It's 9 o'clock. Is Connecticut out across rooms with over 1001 hand health care workers are expected to get vaccinated over the next month and a half but shots for elderly people and patients with underlying medical problems will not begin until January and people who are not in a high risk or critical group will have to wait until at least. In Connecticut prevent the virus from spiraling out of control over the holidays it will depend on whether residents can resist the urge to gather indoors with family and friends. With them take a look at the recent numbers coming up on the wheel house. Live from n.p.r. News I'm core of a Coleman there were more than 215000 new cases of the coronavirus reported in the u.s. On Tuesday that's according to Johns Hopkins University more than 2500 people died of covert 19 yesterday in the u.s. The number of virus infections in the u.s. Has surpassed 15000000 the trumpet ministration is proposing its own coronavirus relief package to members of Congress the measure spends more than what was recently proposed by a bipartisan group of lawmakers and P.R.'s Winsor Johnston has more treasury secretary Steve the mission says he's presented House Speaker Nancy Pelosi with a $916000000000.00 proposal a package a slightly larger than a bipartisan relief bill introduced last week mission says the latest offer includes additional federal aid for state and local governments a top Democratic priority and liability protections for businesses that Republicans have long to push for in a deal and a joint statement on Tuesday night Speaker Pelosi and Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer said the president's proposal must not be allowed to obstruct the bipartisan congressional talks that are underway Windsor Johnston n.p.r. News Washington President elect Joe Biden has selected Ohio congresswoman Marsha Fudge to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development N.P.R.'s Frank or don't use reports if confirmed fudge will take over the agency at a difficult time for ages likely to be called on early in the administration to help millions of Americans struggling to pay rent and mortgage payments due to the pandemic Biden also plans to nominate former Iowa governor Tom Vilsack for agricultural secretary a job that he held before in the Obama administration the 2 departments have a key role in supporting American households is responsible for affordable housing while u.s.d.a. Oversees food assistance programs as well as traditional farm support programs. The 4th African-American person Biden has tapped for his Cabinet and she is the 6th woman Franco or down yes and p.r. News the Justice Department and the f.b.i. Are joining an investigation into the law enforcement shooting death of a black man in Columbus Ohio a sheriff's deputy shot and killed Casey Goodson as he entered his house last Friday officials have claimed that he was waving a gun his mother Tom Miller pain says he was holding a sandwich. With him are. Being a black man law enforcement officials in Ohio say they recovered a weapon from a good son but good since family says that he had an up to date license to carry a concealed weapon no other law enforcement officers witnessed the shooting. You're listening to n.p.r. News. Support for n.p.r. Comes from n.p.r. Stations other contributors include Merrill Merrill guided investing help us manage our clients' portfolio Merrill Edge dot com slash investing goals Merrill Lynch Pierce Finner and Smith incorporated both a registered broker dealer and investment advisor Good morning and Lori back with the news headlines Connecticut's coronavirus positivity rate has jumped to 8.65 percent the highest rate the state has seen in months officials reported 18 new fatalities yesterday more than 1200 people are hospitalized with code statewide Waterbury police officer is recovering after being shot in the chest during a stolen vehicle investigation the officer was taken to the hospital following the incident yesterday and is expected to be all right 4 people have been taken into custody in connection with the shooting police say the officer was saved by his bullet proof vest the Harvard current reports the restaurant workers in Connecticut are planning a demonstration in front of the governor's mansion to protest the comments of a Yale infectious disease specialist who said Monday at the governor's coronavirus briefing that she feels indoor dining is very risky Connecticut officials are promoting mental health resources Governor Ned Lamont participated in a roundtable discussion yesterday with mental health care providers He says he's concerned problems could increase this month as people feel isolated and coronavirus cases spike around the holidays this is Connecticut Public Radio it's 9 o 5 I'm meteorologist Karen Maginnis and it's another chilly December day look for highs between 35 and 40 which is so little bit cooler than normal for December 9th a few spotty snow and rain showers are possible as the day moves along tonight will be partly cloudy and not as cold as last night loans will be in the low thirty's and then tomorrow will be a bit warmer with highs reaching up into the forty's with a Connecticut Public Radio weather report a meteorologist Garrett r.g.s. . Conversation about the treatment of. Small percentage of people actually. Adding to the lymph nodes on presentation. We hope you'll join us Sunday evenings at 730 here on Connecticut Public Radio support for Yale cancer answers. It's a critical revenue for the state to recruit moving forward and so. We saw the office closing at our sister papers earlier group here and we sort of thought that will happen and. That's what's coming to pass right now one of my friends would call the Super Bowl of back we have to be home about you know we're learning something different every day every week. Early as next Monday. This is the wheel house on Connecticut Public Radio I'm loosing up with Anshul broadcasting remotely in the mix you just heard Mashantucket Pequot tribal nation chair Ronnie Butler talking about sports gambling Hartford Current reporter and frequent wheel house analyst Danielle Mari we also heard Pfizer North America president for vaccines David herring and Yale School of Public Health Dr Albert Koch in an interview with Dan har who we hope will be joining us soon also the last voice on that montage Dr Reginald e.t. He's co-chair of Connecticut's Coburn 1000 Vaccine Advisory Group speaking on where we live just yesterday about when shots could start for health care workers and he said that they could be showing up as early as next Monday on the panel today I am happy to announce making her wheel house debut today Emily Brinley She's a hard for current reporter you hear her voice on those twice weekly every twice 2 days or so when the governor has a briefing I think it's Monday and Thursday now I'm really friendly welcome to the wheel house morning thank you for having me also with us Con McEnroe host of the Collin McEnroe show and a columnist at hers Connecticut I call in. Good morning to anybody never listens anyway. And Dan Hart is a columnist and associate editor at Hearst Connecticut Dan are you there on Zoom Oh well he's there but we are having trouble hearing him so hopefully we will be able to have him join us Dan can you hear us now. Ok we'll keep working on that So on Tuesday there is some news and I guess it's not unexpected that our positivity rate in the state continues to rise it's nearly 9 percent now and that's the 2nd highest single day positivity rate in Connecticut since testing became widely available call in this you know we knew we knew this was going to happen especially after the Thanksgiving holiday but you know what's your reaction when you hear this positivity rate rising well as you say we knew it was going to happen we over the Thanksgiving weekend fully nationalized this disease in a way that we had not before you could you could manage to try to look at it in terms of regions of in terms of states I think that's going to be harder and harder to do I also think that we've that we're seeing right now the post Thanksgiving you know sub wave it's just getting started the question I mean I don't think anybody doubted very much that there would be an uptick in the case rate. In the positive doesn't rate I think the question is is it going to spider web out you get you know maybe 10 people together in a house for Thanksgiving who haven't been together before and one of them is in fact infectious you're going to get some infections right there in that house the question is are those people going to infect other people because if that happens and I think it's the greater likelihood if that happens you're going to see the rate move into the double digits you're going to see stresses on health care delivery unlike anything we've seen so far in the pandemic. Emily what do you think about the numbers right now. Well I think that the one point of caution that I always tell people is that one day's worth of numbers is not a trend so I