Tough response to prevent anti semitic crimes following Saturday's stabbing attack during a Hanukkah celebration in New York N.P.R.'s Daniel Estrin reports from Jerusalem Israel's consul general in New York said quote another hate crime against Jews was just a matter of time the envoy said he met the New York City police commissioner a week ago to discuss anti-Semitic incidents in the city former Israeli defense minister of ignore Lieberman said the solution to attacks like the one in New York is for Jews to move to Israel other Israeli leaders stop short of saying that after attacks on Jews in France and elsewhere Israeli officials have encouraged Jews to move to Israel for their safety but there's a long standing tradition that Israeli officials don't do that when it comes to American citizens Daniel Estrin n.p.r. News Jerusalem Secretary of State Mike Pompei o says u.s. Airstrikes targeting Iranian backed militia in Iraq in Syria were meant to send a message they were in response to last week's rocket attack in northern Iraq that left an American contractor dead as N.P.R.'s lemme Aryan reports the militia says the airstrikes killed 25 of its fighters Iran says the u.s. Quote showed its support for terrorism by carrying out attacks on this yarn group Hezbollah in Iraq and Syria the militia says it's vowing to exact revenge after the u.s. Airstrikes on its fighters killed at least 4 commanders and Iraq's prime minister said that tax were quote a violation of Iraqi sovereignty That's N.P.R.'s Lamell Arrian reporting from Beirut stocks are trading lower at this hour on Wall Street the Dow was down $171.00 points the Nasdaq down 59 the s. And p. 500 down 17 this is n.p.r. News. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators are expected to take to the streets of Hong Kong later this week for a New Year's Day March the protests are aimed at disrupting celebrations in the city's financial district which has seen a rise in clashes between protesters and a riot police since Christmas the ongoing protests began in June in response to a now withdrawn bill that would have allowed extraditions to mainland China or courts are controlled by the Communist Party Turkish police say they've detained about 100 people suspected of Islamic state ties N.P.R.'s Peter Kenyon says authorities carried out the round up ahead of the New Year's celebrations police were quoted by state media is saying the arrests were carried out in the capital Ankara and 5 other provinces police confiscated weapons and digital material during the raids ISIS claimed responsibility for an attack on New Year's Day 2017 when a jihadist gunman opened fire at an Istanbul nightclub killing 39 people there he says it's deported more than 5000 ISIS suspects and more than 3000 foreign terrorist fighters in recent years police said the detainees include Syrians Iraqis and North Africans the round up comes 2 months after the u.s. Announced the killing of ISIS leader Abu Bakar al Baghdadi in northwest Syria near the Turkish border Peter Kenyon n.p.r. News Istanbul the winter storm continues to cause problems in parts of the Northern u.s. From the Dakotas to Michigan winter weather warnings have been issued for many parts of the upper Midwest on Wall Street the Dow is down 159 points s. And p. Down 17 this is n.p.r. Support for n.p.r. Comes from n.p.r. Stations other contributors include Gnome a personalized weight loss program based in psychology for helping people change their habits and conquer their goals learn more Ed Gnome and o.o.m. Dot com and the listeners who support this n.p.r. Station. Hi this is Steve Inskeep with N.P.R.'s Morning Edition hours from now as the headlines start to crawl resident Trump has terminated and were removed and the numerous flashes push to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act is moving on to this you'll know why the day is going the way it is because you saw that one coming It's Morning Edition it's a listen every day and all North Korea's starting to test tech waking up Atlanta from 6 until 10 on 90 point one w.a.b. . From n.p.r. And w.v.u. I'm Robin Young I'm Jeremy Hobson is here and now whatever happens in the next 24 hours or so $29000.00 has been a banner year for the stock market the Nasdaq composite is up some 36 percent the Dow up nearly 23 percent and the s. And p. 500 up 29 percent close to having its best annual gain in 22 years Joining us now is Diane Swonk chief economist at Grant Thornton in Chicago Hi Diane hello So whether or not the stock market actually hits that record this year it's been a very good year for stocks What do you attribute that to well the biggest factor to attribute it to is the Federal Reserve Dave basically did a one a day and to back with they gave us in terms of rate hikes in 2018 they did rate cuts and as a result that helped to spur financial market conditions we also saw the Federal Reserve had to expand its balance sheet and it says this is not what it calls quantitative easing because it's dealing with problems and the overnight repurchase market but at the end of the day if you know walks like a duck quacks like a duck it's a duck and that has also helped financial markets at this stage of the game we worry about is how much it's helped financial markets because actually profit margins have been narrowing since 2014 and profits have not been remarkably great even know the markets have been remarkably great it's also important to remember that the broader stock indices did not reflect profits in the overall economy they now reflect sort of distilled version of the largest most profitable companies out there so they may be outperforming the overall economy by a fairly large margin as well well let's dig into that a little bit because President Trump has been holding rallies saying that this is the best economy ever is there evidence that a lot of Americans are not feeling this good economy that he talks about it's a great cause. To me that's important we are at the lowest unemployment rate in over 50 years that said I think we have to go back and look at how did we get here we got there by a lower participation rate we're now back with the prime age that's 25 to 54 year olds participating in the labor force at the same pace they did before the financial crisis but nowhere near the highs we saw in the 1990 s. Boom so even though we now have the longest expansion on record what we've had in stamina is trying to make up for the fact we've not had as much momentum as we like and even the growth in the economy has underperformed what the administration had hoped we'd see on the tails of tax cuts and stimulus so we're still chugging along and that stamina is really important because the longer the marathon of this expansion goes the more people who can enter the race from the sidelines that said you know we're finally recouping some of what was lost in wages at the low