Kapfidze said,  “So obviously if you are not getting paid and not getting income it is a challenge to pay for your rent.”

To qualify for the funds, which are being disbursed by states and can be used for past and present rent, a renter must show that they suffered financial hardship due to the pandemic, have incomes below 80 percent of their median income and are at risk of becoming homeless.

“Right now, renters and owners find themselves in a significant cash crunch,” said Baksh. “We are entering into the second year of this pandemic and many renters are just accruing late fees and debt and so we are seeing a large buildup of these late payments. With that said, there are policies in place to protect renters and homeowners from being evicted and provide them with rental relief.”

Landlords still must pay mortgages on these properties that are not collecting rent. Lenders started the foreclosure process on 5,999 U.S. properties in February 2021, up 15 percent from last month but down 78 percent from a year ago. The highest foreclosure rates in Utah, Delaware, and Florida.

Lenders repossessed 1,545 U.S. properties through completed foreclosures in February 2021, up 8 percent from last month but still down 85 from last year. 

“Renters should alert their landlords of their inability to pay their rent,” said Baksh. “Have an honest and open conversation with them about your situation. Try to seek a solution, landlords may be willing to negotiate during this tough time and agree to payment arrangements.”

 The one thing that renters should know about eviction moratoriums is that they do not dissolve you of the responsibility of paying your landlord.

“The devil is in the details,” said Kapfidze. “Eviction moratorium, it means that if you are the renters you are accumulating debt, you are still under contract if you are renting, and you still have an obligation to pay your bill. “In terms of the rental relief funds there are different structures of plans, but the money is not always easy to access.”

To learn more about the Millennial Money podcast with Shannah Compton Game click here

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PODCAST REVIEW: Consider This from NPR

Consider This podcast from NPR hosted by Mary Louis Kelly, hosted a conversation with several people from the Asian American community and organizations about steps that are being taken to protect people from becoming victims of senseless violence.

Ryan Hedrick

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There is a movement to raise awareness about the threat of violence against Asian Americans living in the United States. Last week, a 21-year-old white man murdered six women of Asian descent and two other people at Atlanta area massage businesses. Robert Aaron Long told police that his killing spree was not motivate by race by rather by his sex addiction.

The incident has motivated discussions and rallies over the past several days. Consider This podcast from NPR hosted by Mary Louise Kelly, hosted a conversation with several people from the Asian American community and organizations about steps that are being taken to protect people from becoming victims of senseless violence.

The podcast documents several incidents that did not make national news headlines. In San Francisco, 84-year-old Vicha Ratanapakdee was out for a morning walk when out of nowhere, a man shoved him violently to the ground. He died two days later. It was not the only attack like that in the region.

A local resident who is sick and tired of seeing violence carried out against his community is getting involved.  JoJo Au launched a fundraiser to hire armed private security guards to patrol her own neighborhood, Oakland’s Chinatown. She has raised almost a hundred thousand dollars.

“Honestly, I didn’t know that it was going to spread like wildfire,” said JoJo Au. “And so many people were so concerned about it and wanted to do something, but they didn’t know what. You know, the merchants, they even say they feel safer. Some of the shoppers here, they feel safer. So, you know, I’m glad that I did this.”

Kelly said the pattern is clear – Asian American communities are being terrorized by harassment and violence. “Consider this – all those crimes you just heard about happened this year before a man in Georgia shot and killed eight people, most of whom were women of Asian descent.”

A group called Stop AAPI Hate tracks violence against Asian American and Pacific Islander communities. Since the start of the pandemic, they have received reports of nearly 4,000 hate incidents across the United States. 

Connie Chung Joe is CEO of a legal aid group, Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Los Angeles.

“Almost half of them are coming from California,” Chung said. “Another thing is that women are targeted more than twice as often as men. And then we are seeing a spate of hate and violence targeted at our seniors.

Chung said the Asian American that she knows are advising their parents and grandparents to stay in the house. “Even for things like daily walks or trips to the grocery store. So, folks are really worried about this. And there’s also a lot of outrage about why this is still allowed to happen in our society?”

Ben Nguyen is a Georgia state representative. Her district covers part of Atlanta and DeKalb County. She believes that Robert Long killed the women because of hate and nothing else.

“We know that these are three businesses that are Asian-owned,” Nguyen said. “We know that most people who work there are Asian. And I think for anyone who lives in Atlanta and you hear the word massage parlor, that there is an understanding that perhaps there are other sex worker-related things that take place in these massage parlors. And it’s largely accepted.”

Federally, there is an effort to address violence against Asian American communities. One of the leaders of that effort is Congresswoman Grace Meng, Democrat from New York. She’s introduced legislation on the issue. Her district covers parts of New York City and Queens. We spoke this week before the shootings in Georgia.

“People are scared. People are literally telling their elderly parents and grandparents, “do not go out,” said Meng.  “You know, we’ll buy groceries for you. I had a mom – that night when I heard about that incident, she had seen it on the news, and she texted me. She said, that’s it; I’m not letting my kids play outside anymore.” 

The U.S. Department of Justice could choose to bring federal hate crime charges against Long if they uncover any evidence to prove Long targeted the victims specifically because of their race.

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