think that we are going to have to continue to watch the numbers over the next few days to see if that high positivity rate continues but it definitely does seem to me like it is the beginning of Thanksgivings like and as columns at the big concern here is hospitalizations if you talk to officials at hospitals and doctors in the hospitals they're very concerned that this is going to be the beginning of another surge that could potentially really stress the system and this time around unlike in the spring Connecticut and the Northeast region is not the only region that spiking with cases so we're seeing high case counts and high hospitalizations across the country and that means for the hospitals that there is nowhere to fall in extra staff call you can't call in nurses from the Midwest because they're already tied up in Midwest hospitals so this time around the real strain on the hospital systems is going to be in the staffing levels and that's going to be the bottleneck even before we get to a bottleneck in the number of. Now there have been conversations between us some doctors and the governor about capacity and some just wondering you know it seems like the the governor is taking time to have these meetings and to hear these health care workers and but I'm wondering Emily you know what does that mean as far as what the governor might be doing in the next couple of weeks or in the next month as we may see these cases continue to run. Right yeah so about. A couple days before Thanksgiving I believe it was November 24th a number of doctors a lot of them from Yale New Haven they wrote a letter to Lamont asking him to close gyms an indoor dining to help avoid the Thanksgiving slide that we believe that we're beginning to see now and you're right Lamont did meet with a number of those doctors and according to both the governor and the. Doctors were in the meeting it was a productive meeting the doctors said that the governor listened to them and heard their concerns however after that meeting the governor has continued to say that he does not have any immediate plans to close down gems or indoor dining so while he has certainly been willing to take the time to talk with people it does not appear at this point that he's actually planning to take their suggestion to heart and to make the changes that they're asking for and you're beginning to a.b.c. Some more pressure on the governor as other states especially in the region begin to to consider closing down in their dining we saw that Governor Andrew Cuomo in New York on I believe on Monday that he's considering closing down into or dining if hospital rates don't stabilize that is something that so far Governor Lamar has not been willing to say so well he has said publicly that he he needs with public health and that his decisions are based on public health there clearly are other factors at play here as well and that's something that I've heard frustration from doctors that there are they're concerned that they won't be able to handle the influx of patients and there are things that you can do in the hospitals to help kind of to mitigate that stress but ideally you just wouldn't have those patients because I mean sick in the 1st place so far we haven't really seen any movement from the governor on that but it is definitely something to watch over the next couple of weeks as cases continue to rise. That's Emily Bradley Hartford Current reporter Dan Hart hopefully is with us right now Dan can you hear me yes I can and can you give me more yes we can hang you thank you for joining us today devoted to have you so given your essentially agree but go ahead Ok well yella tell me why I was going to say I don't necessarily agree that the numbers we're seeing since Thanksgiving show a causal link between the hospitalizations and Thanksgiving activity there's up and down we had it down we 10 days 6 to 10 days after Thanksgiving so the numbers are still very noisy and while I agree that there's frustration among people who want to further shut down. The. Contact tracing and the hospitalisation numbers don't necessarily show that what happened at Thanksgiving or what's happening now in for example gems is because of increased in fashion. So when you are talking with people in the community day and also talking with officials what are some of the reasons rap is positivity rate of 9 percent right now well really think people well 1st of all we've had one day that approaching 9 percent so that the positivity rates are going up and down that is a very scary number just to put it in perspective if us is at about 11 percent unfortunately we've been rising a lot faster than the u.s. Average and certainly states like Florida have been rising and even even slower than that. People feel as though informal social gatherings rather than. For example going to a restaurant with your bottle are the cause of infection that is to say if you have as little bit you know a problem for people and you go to a restaurant and you sit in that restaurant indorse there is not right now evidence I've seen that's convincing that group as a group is at greater risk than they would be doing you know or some other activity obviously if you stay on your it's your risk you don't go anywhere as it is now and I can just jump in real quick there there actually was a study from the c.d.c. Showing that people who have who test positive for cocaine 1000 are much more likely to have eaten into our settings so I didn't want to throw that in there that there is some evidence that they're in restaurants I think he thinks the bottle though if you stay in your dog in the restaurant that's a lot less traced as a problem then if you go to most people that go to a restaurant or going out not with people that they live with in their house that's the problem. Calling what do you think if he had mentioned the spider web if fact and only think about bubbles you know you're only as safe as the precautions that your bubble is taking right and you know din is correct that the speed of thinking right now about the single biggest area of spread is the informal gatherings where people let down their guard because they're mad they feel like they have a comfort level with their neighbors or family members that they haven't seen for a while or or whoever but that doesn't mean that other things are safe some of the things that we know know things that people about the earth all izing of the transmissible virus make us less comfortable with some of the arbitrary numbers that they were arbitrary but at the beginning presumably you heard 6 feet 6 feet is not really an meaningful number anymore I think 15 minutes was another number that got thrown around these are all kind of based on early science but it's a much trickier situation. Then and those hard numbers would make you think that it was I the way that I would think about a restaurant would be if you knew the people at the table nearest to you were infectious would you stay at your table or if you knew that you were infectious would you expose the people at the nearest table to you 2 to your disease in other words assume somebody in the equation is infectious and then ask yourself whether you should be there and I actually think the answer you know becomes pretty obvious in Unless of course you have a completely different attitude towards the disease itself. You wrote a column call and talking about. People should stop celebrating that pandemic isn't over yet and some wondering if you could talk more about that column and you know people is it might fatigue with all the precautions or they had a vaccine or hearing that doses are going to be coming into the state pretty soon that people are letting their guard down yeah I mean look you know to use the word has become a cliche people are tired of the disease diseases not tired of people in the vaccine and Emily I know is going to actually Emily and Danny are both going have a lot to say about this but the vaccines are going to roll out slowly even some of the earlier numbers like numbers that seemed valid a week or 2 ago in terms of the allocations they are going to turns out that you know all of these companies are facing supply chain problems cold chain problems you know it's not going to be easy to get this into a massive population and there are some big question marks about the vaccines I mean one of them is do they provide so there's a useful distinction is protective versus sterilizing immunity protective immunity means you get the vaccine you never get an expression of the symptoms of covert 19 because you got the vaccine. Sterilizing immunity means you get the vaccine and the disease can never get a foothold in you so that you could give it to somebody else while it is symptomatic we know less than we would really need to know about whether that sterilizing immunity is conferred by these vaccines we also don't know what happens 6 months after anybody gets the vaccine because we just don't have that data obviously the trials are new enough for 6 months 9 months maybe everybody