end of the wage spectrum but we've yet to see the trickle out into middle income households it is a good economy it is getting better but you actually see it in the consumer sentiment and confidence figures as well is we've yet to hit the euphoria of the 1990 s. Even know we're at lower measures of unemployment than we were back then and that's because the dirt is in the details there are some really great things about this economy and there are some things that aren't so great that income inequalities and wealth inequality in particular continue to widen Well if a lot of the expansion right now is based on what the Fed is doing what do you expect the Fed to do in the next year do you expect them to raise interest rates again you know this is the 1000000 dollar question are we should say trillion dollar question now for the year ahead because that's the way these numbers are going I actually expect that the Fed will have to eat a little more humble pie and take back one more interest rate cut in 2020 and actually cut raise I think they'd like to be on the sidelines a whole year from the Fed's perspective one of the things Jay Powell. The chairman of the Fed has made a goal is that he wants to see some heat in the economy what he means by that is heat and wages where middle income households can feel the gains of the economy as well look at one more thing and I ask you about a lot of people predicted that there would be a recession in 2019 obviously that didn't happen what are you thinking about 2020 and is it possible that whatever triggers the next recession in this country whatever that comes is going to be a surprise is going to be something that not everybody was thinking about the problem is almost always a surprise the chances are fairly high that will be a surprise my concerns were always for 2020 and we have done a $180.00 on many of the factors that would have tipped us into recession you know the Federal Reserve has eased instead of tighten rates further we've actually seen some call in trade disputes although we have yet to see as the ongoing trade negotiations with China and the u.s. Continue if we can keep the pause button hit but there's still a whole spectrum of things that is in the geo political situation and what's going on in Europe we still have a brac set to go through all of those things are still on the horizon and for the moment it feels Ok and confidence has certainly shifted the biggest shift from a year ago is sentiment but remember a year ago when sentiment was so fearful it almost took us into a recession that is Diane Swonk chief economist at Grant Thornton Diane thanks as always and Happy New Year Happy New Year to you Well let's get some perspective now on those 2 attacks on places of worship over the weekend a shooter killing 2 worshipers at a church service yesterday in the Native American named White Settlement Texas before he was killed by an armed church security team and in months in New York outside Manhattan a machete wielding man stormed into a rabbi's home Saturday night during a Hanukkah celebration injuring 5 today he was charged with federal hate crimes Juliette Kayyem is the former assistant secretary of homeland security in the Obama administration so Juliette 2 attacks. Are you hearing police bracing for more yes and I think that there is always a concern around the holidays in particular a sense of isolation people aren't in schedules and also just I think fears of copycat that what you will see is increased security presence at places of worship into to kill or synagogues at this stage because the attacks on synagogues or Orthodox Jews who are simply walking down streets or at markets is an epidemic this last week I think we're monitoring sort of 12 incidences in New York alone in the last week so this is something that's being monitored it's obviously something that places of worship will take control of whether they have increased security presence and begin to you know do something that's unfortunate for places of worship which has become more securitized and less open who of course we hear the ones that make the headlines the attack on the Deli in New Jersey or the of course the horrific attack on the synagogue in Pittsburgh but you're saying there are far more attacks and people know right I mean some of them are just beating up someone this happened in New York in Manhattan Orthodox Jew and so that is something that's being monitored by organizations like a.d.l. But if you just take a step back at the totality of the numbers that we're seeing not just anti-Semitism but just the totality you know I'm just reflecting what the f.b.i. Is monitoring which is a 20 percent increase in hate crimes in particular against Hispanics and Mexican immigrants that you're seeing nationally these numbers are now at a stage where white supremacy has by far overtaken Islamic terrorism as the greatest terror domestic terrorism threat that we're seeing in this country today but police say that the church shooter in Texas this past weekend was relatively trans he and he had an arrest record that armed security guard group within the church had their eye on him noticed him. He was acting oddly shot him almost immediately the family of the Hanukah stabber said he's mentally ill but we referred to some of these other cases the Kosher Supermarket attack in New Jersey after those attackers may have had links to a group known as The Black he Ruis realize that's an anti-Semitic anti police group they also killed a policeman So what is the sense of these lone wolf attacks that are on the rise or groups it's groups and attacks against the Jewish community unfortunately are can be the focus of the right and the left but then just taking the big view I do not believe there are lone wolves anymore I look at these numbers I'm an expert in counterterrorism we are seeing a phenomenon known as what's called stochastic terrorism it's a type of terrorism that we're seeing in the pub in the in the United States now and it has 3 key attributes The 1st is obviously a perpetrator who feels isolated or what we call displaced by the other they feel like the you know the immigrant from Mexico is displacing their way of being the 2nd they have a sense of community right so they're both isolated but they have a sense of community online and this is why people like me and others are very critical of Facebook and other social media platforms that aren't regulating this kind of hate they find comfort and power in the groups that they're not alone root wolves by any stretch of the imagination but I think Robyn the 3rd most important is they have a sense of acceptance in the public space this is what is known as stochastic terrorism it is the use of language of division by leaders whether it's Donald Trump or others that has a greater likelihood that there will be violence and response but it is unpredictable what