who gets the vaccine 9 months out has some kind of reaction we're not aware of we're also going to go through some periods of panic there's sort of a in math the law the never inevitability that things happen so if you vaccinate a 100000000 people. You're going to see a cluster of heart attacks or strokes or transverse myelitis or God knows what is and it's going to maybe look like it's being caused by the vaccine and it's going to take some forensic science to figure out whether that's the case or not so this whole That scene thing it's wonderful that we've gotten as far as we have as fast as we have but there's a lot of unknowns about it and to bet everything on the idea that you're going to be you know vaccinated environment where you don't really have to have the kinds of fears that you have now by me or June as some federal spokespeople I think you know it's probably a little bit of a false hope I think it's a less likely scenario the more likely scenario is you're going to be wearing your mask you're going to keeping your distance you're going to be washing your hands a lot for quite some time to come. Emily what you think about a college shared in what we still don't know yet about these vaccinations. One of the biggest things and I really agree with Khan on this point that when people start getting vaccinated 1st of all you know we're looking at medical workers beginning to be vaccinated probably next week and that's extremely exciting but for the general population the state has said that it's aiming to get everybody vaccinated everybody who wants to be vaccinated have all of those people vaccinated by early fall 2021 that is quite a ways away so although the vaccination that's Asians are beginning to roll out pretty soon or most everybody it's still it's still a number of months off and as Collins said even once we get vaccinated we don't know for sure if people who've been vaccinated will be able to spread the virus to other people and as as a public officials have said throughout the pandemic you wear your mask to protect other people from the virus that you might be carrying So once you get vaccinated you still will have to continue to wear a mask just a little distance to wash and all of those factors that where we're dealing with now the other thing is that we're really going to have to have a large be. Cent of the population receive the vaccine before we reach herd immunity I was talking yesterday to Dr Luke Davis down at all and he estimated that about 70 percent of the population will need to have a successful vaccination in order to reach herd immunity or prone a virus and I'll point out to here that herd immunity depends on the Tejas ness of the virus so different percentages of people need to be vaccinated in order to reach herd immunity depending on on the specific disease that we're discussing so with open it's about 70 percent and there will be some That's nations that are not successful so we're talking almost to about 80 percent of Connecticut residents will need to take the vaccine in order to get us to herd immunity and that's going to take some time so we are looking at at still a number of months before we can start talking about returning to what we think of as normal life. The phrase successful vaccination day and I'm thinking about the fact that with the Pfizer you know I think maybe maternal you have this the 2 doses and the idea that people may not follow up. With that 2nd dose that's problematic What else could go wrong if it's that thing distribution there's a lot that could go wrong not even so much in the in the distribution I would remind you that for every one that the Pfizer and return the studies were I believe 22 and 24 months respectively they may have both been 22 months studies but there's a reason why this nations have always taken a couple years and by the way it was almost never approved after just one. Phase 3 study 12 year study. To give a a comparison the famous Connecticut made flu block vaccine which is made by the now Snuffy protein sciences took 13 years of studies for a disease we knew pretty much everything about which was the flu this is a disease we don't know anything about so I would say that the vaccines I don't want to see. Like a fear monger the vaccines are most likely safe because the safety studies are pretty rigorous early on and to reiterate our constant just don't know what they're going to do exactly but I would take a step and I would say that broadly the vaccine mentality that we're seeing the vaccine is the savior of the scene is the bill that we can take and I get that it's a shot not a real bill that we can take to make everything better replicates and reflect the typical American approach to everything this Civil Rights Act will cure racism fuel standards will cure. Global warming throughout every aspect of culture we're looking for quick sheep solutions the reason we and them it is because we have a crisis in public health just yesterday United Health Care came out with a report obesity is up 15 percent in just 8 years that's a lot we are now over 30 percent of Americans that are obese anyone who thinks that's unrelated to this pandemic is crazy. When I mention panelists on the we'll have Dr Jonathan Wharton over at thether and Connecticut State University he'd had Covais they just tweeted that he's finally tested negative twice that's great news Jonathan I'm glad that you're doing better and I wanted to move on Emily from this discussion in talking about you know there's been some many guidelines and policy changes since the spend and make began you know certain businesses have never been able to reopen since March and that means that's including bars that you've reported on the state Supreme Court scheduled to hear arguments this Friday about whether the governor went beyond his authority when he shut down bars in Connecticut because of the pandemic that suit brought by Christine Casey who owns a bar in Milford Connecticut What can you tell us about what she's arguing. You know so her argument here is basically that the governor as you said that he stepped beyond his constitutional authority and shut down shut down bars and other businesses in the way that the state legislator should have done that so her argument is that he kind of overstepped and took on the role of a legislator there and also say that the spirit Court has already ruled on that case and they sided with the governor I'm going to be interesting to see how this plays out and I believe that is beginning on Friday but you also her argument is basically a constitutional argument that the governor has overstepped that is something that has been brought up in other states as well so interesting to see how it plays out . Conway you think about the state before the Supreme Court now not having actually read any briefs or arguments it's a little a little reluctant to comment I mean this is probably going to have to devolve into what's known in law as an allocation argument in other words where is power allocated the statutes are pretty clear about this in the relevant statute for those of you playing along at home the real relevant statute would be 28 down to knowing subsection b. Paragraph one that declares that the governor can declare a Superbowl preparedness or public health emergency and in so doing he may modify or suspend in whole or in part any statute regulation or requirement that he finds to be in conflict with the efficient and expeditious execution of civil preparedness functions or the protections of the public health I don't think you could be much more clear than that it actually gives we more power than he has exercised so far. So you know I think he's followed the law he could the statute itself is broad enough he could do a ton more than he's doing and not break that law so the argument before the Supreme Court has to be an allocation argument that he regardless of the statute and maybe on. Doing that that statute needs to be modified or struck down that he's doing something that legislatures are supposed to do which is whatever you said at the outset. And really there wasn't a list there was one point that I wanted to make about about this case so. Casey here the woman bringing the suit she's also arguing that the p.n. Demick does not constitute a serious disaster or Pastor be under state law or eat because the weight of the law is written that allows the governor to take these kind of wide latitude stirring up a public health crisis the law was written kind of with natural disasters in mind you know hurricanes and things like that and obviously a pandemic is not all under that same category so they are also arguing that pin them it doesn't constitute legally a serious disaster so you could lose on the point I mean you don't know the government is going to lose on the whole point yeah. But the underlying issue here is that what was seen is the frustration of bar owners we've basically shut down the whole sub industry and the state hasn't really done anything or certainly not enough except for