that violence will be in other words what does a person doing response to language like that and it's a phenomenon a lot of us have been talking about that the public spaces on fire and what we need from leadership is to lower the fire right that is. Now you get people to feel isolated to not take up arms to not take up violence and so while I don't think you know one thing that the president says leads to you know a hate crime I do think that we miss the big picture if we don't see that through line between our public discourse at the very top and what is happening by the numbers in communities across America today we should know President Trump called the attack on the rabbi's home her ific and anti-Semitism an evil scourge security expert to that with a new word for many stochastic terrorism thank you so much thank you Robin and by the way alone the word stochastic means random but as to the it said when there's hate rhetoric from a leader or an online community that may not call for violence that make listeners feel threatened it can motivate seemingly random acts of terror fascinating it's here now. The former mill town of Lewiston Maine had an influx of Somali and Congolese refugees around 20 years ago they're about the 6th of the town's population today there is a question a bully a feeling of vitality in in a city that was not there 2 decades ago or even a decade ago I named Scott how that arrival changed Lewiston next time on Marketplace this evening at 63090 point one w a b e. I'm Jack North Korea's leader is expected to announce a new path this week amid stalled nuclear talks with the u.s. The country's state run news agency says Kim is sort of the military to prepare unspecified offensive measures to protect the country's sovereignty the North has given the u.s. a New Year's deadline to present a proposal that will restart nuclear talks the former president of Puerto Rico's House of Representatives is pleading guilty in a 27000 corruption case Jamie Perriello was charged with extortion and illegal enrichment in the case surrounding a half $1000000.00 contract awarded to set up the house's phone system new federal figures show population growth in the u.s. Is at its slowest pace in more than a century the Census Bureau reports population grew only half a percent from mid 28000 to mid 2019 or about one and a half 1000000 people you're listening to hear enough. As we say goodbye to 2019 and hello to 2020 who are doing something a little different closer look with rule Scott returns in 2020 but 1st. It's a full hour of music to ring in the New Year join me. For the New Year's Eve music special New Year's Eve add one hero $90.00. Happy New Year and Christian McBride with toast of the nature to celebrate we've got a terrific show at a feature some of the best jazz collectors perform. You hear the problems in regard to the s. Of jazz go back to the micro level of history and the Baltimore jazz going to those talents of bands who don't want to talk of the nation going to be CIO n.p.r. New Year's Eve Evan Levin am on 90 point one. Funding for hero now comes from Olin College of Engineering celebrating all in 202020 years of designing solutions to put people at the center of problem solving by integrating engineering with the arts humanities social sciences and entrepreneurship more it all and dot edu this is here and now you have just 2 weeks left to see the Broadway hit freestyle love supreme the show that makes the audience the star it's the brainchild of the creative minds behind in the heights in Hamilton including Lynne memo Miranda and Thomas kale in October I spoke with 3 of the cast members. Goes by you t.k. The I and c. Chris Sullivan who goes by shockwave and Anthony or to touch and I asked Anthony who is also a founder how the idea came about who it was just a terrible idea this went on into an awful to 15 years. We were working on in the heights at the Drama Book Shop and we had all gone to Wesleyan together Lin was there sort of workshopping and working under Tommy's guidance and I was sort of the inter luck uter who would jump in and be like Len let's freestyle rap and I just convinced Lynn that it was a good idea to do this in front of people because like we did it every cast party we did it in between breaks and stuff and then finally I convinced him and we had a show on August 16th of 2003 which is the day after the eastern seaboard blackout on August 15th of 2003 right yes a very famous moment in New York City history was it always though and in those early days successful enough that you thought this is a good idea because I can imagine it going wrong if you're just not all in sync with each other about how to make words people say into something that's compelling and entertaining. I think the short answer is yes the long answer is no yes sometimes I mean when you do this thing especially when you're 1st starting out like it's terrifying and you're terrible at it and I'm still terrible at it there are some shows that I have where I'll try to set up a rhyme and I fail at it but that's I think a part of our show we allow the audience to see the rough edges and some of the mistakes and so more importantly for me was that the audience was with us and when that we made our those mistakes it kind of even got us more empathy and more Kred with the audience that it was happening in the moment so once that happened it's one of those things you're like oh I need to do this all the time it's my favorite thing oh god I can't wait to do it again Ok Well let's I think we've gone on too long without giving listeners an idea of what we're talking about here what you do in the show involves audience members giving you words and you all freestyle off of those words I guess since I'm the audience now you tell me what you want and you can do what you do great why don't you give us like a word at a time and we'll just ask you for the next word and we'll have you t.k. Kick it off and shock will do a beat and then he'll maybe trade with me at some point an I'll give it a shot to fail miserably as well Ok and I'm going to look at our show and the words that are in our show in the news right now so brags it. Is Ok here we go Jay really let me step in. Like the u.k. . Put it together that's why. Give me you know the word. Israel which. I did little to do it for Israel. To put that up and and it's a bit of Broadway show with all of my friends it's. Almost it's elections it's Ok do it's well you know press to actually know politics don't want to talk just want to say you should get out and vote you do is fine for me and I just help you express. If boys take their choice because it will always get power that's what it's going to be put on your cow will own your Kates because if you will when you can be great now I'm going to pass it up to. Him a word and he can show you what he does that was so good to apples Ok well thanks for giving me that much low. Entry You see I'm just like scrapple in the Midwest a pencil no apples to be in my brain I'm not no John a gold I'm just feeling like I was a cameo so maybe you should mackintosh on my fly. It's. Not the words it's whistle blower it's. Alright could we keep it get any lower I mean this country needs more whistle blower was not looking that the White House I'm just looking for how to get out. So yeah that's not what we're doing what we do yeah I'm going to be honest Jeremy you're giving of the word we should just go a little faster going that's right next to her so no worries and I'm just a lowly audience member I don't know I don't know how the audience member makes up most of our show so you're an exalted audience well and I have to say when I when I went one of the words was empathy and then it becomes a whole song that involves a word empathy and I thought to myself and of course I'm sitting there like trying to figure out how the magic trick works and I'm like I wonder if it has to be a 3 syllable word is there anything about the number of syllables that goes into what you do that's a great question a very technical question from an intelligent and exulted audience member who needs to work on his work giving but otherwise it's crushing No we don't hold a syllable structure anything certainly the more syllables it can be fun we all know that there are certain rhymes 80 easy words and bigger 8 instigate imitate that have more rhymes that go with them but the point. Is to pick a word and then speak the truth you're also pulling together pieces of everything that the audience has said to you throughout the show that you might not even use directly but you'll remember and bring it back later which brings an even bigger reaction from the audience when you do that you've got to have your memory working all cylinders running throughout that entire show yeah basically like our job and the way that we support it and what makes the show such a fun is that for the audience and for us is that it's a real exercise in hyper listening when Anthony or shockwave or Lynn or whoever is on stage it's my sort of privilege and gift to be able to listen to them and give them all of my energy and we've sort of just learned to retain the things that the audience likes along the way so that we can give them the joy of bringing it back up now one of the things that you do at this show which I've never seen before although frankly in this modern age where everybody's using their cell phones all the time it seems like it's a pretty good idea that we should do this which is that you take every Not you but the people that if you walk into the theater they take everybody's phone and put it in a little pouch that immediately locks and can't be unlocked until the show is over what's that about well there's also an escape clause which is if you have an emergency and you need to get it open you can leave the theater at any time and it's just this little magnetic thing that opens up just like like if you're shopping at The Gap and you left with that little tag on but the reason why we did that for our show was a couple of big points for us 1st it helps the audience to be really connected as a community and what we're doing up there on stage yes we deeply listen to you the audience and then what we're asking from you is that you deeply listen to us the hope here is that we're all in the moment together witnessing these connections and the neural networking that's taking place in our brains that's then creating a mesh network out there in the audience as well so that's one to we're also saying crazy things. We are doing stuff as characters of the audience and made up worlds and if someone were to film that and then take it out of context and I mean any night you could probably get a recording of me pretending to be Trump saying I want the world to end and this is our society now I'm going to rule forever and like if you take that out of context yeah I mean all right would really love to smear me that I'm sure so what we're saying to the audience is hey we're going to be vulnerable as well so we don't want that then leaving this community afterward in a way that would potentially damage anyone I wonder if other Broadway shows are going to pick up this idea because it is annoying when somebody pulls their phone out in the middle of a show you have a glowing white light. It's funny for those of us who remember before cellphones. And it's almost a no brainer where on stage it just feels harkens back to more innocent times 9 day . Thank you Morgan Freeman Chris Ellison the me ask you because you run the freestyle love supreme Academy which is a school for people who want to learn how to do what you do is it very difficult to teach it no absolutely not it's not difficult to be in it either myself and Anthony and Andrew Bancroft aka jelly donut also a member Freestyle of supreme we sort of a combination of responding to the demand of people asking how do we do this and aside from saying 15 years of practice there's there are also other building bones to learning this process and he so folds who is a member of freestyle love supreme she goes by a young niece went through the freestyle love supreme academy with these guys and is now with us every single night on Broadway which is to say that if you. Hadn't met last night you'll And I know it right way know that guarantee that's. You the class you go on Broadway and I reckon and it does yeah Ok before we let you guys go I want to just have you do something which will probably save forever which is can you do a here and now free stuff. It's we always now. Put it down the sound we hear now so we came together put it down with the sound of how we. Came to put it down so. We now I'm going to seek out. Of the team we have here that's what I like just sound and your place on the radio like here we don't and yeah. And you just feel like Albert and maybe get a little existential because. Now I don't know what is it detrimental to. Get existential jam here and now it's like dang jam. That. Made him drop that bar just a little bit he didn't know how he got to put it down but it sounds. That way gone up one of the. Amazing guys thank you so much that is Anthony Bennett c.l. a Much better Sullivan and. Thank you so much to all of you and good luck with freestyle love supreme on Broadway Thank you thanks Jeremy Jeremy and remember take the class you'll end up on but you know you'll be there for. Our conversation from October the show closes January 12th it's here and. This is here and now on 90 point one w a b e. Did you know that n.p.r. Is among the most respected news outlets in the country if your regular listener don't surprise you but did you know that nearly 84 percent of all of our funding comes from metro Atlanta and most of that is from listeners just like you this December please support