the small business loans for these businesses and they really have to step in and do a lot more economically you can't just say you're going to shoulder the burden because obviously this is dangerous activity every study shows that they're going to lose unanimously in the state Supreme Court we know who's on the state Supreme Court we know what they've said in general they not only get the legislature approve this implicitly but they approve that explicitly with approach twice including a near unanimous vote 5 months 6 months after the fact to remove it and so February so there's no question about the legal standing the issue here is receiving right correct their frustration by this bar owner and bar owners across the state can I just build on that I said this last week but I want to say it again I think when he meets with the health care workers I'm a physician. And stuff when he shares their camera and microphone with an infectious disease expert which I believe you did over the past week he's sending a signal he's saying they they're right they have a point and he's also his hands are somewhat tied you know he can't do as much as they would like him to do even though he knows the that's really the most prudent public health course and part of the problem is there's no federal relief and now we're starting to talk about waking up the $900000000000.00 bill I mean if he had federal money in hand that he could give to some of these sectors that then he's talking about I think he'd be singing a very different tune I think you'd be shutting down more stuff and saying I will keep you financially whole until I can get you open again but I think that's hard given the actual financial resources that exist at the state level and your hero Rosa De Lauro. And we'll be talking about her soon enough but Dan tell me more about what you've been hearing from restaurant because you made the point or we've heard that and we just heard Collin mention it too if there was more money there be a way to help these businesses for at least a few more months but the tab is run dry until the federal government maybe passes the 2nd coronavirus the stimulus the relief well where you came from restaurants What more do they want the restaurants are oh Ok with a 50 percent restriction they're not happy about it but they're Ok with it they really really really want to keep indoor dining as long as they can and they get that it's not open in New York and not other states they are oh not Ok with the 10 o'clock shut down but that's a very small subset of restaurants most restaurants are daytime places and early evening places but the ones that are sort of high profile are not happy about that and O'Clock shut down the bottom line is that they like the governor are in a tough position the restaurant owners. Like Steve Abrams of trouble kitchen the easy actually said to me that he preferred to keep 50 percent over the 75 percent even though he would lose money so I do not want people to think that these restaurant owners are economic thoughts canonically thinking only they really are out for the public with their working really really hard to make this work. If they go out of business that's really bad and obviously we have to do something about. The I wanted to jump in here real quick because you know the point about the federal funding and how maybe you would allow Governor Lamont to do some more business closures and put in place more restrictions although that makes logical sense at a press conference last week the governor was asked about this and he actually said that the federal funding was in effect this decision on whether or not to close indoor dining so I think there is there is a question here about how much how much the governor would change his mind or change his approach there was more more spending you know I think that there are some factors at play here with the governor wanting to keep is this is open even if they have the support to close and that's something that has to be taken into account as well. Lots of calls to keep order intake out from restaurants but that doesn't pay the people the wait staff the server and keep them employed and that is the the challenge as we keep moving into this winter you're hearing Emily Bradley Hartford Current reporter also Dan who are here columnist and associate editor at Hearst Connecticut and called McEnroe host of The Call Magna show and a columnist at Hearst Connecticut Coming up an unwelcome change has come to a Hartford institution that's older than the nation will talk about that right after the break. Support comes from the Metro Hartford Alliance an investor based economic development partnership focused on business development attracting and retaining talent and sharing a strong urban core and promoting the Hartford region Metro Hartford dot com today in Connecticut history is funded by the state historian at u. Conn hard for and c t humanities. Today and 967 singer Jim Morrison of The Doors was arrested during a concert at the New Haven a Reno Morrison was confronted by police while making out with a fan in a backstage shower he went on stage to rant about the little blue men who stopped his tirade mid rant the cops split Morrison's fire today in Connecticut it's story . On the next fresh air working on behalf of people sentenced to life under drug laws leader regarded as unfair and unconstitutional we talked with lawyer Brittany Barnett who started this work after her mother was convicted of a nonviolent crack related offense 7 of Barnett's clients were granted clemency by President Obama one by President Trump joined us. Listen today at noon support for Connecticut Public Radio comes from our members and from the Gateway community college foundation building a bridge to equity through scholarships technology and internships donate today and change a life find out more at Gateway f.d.m. Dot org. Public Radio I'm loosing all the fan chill and Friday the Hartford Current announced it will shut down its newsroom December 27th and the paper will still operate but reporters and editors will start gathering in the building right across the street from the armory on Broad Street and hard for ownership recently announced that the paper will also no longer be printed in Hartford and Brinley is with us $100.00 for current reporter Dan Harmon called McEnroe you've all have connections to the heart for current and we'll start with you how did you and your colleagues take the news well it was something that was not entirely unexpected. Or Tribune publishing they have closed the newsrooms of a couple of our sister papers this year so it wasn't entirely unexpected that said it is very different to expect something to happen than it is to actually hear about it I think it was a pretty devastating day or for everybody and you know for me personally it's of the I still am wrapping my my mind around and it's it's also happening so fast you know as you said December 27th. Is when the building is going to be closed and that's just a few weeks away now at this point so it really is extremely disheartening. And it's been a difficult few days that's for sure. Now we've all been working remotely in some capacity and we work in the news business but there's something about being in a news room come and the fact that this newsroom will be closing you know it has ripple effects so I think Danny is going to turn out to have the longest time in that building but I was there starting with my internship in 1985 through 1905 so 20 years for me in that building when they were just quickly want to say because I know we're talking about newsrooms for a reason but you know a newspaper building is a lot more than that when I was there this is how old I am when I would go down to it what was called the composing room some of the I think mostly the advertising was still being struck in a hot lead the type was being said by hot lead machines but all over the building there are people doing really interesting jobs and it all kind of ties together to produce what people used to call the daily miracle of a newspaper rolling off the presses there's a lot that goes on in that building but just to focus on the newsroom for a 2nd and in the other I mean when I worked at the car and I also work a lot and feature departments and stuff like that but I guess aren't technically the newsroom there's a lot of collective thinking that goes on a lot of trading of ideas you know you're in the newsroom column I was in the newsroom but when I was in the Sunday Well I mean never mind. I got more of an education there than I got in 4 years at a fairly prestigious American University you just learn a lot of stuff really fast because you have to and because you're surrounded by people who are really battle tested know what they're doing and to me that's probably the biggest worry if you start to move away from that the young reporters who come along you just learn this incalculable amount of stuff working in a setting with you know 30405060 other completely crazy people facing deadlines they don't you know you learn it as you have to learn it. Dan I'm sorry I didn't want you to mix for me between the person. No and the professional I was there when you start the clock at freelancing as a photographer I was there for 37 years. To me what comes to mind are really all the personal relationships the stories the 100 current is not a closed newsroom like other closed news rooms the Hartford Conn is not like other places the current has this amazing tradition of excellence that goes to people that like Jack Zaman and Collin McEnroe and Garber Rosner and it just Lisa chattel it just goes on and on and I don't think that I'm talking just because I'm a veteran or an alum of that place over and over and over we hear people say all over the country in the Hartford Current the Asper of those were the most amazing professional years of my life and so to see that close to me it ultimately comes down to a personal said this of course all of society is moving in that direction to the detriment but Tribune and especially the current owner have been nothing but horrible owners since 2000 and I see no reason why the company called Tribune has ever existed they've never added anything on a corporate level so that great newspaper. Amalie and you're still with the Hartford Current when com was talking about the amount of of education that people get which is working together in a news room I'm wondering if you can talk about that. Yeah absolutely so as as a young reporter I can definitely vouch for what Collins saying there about how much you learn by just listening to the other people who are in the newsroom I. Think that I learned the most definitely just by eavesdropping on people's conversations as they're doing phone interviews as they're talking to their editors as they're hashing out story ideas that is definitely how he learned how to be a journalist and you also see that the different approaches that you can take you know different reporters have different styles and you get to see all of those styles when you're working in the newsroom it's really an invaluable learning experience and as you as you learn more and more you also start to take advantage of the colleagues that are around you and and use them as sounding boards and that kind of interaction is just really not as possible when people are working remotely we've seen that during the day and then what I always tell people is that during the pandemic we've been surviving remotely because we have to and we will do what it takes to put out a good paper every day will do what it takes to give our readers the arrangement they deserve but we have always done the work knowing that there is a light at the end of the tunnel and that we would return to the newsroom at some point and now that late at the end of the tunnel has been extinguished and you know this remote working as I said it's survivable for now but I don't think that it's sustainable in the long long term. Call it our focus then on the Hard for current But what does this mean for newspapers in general as we have been hearing about how newsrooms are being restructured and there's fewer and fewer reporters covering community Yeah you know look at it hasn't been good in that way on the other hand to sort of build on what Danny was saying there's a lot of different ways to run a newspaper chain right now with you know are both working for Hearst they have a more expansive idea of what you can do and what kind of resources they're willing to put in to creating a different kind of product you know I I don't think it has to be bad I don't think it has to be as bad as all that and trip have made it and I mean the other part of it is that you know all of these scarcities create a kind of. An opportunity for innovation to do different kinds of things and to get into pod casting and develop other kinds of digital news c.t. News junkie Connecticut mirror I mean that they've proven that there are other ways to do this job. I just want to say that sitting next to John Linder for a short 4 years and my career was I never saw him because of the piles of stuff but I sat next to him and I could hear and I mean it was just an undue and that's taking just one person it's exactly what Emily said and the the hope in this is that class b. Space in the fringes of a downtown can cost I figure for the cost of 2 reporters the Hartford Current can have space not in that building necessarily but can have space and so that's the sort of open Going forward there's no reason why this idiotic decision needs to be sustained over a long period All right I'm going to switch gears here I think Lucy has lost her audio so I'm going to stage a coup d'etat until I hear her voice in by headphones so we sort of alluded to this before Rosa De Lauro. She is going to be the House Appropriations Committee chairperson and she's already starting to talk against the you know one of the questions that I've had for a long time Dan is you know even before this before Rosa is like how much does this necessarily entitle any particular state to expect my 5 senses she's the appropriations chair that doesn't mean Newhaven can get a monorail just by picking up the phone right I don't think we really know what it means for Connecticut there are 2 levels at which it means something the 1st is the sort of dark money I don't mean electoral dark money but government dark money under the table and it certainly does go to people who are in power and I would I'm not accusing anybody of anything here but we've seen it happen in the state legislature where West Hartford lost a key committee chairman and that cost the council money the 2nd area is in policy. So for example under Rosa De Lauro we're a lot more likely to see an infrastructure bill or at least see her fighting for an infrastructure go Rosa De Lauro likes to spend money since it's federal money we've learned under Donald Trump that you can borrow a trillion dollars at the federal level and it doesn't matter no Republican ever again going forward for the rest of recorded time or abreast of future time will ever be able to complain about government borrowing to fund operations because of a shortfall that debate is over and so we're going to see the Democrats look to borrow more for regular operations and that means more money for states that need things like Connecticut because we're an old state I think Lucy's back Lucio you back Ok maybe not so. Look at this another way one of the ways that I thought about it is yes I mean Rosa will probably in some of the ways that then he's suggesting Oh absolutely help out Connecticut and other similar States but to me what's more significant is that Connecticut is kind of at the stars lined up generally in its favor Ned Lamont early on bet Biden bet big on Biden So you've got a president who is disposed towards the state in this actually a pretty friendly way you've got John Hunter Hayes in early Kamel Harris backer you've got Rosa De Lauro and John Larson both with you know pretty significant jobs in the house I mean when you look at it that way. At least the likelihood that we're going to get screwed or shafted goes way way down. Yeah and I think you know it's obviously something that's important for the state of Connecticut given the state's reliance on federal defense spending but it is really interesting to see to see such a small state begin to make such a big moves here and I think that you know it's it's something that as as a local reporter you know we may not be Connecticut in the national spotlight all that often but here here the state really is kind of stepping up and punching above its weight I would say one of the things I did want to point out is that obviously it's going to 1st Connecticut or it's a lead House Appropriations Committee so it's clearly a big 1st but it is also a 2nd she will be the 2nd woman to hold that title after her and chair Representative Lowey from New York retires So there's we got have both a 1st and a 2nd happening here which is an exciting we're going to go to a break pretty quickly I'll just call on myself as a panelist worse I couldn't say a column What do you think so too I think what I think is that we've been through a period where a president in a way that is never happened in my lifetime has nakedly asserted that states that when for him in the 2016 election have a different and more privileged status than States the did not he said this over and over that he doesn't think about those 2 kinds of states in the same way and that's something we really need to get past and I hope Biden truly means that when he says that he's the president of all the states and all the people and for that reason I'm less inclined to lean hard right now on the idea that Rosa De Lauro is a probes chairman is going to do great things for Connecticut I think she needs to do great things for all 50 states and get it really clear they all need to make that statement that the federal government is there for all of the States irrespective of how they voted in a federal election All right