it with your own gift. Maybe. Danny thanks this week in This American Life when we go into our families sometimes we buy them devices hey there's something I get it you had a baby it's good distraction and all that we can watch them arguing with technology this thing is it a cyst but then there are those brave family members who have something important they have to get off their chests and things get loud this week that's Monday night at 1190 point one. Funding for here and now comes from the listeners of w.b. You are Boston where the program is produced and your n.p.r. Station from Life Lock reminding consumers that only one in 5 victims of identity theft discover their theft through a bank or credit card company learn more at Life Lock dot com and w.b. You are presenting kind world a podcast about transformative acts of kindness intimate true stories and interviews new episodes of kind world every Tuesday available on Apple podcasts. From n.p.r. And I'm Robin Young is here now impeachment and the upcoming trial have been sucking all the air out of Washington but Congress did manage to pass a new $1.00 trillion dollars spending bill and inside it are significant changes for retirement saver's rolled into the new spending bill is something called the secure Act which stands for setting every community up for retirement enhancement and tries to address the fact that according to the Federal Reserve a quarter of Americans have no retirement savings at all for years Jill Schlesinger business analyst receive u.s. News and host of John Money has been telling us people haven't saved enough for retirement she joins us now and Jill what does this overhaul you know being called the biggest update to retirement in a decade what does it do so many things so from the big picture what this is trying to do is try to get more people to contribute to retirement and a lot of the rules that are in place right now are changing pretty dramatically so let's start with the requirement that says you have to take money out of your retirement plan after you turn age 70 and a half that is going to turn into a $72.00 so if you are turning 70 and a half after December 31st 2019 you will not have to do it at 70 and have you have to do it at age 72 Ok one hold up there what does this mean if you're approaching 70 and a half can you know automatically go to 72 Well here's the thing if you don't take the money out that you're supposed to take out there is a whopping 50 percent penalty so if you are supposed to take $3000.00 out at the end of the calendar year after you turn 70 and a half and you don't take it that would have been a $1500.00 penalty now the penalty still exists it's just that it's moving to age 72 and what's important is that you if you're already 70 and a half before December 31st the old rules in place if you turn 70 and a half. After the 31st then you get to wait until you're $72.00 and the reason to weight is well the reason to weight is always to De Lay your tax hit right because when that money comes out you have to pay whatever your tax bracket is at the time on that money again that money's never been taxed so the idea that you somehow feel ripped off because a lot of people always say to me like oh why does this have to happen you haven't paid tax on it yet so it's time to pay taxes the $1.00 thing that's really important about the required minimum distribution that people don't realize is when you do delay it it can impact lots of different things you might have more income than you want to have later in life that can affect the cost of your Medicare it could also impact the tax rate on which you pay your Social Security benefits What else does it do you know for people who actually have retirement plans right now specifically a 4 a one k. There are going to be some changes in the way the balances are actually shown to you so let's just pretend that you're you know 40 years old and it shows $50000.00 that you've saved in your 4 a one k. The new rule will require the plan provider to translate that into future income and here's what I mean $50000.00 looks like a big chunk of money you feel happy about it but when the provider then says to you that actually means $200.00 a month when you retire doesn't look as good so what the rules trying to do is try to give you a better reflection of how the money you have in an account can translate into monthly retirement income that's still Sussan Gera business analyst for c.b.s. News host of Jill on money will post her writing on the new secure x. And here now dot org Jill thank you so much thank you. For years. Media companies and advertisers have banked billions off the backs of student athletes under pressure the has agreed to consider changing its rules Le Bron James called it a beautiful day for college athletes but with so much at stake will it play and pay fair. Tonight at 10 on $90.00. Jack the man accused of stabbing 5 people at a New York hanako celebration is now facing federal charges Grafton Thomas will face counts of attempted murder and obstructing the free exercise of religious beliefs his family says he has no history of anti-Semitism but does have a history of mental illness Turkey's government is asking lawmakers to approve the deployment of troops to Libya to prevent conflict from there from spiraling into civil war lawmakers will meet in an emergency session of parliament on Thursday to vote Turkey's leader says the u.n. Backed government in Libya has asked for help the Chinese scientists who claim to have made the world's 1st genetically modified babies will spend 3 years in prison because of that research China's state run news agency says has pleaded guilty and will also have to pay a 3000000 u.s. Fine you're listening to here and now. This is here and now on 90 point one w.a.v. Eat all things considered follows it for. A monthly sustaining donation to the means your gift is constantly powering all you love about. But has this month's donation gone through please update your credit card details at. Slash update every day N.P.R.'s All Things Considered includes news that keeps you as head of the car if this issue is not important enough for us to draw a line in the sand what is sure. The unexpected the skin the neck the heart you making chicken meat cooking the card ledge All Things Considered from n.p.r. News every weekday afternoon from 4 to 630 it's All Things Considered here on 90 point one. 