we're going to take a break hopefully Lucy will be back when we come back from her approach and if not who. Maybe you will have Danny host for our. Support comes from New Morning Market in Woodbury family owned for 49 years helping to provide families with healthy food this holiday season options for Quito paleo vegan and gluten free New Morning Market dot com Ok with. The long. Long Well that's how the Australians being back the code pandemic to just a handful of cases across the entire country to Americans expire come a very political but it shouldn't be. Saving lives and that's what we did how Australia did it and lessons for the u.s. On the next one point from n.p.r. Listeners morning at 10. She was the queen of take home music and now there's a Netflix show about her life 71 and he sounds so that upbeat like Chair Janet Jackson you mean something English but some fans say Celine of the series is a weak tribute to one of the strongest women in music the extraordinary life of Selena next time on one day. Coming up this morning at 11 support for Connecticut Public Radio comes from ski sundown in nearby New Hartford Connecticut offering gift cards for avid skiers and snowboarders of all ages valid anywhere on the mountain and available at Ski sundown dot com ski sundown winter made better. Says the alehouse on Connecticut Public Radio show you can hear me all and any any. So I'm I'm game right now and it difficult to hear I guess but I'm just going to go right into the next the next topic and that's going to be online gambling Dan Hart what he tell us there it's agreement between Mashantucket tribe and draft. Yeah that agreement doesn't mean anything at all draft Kings will go wherever they're invited and the tribes especially Foxwoods have tried to say we're the only holders of the right to have sports gambling and online gaming in Connecticut and that's been the hold up for 3 years and that continues to be the head of a blockage we understand that they're back negotiating now and that's great they've been on and off they go shooting since I think 2018 and it just has to come to an end these other entities the sport tech which runs the o.t.b. Locations and the Connecticut robbery have to be part of the equation and the tribes are sticking to this word casino game and that's what they have the exclusive rights to and that's where we are this is just been going on for years they successfully waited out m.g.m. But they can't wait out the lotto and sports because they're here. The other states have online gaming. And New Jersey so that revenue in years to fall in this state that questions on state finances and so I mean is this something that the governor and the tribes are going to have to figure out still at some point or what do you think's going to happen especially. We passed a bill in 2017 approving online gaming and sports betting ending an agreement with the tribes so we're losing hundreds of millions of now maybe yeah I would say hundreds of millions over the years hundreds of millions of dollars on this New Jersey and other states are realizing on the other hand anyone who thinks gambling in general is anything but moving money from relatively poor people to the state taxpayers as a whole is is also crazy. I want to take a well there's seem to be a shift and I think passes a piece about this today where this typically the pattern has been it's going to Danny it's getting out the state starts considering something like sports betting or are you gaining I guess is what we're kind of calling this other kind of thing where you basically bet on your phone or or whatever the state starts talking about this everybody wants to be a player in it at some point the tribes come forward and say well if you do that it would value if you let other players in will invalidate the agreement that gives you 25 percent of our slot handle you know can you afford to do live without that it does look as though the Lamont administration rather than letting that cycle repeat itself is starting with a conversation with the tribes and I don't really know what that means Ronnie a butler one of the tribal leaders chairman of the Mashantucket Pequot had said the state's share if we were to get into online game a game billing and sports betting would be 40 to 60000000 dollars a year not actually having seen the proposal I don't even understand how that works like Guinea do you know when we talk about this stuff and I think sports betting and I gaming need to be talked about separately and I think they will be talked about separately but are we just getting 25 percent of that handle too because that's not written into the original Weicker era agreement right that was 25 percent of slots so how does it not only were agreement has to be struck and that's what he was different though. Slots because it's not a revenue model but it's a it's a an amount that's bet rather than the amount that's one. And so it's a little bit technical it was explained to me once I don't know that it's important the bottom line is money flows in the state is going to get a cut of that but it has to be agreed upon as you said it's not part of the existing from 1902 and 96 and loosely I know that I have a tendency as a coronavirus to link everything back to coronavirus but I think it would be missing a beat here if we didn't talk about how Hogan might affect these agreements because you know kind of ours has teams basically our whole world and we're going to see each effect of Bath or for years to come and so the revenue that the state has lost . And seen as have been hurting as well and that could definitely play a factor in getting people to kind of shift their positions a little bit and right away I guess 3 minutes left death it's a strength and it even says to College thank you for picking up and dropped ahead very quickly gave my feet a strength is Gabriel strolling a Republican official who's the voting system implementation manager in Georgia he's the guy who really stood up and he called out President Trump in a 4 minute rebuke last week somebody needed to say Sterling has shown a tremendous amount of courage for his trouble he started to get death threats then hire. The inner strength is the staff of The Hartford Current I know we're competitors have a little bit more of a personal stake in it but I'll give them the future strength obviously we're all working remotely now but they're working remotely under the repressive regime of a company that should not exist. And as for the airing of grievances I think the lawsuit saying that the gov can't shut down bars is a grievance but with an asterisk that they have a point about their economic situation and only barely get the last word. To the many many Connecticut residents who have reached out to the current guild and individual current staff members its authors of or after we heard that we're losing our newsroom I've been just absolutely floored at the number of people who have offered kind words and genuine sympathy for us that support really it's for me and my spirit so so many many thanks to all those people who have reached out. Let me bring my thank you for joining us and you know what a great job on your 1st. Deal is the head and heart and says it at a net at a stand back of the back. Door and our producer. 7. Your support of Connecticut Public Radio makes quality local journalism possible thank you. And. Also immigrating to the United States. Of the new film. This is Connecticut Public Media believe in p.r. And p.r. H.d. One Meriden at 90.5 their p.k. t. D h d one at 89 point one w e d w f and Stanford at 88.5 w. Are a lot of the Internet 91.3 and npr dot org major funding for on point is provided by Geico offering auto insurance coverage for cars trucks or S.U.V.s and providing 247 customer service more information on auto insurance at Geico dot com or 180947 auto. In Australia people are going to music festivals again. Fans are packing stadiums to watch cricket matches I tried was how is all this possible to Roy new cases I really like 0. From n.p.r. And w b u r m magnetron her body and today on point of how Australia beat back the pandemic really good news and I said I like zeroes and we've got 0 active cases as of 9 am today so that's for a stay well Dan I'm really pleased about that and lessons for the us. Stay with us. Line from n.p.r. News on core of a Coleman Britain's medical regulator says people with a significant history of allergies should not take the newly approved in 1000 vaccine from Pfizer N.P.R.'s Frank Langfitt reports from London to health care workers in the u.k. Allergic reactions the regulatory agency said people leveler jerk reactions to medicines food or vaccines in general should steer clear of this one which the u.k. Began rolling out to thousands of people on Tuesday official said the national health service workers who carried adrenalin pens with them are both recovering Well Britain's regulator approved emergency use of the Pfizer vaccine which like other covert vaccines has been developed in record time because of the urgency of the pandemic given the speed vaccine experts say the government must take even more care to monitor any bad reactions to the vaccine so you can launch the vaccine in 70 hospitals on Tuesday and plans to expand distribution to $200.00 family practices next week Frank Langfitt n.p.r. News London president elect Joe Biden is going to nominate Ohio congresswoman Marsha Fudge to be secretary of Housing and Urban Development there have been calls for Biden to select her as his agriculture secretary instead the president elect is going to nominate former Obama Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack for the job N.P.R.'s Dan Charles reports one of Bill sacks mandates will be to work with the Biden ministration on climate change there's been a lot of talk about the u.s.d.a. Playing a big role in actually responding to climate change there's money for this rural development programs could help pay for clean energy in rural areas there are plans to pay farmers for practices on the farm that reduce greenhouse emissions it could also help do reforestation people realize that the u.s. Forest Service is part of the Department of Agriculture N.P.R.'s Dan Charles reporting Biden is also expected to formally introduce his choice for defense secretary today retired 4 star u.s. Army General Lloyd Austin would be the 1st African-American to lead. The Pentagon if confirmed stocks opened mostly higher this morning building on Monday's gains N.P.R.'s Scott Horsley reports the Dow Jones industrial average rose about 30 points in early training both the s. And p. 500 index and the Nasdaq hit new highs on Monday and that upward momentum mostly continued overnight in Asia stocks were higher in Tokyo Seoul and Hong Kong though the composite index in Shanghai slipped a bit China reported a drop in consumer prices last month that was largely due to falling pork prices after an outbreak of swine fever last year that caused prices to spike talks continue in Washington over a new round of coronavirus relief the White House has scrambled negotiations with a late offer that includes direct payments to most Americans that's coupled with less generous unemployment benefits than have been on the table Scott Horsley n.p.r. News Washington on Wall Street the Dow is now up about 18 points at $30192.00 this is n.p.r. Support for n.p.r. Comes from Capital One offering Capital One shopping a downloadable browser extension that searches various sites for shoppers what's in your wallet more at Capital One shopping dot com and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation at our w j f dot org for Connecticut Public Radio I'm Tucker arrives with these news headlines the latest numbers released by the state of Connecticut show the positivity rate has climbed up to more than 8.6 percent it's the 1st time the rate has surpassed 8 percent since mid May the number of hospitalization is increased by 40 and positive cases increased by more than 2400 from the day before no changes were made to the state's travel advisory list there are still 48 states and territories on the list those traveling from those locations to Connecticut must fill out a travel help form upon arrival the men's basketball team at Quinnipiac University is the latest to suspend activities because of a positive Coppa test a 2 game series against Iona planned for this week. And has been postponed those fixtures had already been rearranged because of positive tests elsewhere in the conference and Farmington high school is the latest school to drop its native American mascot several schools across the state and professional sports teams nationwide have dropped names that are offensive as the Hartford Current reports debate over Farmington mascot has gone on for about 30 years a committee is expected to recommend a new mascot for the school next year this is Connecticut Public Radio I'm meteorologist Karen r.c.s. It's another day that has the look and feel of winter will see plenty of clouds and some spotty light snow or rain will be possible through the day temperatures will be chilly running between 35 and 40 degrees tomorrow will be a little bit milder highs will be up into the forty's and Friday is going to be a really nice day with high temperatures near 50 with the Connecticut Public Radio weather report I'm meteorologist to Garrett r.g.s. State officials across New England say they expect the 1st doses of a coded $1000.00 vaccine to arrive as soon as mid December but it's up to each state to figure out how to distribute the vaccines but I think there's a recognition that business as usual is not going to meet the needs with this pandemic And next from the New England news collaborative We'll talk about vaccine distribution across the region Please join us listen Thursday afternoon at 2. Ok My name's me in a from out in the street and I'm a primary school teacher. To please. A a live in. Ukraine. So I'm great I leave being no one to throw your weave making. I work for Microsoft and not that long ago Meghan Craig their boys and the rest of Melbourne Australia emerged from one of the longest most restrictive covert lockdowns anywhere in the world. And the full effort turned upside down and we were a family of all you know juggling school with the boys sporting schedules of a weekend it you know going to the movies and all those sorts of things I guess. Yeah week we took for granted but. That will quickly came to a head in match where we were able. To look down. Your name addition to that I used to travel where everyone who works I travel in between now going to be mostly it's close overseas regularly going Truong travelling almost every waking hour not having being on applying for 8 months or so simply being a big trying to work. So we were all just juggling to space quiesce . I guess the 4 walls of these House could have been much. Greater to give us the space we made it for him. So we went through 2 phases all locked down in Melbourne we had probably some greater challenges than what we did. And so the 1st lockdown we were confined to on the running I was able to travel to go out by Central Line I'm sold to be I want 'd to exercise and are a troll it's so true. Still open but with restrictions. I think if it was a building team the boys were trying to maintain a connections with brains by gaming that for a year that became really hard to live. In that for about 6 weeks or so from memory and unlike the other states it got out of hand in Melbourne so we were getting to hundreds of cases a day Nothing like you're experiencing in the us and so we put in place a lockdown which I think then went for about a living wage wrong end of June I think it is a lot going on but he said it was not allowed to travel by kilometers from your house not allowed to go to work all businesses shut down running allowed to leave your house one hour to exercise everybody needed where. And so yeah it was pretty rich strict really challenging a lot of. You know you can't turn the t.v. On without seeing the news so we know both the poison what was RINGBACK going on and why we needed to do what we needed to put out. A state church for his house public speaking on the history of the 10 day week so he got really right into a. You know the state was on 11 am pretty much every day giving us an update on the numbers you know all of us were in the habit of checking the numbers each day I guess that unify This whole lot achieving the goal of what we need to work towards that will let you choose gave us the goal like if we want to be open by Christmas we need to just follow the rules we need to social distance and we need to just stay at home you're. Going through a lot of parts of October actually people were feeling really stretched trial they were really feeling what it's really can't go on much longer and so difficult the time. But to be able to look into the Christmas time minutes from all about for us where everything is back with us that we could possibly our ports and everyone it was pretty locked in a repro very much against the lockdowns and told that we were going the wrong thing there are really true what you've heard where we are here. Craig and make invades from Melbourne Australia. And where they are now where all of Australia is is basically at 0 yesterday across the entire Australian nation population 26000000 there were just 6 new covert positive cases 6. Yesterday in the United States there were approximately 200000 new positive cases. You're not impressed you want population adjusted figures Ok fine if Australia had as many people as the Us does yesterday Australia would have had seen 76 new covert cases and again why did we have. 200 those. Of course it did not have to be this way. From n.p.r. And w.b. You are making a truck or a party and today on point how did Australia do it. Let's go right back to Melbourne where Dina Rosen Dorf joins us she's manager of a.b.c. Radio Melbourne Dina welcome to on point especially given the 16 hours talking time difference between. Thank you so much magma and there are very