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It's here and now it was a weekend of fear for those involved in 2 separate attacks on places of worship Saturday Hassidic Jews celebrating Hanukkah at a rabbi's home in New York yesterday Christians at a church in Texas but of course this is also a season of faith and our next guest recently decided to dig deeper into hers Sarah Hurwitz was Michelle Obama's speechwriter before that President Obama's like many Jewish Americans she considers herself secular leaving the whole religious part behind after her Hebrew school days so she says she was as surprised as anyone that her new book here all along chronicles her embrace of Judaism as an adult she says her deep dive into centuries of Jewish texts interpretations and debates gave her a new moral compass and a political one demanding activism and she says it can be applied to all faiths Sara Horowitz Welcome thank you so much for having me and Happy Hanukkah thank you and we should say you point to that is one of the things that you and many families did you know there might be 2 or 3 days a year where you were really really Jewish right and it was definitely one of the right and but this isn't just a Jewish thing I think there are many people who recognize that you know being of the faith maybe a couple times a year but feeling pulled away by modernity talk about how you suddenly fell back into the faith it was kind of an accident it was an accident you know the age of 36 I broke up with a guy I was dating I was bored and lonely anxious I happened to hear about an intro to Judaism chorus and I signed up completely on a whim but what I found in that class blew me away you know I always think a good person I don't lie cheat or steal I follow American law it's a low bar right that's really designed to make sure I don't steal your property or assault you or infringe on your rights but you wish laws designed to make sure that I'm honest I'm generous and kind and loving and it sets a very high bar to like authorship do I shame people and I am kind it really made me thoughtful about my speech to you wake up what is the prayer I loved. Yes it's murder on e which in Hebrew means thankful my you literally start out the minute you wake up expressing gratitude for the blessing that is your life so you started studying all of the major Jewish philosophers may Monody these gave you some political lessons too such as a listen to the truth from whoever says it yes so did you start to see wait a minute there's a line here that maybe I didn't even recognize while having one of the heaviest positions in politics which is top speech writer for the Obama's did you start to see wait a minute maybe this was percolating all along he didn't change I was doing a politics but it helped me recognize him better understand what I was doing so I think of the core Jewish but I think is the core animating Jewish idea that we're all created in the image of the divine which you don't have to believe in any kind of God to understand the value of that which is we're all infinitely worthy all totally equal to each other and each fundamentally unique this is reminding me this idea that we are all created equal about some of the things you observed Michelle Obama say for instance it was that high school commencement speech this was a school attended primarily by Native American students in Santa Fe New Mexico they never thought Michelle Obama would come what did she say to them she told them 1st by how proud she was of them and she talked about her family's story the many generations of her family that her great great grandfather was a slave to her parents dealing with segregation to herself and her children and told them of course you should ask me to come and you said you saw in that speech not only how the u.s. Has changed how the Constitution has been amended in re amended but also parallels to the Torah how so we do not live by an original version of the constitution thank God I mean that literally allowed slavery Fortunately our Constitution is a living document where allowed to amend it thankfully we amended it to get rid of slavery we amend it to allow women to vote the Torah it's 2500 years old when it says an eye for an eye use re-imagine that 2000 years ago engine rabbis 2000 years . Hugo said no no no that means if you put out someone's eye you have to mind terribly compensate them so just as the Constitution is to all of the Supreme Court cases in amendments the Torah is to all these thousands of years of commentary interpretation and many would say the Bible is as well I have to ask you about writing words from Michelle Obama when she gave speeches for instance at the Democratic convention or when she said when they go low we go high Were those the speechwriters words when they go low we go high were 100 percent her words she came up with that line I just typed it into the speech you know Michelle Obama is someone who knows who she is and she always knows what she wants to say so as her speechwriter you don't script someone like that you channel them so when she says I wake up every morning in a house that was built by slaves and I watch my daughters 2 beautiful intelligent black young women playing with their dogs on the White House lawn that was something I'm sure was something that we sort of came up with together or based on something she had said you know it's it really is a partnership right there dictating your channeling going back and forth sharing edits but it really ultimately it really kind of originates with her well in going back to when they go low we go high you say that's one of the critical tenets of your new understanding of Judaism I think it is you know I do think the core animating idea of if you Deism is that we're all created in the divine image and what other people have an instinct to degrade to dehumanize to be cruel we don't stoop down to their level Ok so for someone listening who might be thinking you know you seem like a pretty good person why did you need this well the problem is we all think we're good people right but I realized in studying Judaism I'm not really a great person the ethical standard that Judaism dictates is much higher than just like you do you don't hurt other isn't being nice when you can write it's you know everyone knows you give money to charity but how much and how do you do it do you do it in a way that preserves their dignity What do you do it anonymously do you know Judaism really gets down to the weeds and says Ok Actually this much and you do it this way and there's a lot of debates and conversations about how and how much and what's the best way and you realize. Well it's a higher standard Well you also say the Torah strikes me as an unavoidably political document a passionate protest against the old hierarchies and abuse of power that's a kind of thing that strikes fear in people's hearts when people start saying that the Bible is giving them political direction and I agree with them right if you're saying the Bible dictates that I have to vote Democrat or after support this candy or that that's very dangerous but what I do believe is that if you look at the Torah I don't know how you can avoid the fact that it's a political document the Torah is obsessed with poverty income inequality how we treat the strangers among us the stranger was the immigrant is the refugee I think that you can actually make arguments on many sides of the immigration the debate the health care debate citing Jewish tax however to say that Judaism should be political is to fundamentally not have read the Torah it's not about which opinion is right it's about have the debate and in fact we were Xander avoid these issues these are inherent in our course they protect well and you also quote a Christian writer who you say gave you another religion lesson which is that it's not cool to remake God in your own image she said you can safely assume you've created God in your image when it turns out God hates all the same people who do exactly that is Amazon and look this is the problem that I have with this sort of spirituality and theology that many of us think we see in ancient religions growing up I thought the Jewish God was a man this guy who controlled everything and rewarded us Moner good and punish us when we were bad daily life shows me otherwise every single hour of every day and I find it really problematic however that that's not what Judaism says Judaism has all kinds of different conceptions of the divine there's one conception the mystical conception that says we're all God God is the animating energy of the universe nonnes today the divine and maybe it's the exactly right and this is actually it's funny you say this I look at a lot of modern day spirituality and you. When it's un anchored in any greater tradition it does become very much like well this firm's me and this makes me feel this I call out to the universe it's like that's great but does the universe ever call back and demand that you live by high ethical standards and care for others can you just say you know something that really really surprise you given us some overarching thoughts which is something that really surprised you about the face you grew up with I was surprised by just how little dog mother is right if you say what is Judaism say about x. It's pretty rare that you'll get a Judaism says this I also just think the complexity of Jewish spirituality is not man in the sky or atheism there's a lot of very sophisticated god concepts I've had friends of all religious backgrounds adamant atheists who've read my book and said Ok some of these god concepts are crazy by the way it was one of those friends that read the book and loved it did they happen to be Michelle and I just between us like I mean just between us or ages you know it's funny I gave them copies of the book and Mrs Obama sent the most beautiful tweet I adore her well and by the way you had to be you know on the few people who walked on Barack Obama you were the only. Part of the White House because you wanted to work with Michelle Oh yes I was with him for a year and a half 2 years wonderful just didn't have the thing you know just money I just felt more at home in her voice could you tell something like Mr President don't or you're going to get this speechmaking thing down. I was not worried about him he would be just fine with no speech writers at all and so when she saw her with her new book inviting people to reexamine Judaism or any faith is here all along finding meeting spirituality and a deeper connection to life in Judaism after finally choosing to look there Sarah thank you so much thank you so much for having me. Last year proved spectacular for live music in Atlanta 2020 is every bit as awesome as is mine to thank you Steve let me give you my picks just to highlight sunny days ocean breezes and share of hives and to ease you into 2020 seven's chat. I will have more for you on Mary's music next Thursday at 645 and 45 in the morning and just after 3 33 pm 90 point one w a b when you hear those statistics to tell you the oceans are warming and you wonder where did those numbers come from 30 centimeters down this is from scientists measuring precisely what's happening in the Arctic and what it could mean for all of us lobster and was gone our fishing was gone and my community is gone meet people working to figure out the future of the Arctic listening to the Arctic from the National Science Foundation this evening at 990 point one w a b e funding for here and now comes from the listeners of w.b. You are Boston where the program is produced and your n.p.r. Station from knew him a personalized weight loss program designed to give people knowledge to set new goals and the tools to stick to them for good learn more at Newman and o.m. Dot com and read it and w.b. You are presenting endless thread the podcasts of bring stories discovered on Reddit to you each week a wide range of tales told with intelligence and humor and was thread available on Apple podcasts. This is here and now we now know one thing that'll be bigger in 2020 those huge S.U.V.s like the 2021 Chevy Tahoe which will be 6.7 inches longer than the 2020 version Joining us now is Nathan bomi a business trends reporter for USA Today hi Nathan how are you doing well so how much of a difference to $6.00 inches make in the scheme of these giant S.U.V.s you know it doesn't sound like a lot but it really is a few inches in the auto industry makes a huge visual difference in fact really when the automakers even add one or 2 inches to a vehicle you can really tell and so when you see General Motors adding half a foot to the Chevy Tahoe which was already a really hulking vehicle that's going to make a significant visual difference but it's really a trend that we're seeing across the industry will tell us more I mean what other automakers are making these they guess Uvas even bigger you know I think in some ways g.m. Is actually responding to the market here because just a couple years ago Ford made the expedition which is a tough competitor a few inches bigger and you know it's not interested traditional Big 3 automakers to you look at Toyota which of course broke into the United States with small cars they're making their S.U.V.s bigger to the 2020 Toyota Highlander s.u.v. Is actually bigger than the 1999 Chevrolet Tahoe which shows you how this size creep happens over time and why are they doing this you know I think this is a response to what Americans want when you look at the focus groups in the surveys and basically anecdotal information from when people visit the dealerships they say they want more space I guess this is sort of in some ways the quintessential American desire you know bigger is better and I think one reason is gas prices haven't really been a problem for years now it's not necessarily the fact that they're lower than $3.00 a gallon which of course they are it's the lack of volatility the fact that Americans seem to think gas prices are really not at risk of spiking now we know from a historical perspective. That may not be the right bed but for now people seem to be confident that they're not going to get stuck with gas guzzling well and these cars are not the gas guzzlers that they once were I was surprised to see that many of these huge S.U.V.s get 30 miles a gallon and I think that's key here because you know when 2008 happened of course gas prices spiked and in the financial crisis hit there was a period there in which these types of S.U.V.s were just caught in a terrible situation because no one wanted to be paying a lot for gas and you know but the reality is that yeah makers have made significant fuel economy improvements in the last 10 to 15 years and so and you can definitely get a larger c.v. Now that gets well into the twenty's on the highway per gallon that is and even more than 30 miles per gallon you know if you have a small car from say the year 2000 and big a c.v. Actually make it better gas mileage in that 2000 model vehicle that said you know Tahoe is not really getting more than about 20 miles per gallon so you're still going to pay a lot for gas if it ends up spiking at some point do you expect that this trend and we're going to you know at the end of this year it looks like about half of the new vehicle sales in this country are expected to have been S.U.V.s do you expect that trend is going to continue Well you know that's a good question I think that the industry analysts think that the s.u.v. Might finally be leveling off we're at about 50 percent of sales now are S.U.V.s about 30 percent are cars and then 20 percent are pickups so a 50 percent we may have hit a peak but I don't think anyone sees it backing up at all and you know what you see the automakers doing now is basically starting to create new niches for S.U.V.s so there are you know creating new types that we really didn't even exist before and it's also important to say that a lot of these that we kind of call it as you are really cars I mean a lot of these small crossovers are essentially a car platform just with a little bit of a bigger body and so you know that some of the small crossovers get outstanding gas mileage. So you know but the big ones like the taco and the expedition and Islander they're among the most popular models Nathan do you think that all of the pressure from activists and others on climate change and trying to reduce carbon footprints is going to have an impact on the market for these giant S.U.V.s you know I don't think that much is going to reduce the demand for these types of vehicles short of federal regulation you know if federal If you economy standards at some point likely not under a troubled ministration of course under a Democratic administration perhaps get stricter that might end up rolling back some of the growth and vehicles but I do not see you know climate activism or you know individuals believing that they need to adjust their lifestyle is having a big impact on the market there's simply not much evidence that people make car purchases based on their personal beliefs about the environment you know I think if you take for example hybrids you know hybrid vehicles are really doing poorly as poor as they've ever done at this point the Toyota Prius is in very bad shape and in fact Toyota just cut the Toyota Prius c. Which was of one model and the Prius v. The only one left is the regular Prius and then there's also a plug in the good news for environmental activists and you know of course anyone who believes as of course it's correct that climate change is a significant issue is that electric cars are definitely coming and so you know the General Motors test for everybody is making an e v of some sort and the only question is When can they get those vehicles the same price as a conventional car it's coming it'll be soon just not in the next year or $2.00 that is Nathan bomi a business treasure reporter for USA Today Nathan thanks and Happy New Year All right thank you so much. And here now is a production of n.p.r. And w.v.u. Are in association with the b.b.c. World Service I'm Jeremy Hobson I'm rather young this is here now. Funding for here and now comes from the listeners of w.b. You are Boston in your n.p.r. Station and from methe words creators of Matlab and Simulink software for technical computing and model based design networks accelerating the pace of discovery and engineering and science learn more at Mathworks dot com. Fresh air is ending the decade with a holiday week series of staff pick interviews from the decade on our next edition we'll hear from 2 beloved journalists whom we lost this decade Anthony Bourdain and David Carr ordain was a food writer a chef and the host of several food t.v. Shows Carr was a respected and very readable media columnist for The New York Times joining us. This evening on 90 point one. Heights Rachel Martin with Morning Edition in addition to making a donation or becoming a sustainer You can also donate an extra vehicle to support public radio whether it's running or not here's how to get started learn more at w a b e dot org. This is 90 point one. Good afternoon I'm your Moffitt in for Jim Burress this afternoon all things considered is coming up next just ahead we'll have reaction today to the news over the weekend of a stage 4 cancer diagnosis for Congressman John Lewis the weather forecast clear skies lows in the upper thirty's tonight tomorrow it'll be sunny with highs in the low fifty's and then on New Year's day sunny with highs in the mid fifty's Currently we have fair skies and 60 degrees in Atlanta at 4 o'clock. People I know feel. That we need to continue to live our lives and represent who we are as we are reaction to the rampage at a small town you take all comers you know news. Life from n.p.r. News and Washington I'm Windsor Johnston the Trump administration is facing sharp criticism from the Iraqi government after the u.s. Launched airstrikes Sunday on several bases belonging to Iranian backed militia as N.P.R.'s Jackie Northam reports the u.s. Strikes came after an American contractor was killed during a rocket attack blamed on the militant group the u.s. Launched the airstrikes against 5 targets in Iraq in Syria belonging to cut tab Hizbullah an Iranian backed militia Iraq's prime minister on Lobdell Mahdi warns the attacks could lead to dangerous consequences including an escalation of violence between the u.s. And Iran Brian hawk a State Department advisor on Iran says the us had to respond in a way the Iranian regime will understand there we are attacked by the regime or by one of its proxies we will take decisive action in response as President Trump took that yesterday but Iraq's National Security Council says the airstrikes will force the government there to rethink its security relationship with the u.s. Jackie Northam n.p.r. News Washington the suspect in a stabbing attack that left 5 people wounded during a Hanukkah celebration in New York this weekend is facing federal hate crime charges N.P.R.'s Hansi Lo Wang reports the man is also.

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