few people that I would wake up at this ungodly hour you are one of them. Full disclosure in what feels like a previous life Dina and I work together here in Boston at w.b. You are so so Dina tell me you're there in Melbourne how restrictive was the lockdown for what it was like 3 or 4 months there. Was the better part of 4 months and listening back to Meghan and Craig talk about their experiences of brought back a lot of memories which I can't believe I've already sort of behind me but it was incredibly restrictive you had to talk about is a kilometer right news that was in place and people were basically just moving around their neighborhoods when I could move around we could only get around for about an Arab exercise one trip to the supermarket everything was closed restaurants closed for 10 except obviously Jim. If you had to do hundreds going the roads were empty and most controversially I was a curfew so from 8 pm to 5 am we had to remain in our homes and if you parked that curfew or if you illegally had people over to your house and you of course she faced a $5000.00 And so what that meant is beyond what you know you had made an incredulous about is that people had to cancel readings I couldn't visit the elderly red relatives I missed funerals you know it was hard enough like making them Craig you had families with young children but it was equally hard for people living alone and you know we're still witnessing the long tail of that mental health impact of one's restrictions I want to talk to you about that in a 2nd but but tell me a little bit more he said there was like a one hour window every day where people could go grocery shopping and things like that so how they must have had it a terrible impact on people who couldn't do it during that hour or were restricted for other reasons I mean how did how did Melbourne support support people like that . And that was the beauty of his time as restrictive at it as restrictive as it was he saw people and neighborhoods coming together and it didn't have to be at a particular hour I guess they just sort of personal actually individual responsibilities gatherers I am you know I'm going to go at this particular time that's my am do one walk a day around my neighborhood that's my allotted time of exercise so it wasn't confined to a particular hour but yeah I mean look in my neighborhood and I was home schooling with kids well 3 kids you know 1st not down heard Craig and me can talk about the 1st lockdown that we had back in April and it was way she know there were initiatives around my neighborhood where people would leave teddy bears in their front windows and she dressed the neighborhood would go around and look at them in the windows and go and be hands on but I think in lockdown which was much more restrictive and that was the last for better or month we were over ish you know and you know any kind of restrictions on screen time as parents went out the window and I think with am still a lot of us are having to a natural turn off games like road blocks Minecraft you know but we got the point is we got through it and I'm way here to tell the tale and Victoria has just celebrated what we call after joining us in a row. We celebrate die not days when we have 0 cases and you know we've had 40 days in a row of known cases of a high of at one time 725 cases a day which I know that you know compared to what's happening in the u.s. That doesn't sound like a lot as you mentioned at the top of the show for us that was a huge number so it's hard for me Nate impossible to not see this through the u.s. Lens Dana so because it what it what has come along with the pandemic here of course is mass unemployment. You know increasing. Lines at food banks think things like that did the very restrictive lock down in Australia particularly Melbourne did did it have that same impact there. Yes I mean you know when restaurants businesses closed down of course it had a huge impact to the federal government's credit a sluggish economy with money and support so we had to use games job and job seeker so if you had a job it is only became unemployed you could go on job keep you and you got up to $1200.00 for how much and jobs think it was and those people who are already unemployed it was slightly less but basically we had financial support for people who had lost jobs it's wound back a bit but it is actually still in place and it's expected to be there until March of next year. And so you know it will have a living wage but this is also combined with other initiatives such as banks offering a freeze on mortgages are higher minus rent to relay from for many landlords businesses and you could also accessed yours to Granny rush hour or one k. . And you could access that early if you needed you know to access the money that they want the government was damp they relaxed restrictions around that So yes our kind of stuff it but it didn't suffer or is badly as you might have expected and right now unemployment hovering at about 7 percent which is higher than it has been recently not as bad as it could be a Ok so we've got about 30 seconds before the 1st break here Dina what's it like to have fewer cases across the entire country than I can count on my 2 hands. It's crazy. And we all feel so proud of what we've done to achieve this and we talked about them 6 cases McMath risen from overseas arrivals so we were really worried about cases that are community transmission. Community transmission cases that from my distance in their homes help aren't so strong has achieved aggressive suppression which is just incredible Well we're talking this hour with Dina Rosendo she's manager of a.b.c. Radio Melbourne and we're trying to learn how Australia has beaten back the pandemic for now with remarkable success and whether there are any lessons the United States can and should learn so Dina hang on there for just a 2nd we'll be right back this is on point. On the next fresh air working on behalf of people sentenced to life under drug laws later regarded as unfair and unconstitutional we talked with Warrior Brittany Barnett who started this work after her mother was convicted of a nonviolent crack related offense 7 of Barnett's clients were granted clemency by President Obama won by President Trump joined us. Listen today at noon. Tis the season for stories about food you might get your name your face in the picture of the potato in the paper have you ever heard of the German Christmas pickle and I'm like No and as soon as it touched my palate you seem to exorcise to assume right I'm coyote welfare some of my favorite performances for my storytelling show at the mouth off at the Mark Twain House that's on the next day. Listen tonight a lot of the. Support for a point comes from the listeners of w.b. You are Boston and your n.p.r. Station from life long reminding consumers that they could miss certain threats by only monitoring their credit like their info for sale in the dark will learn more lifelike dot com slash n.p.r. And Geico celebrating over 75 years of providing auto insurance for drivers across America more information on auto insurance available at Geico dot com or 180947 auto. This is on point i magnetometer Bartie this hour we're exploring how Australia did it how this nation of more than 25000000 people has no community spread right now is 0 new cases of community spread of coded 1000 across the entire country of Australia just a tiny handful 6 cases have come in from overseas Dina Rosen Dorf joins us today she's manager of a.b.c. Radio Melbourne she's with us from Melbourne Australia and we're going to hear from an Australian epidemiologist in just a 2nd but but you know I should have asked you earlier I mean Australia is a very politically vibrant country it's had any number of internal political debates over time not everyone by any stretch of the imagination blocks in lockstep there but so there was was there any push back to these incredibly restrictive lockdowns to the government saying or a state level government Australia saying you can't come out of your house except for one hour a day for almost 4 months. Yeah I mean look I make it sound looking back with hindsight you sound easy doesn't it but it wasn't and by the end of or almost 4 months locked down there were a lot of angry people out there in the Torah and there were protests and you know people really were concerned and particular when I talked about the the Kathy that we had from 8 pm to 5 am people really felt that that was I mean for enjoyment of massive liberties and so there was a lot of and that that somehow. Really we still managed to as Sidey as a collective we still managed to sort of I guess all of the rules and overcome that I think at a federal level what we have industry is we've got COAG which is the Council of the Strand in government so you've got all the states and territories and each of those states and territories have laid as a code premise industry in Victoria we've got the premier Daniel Andrews and they all come together with the federal government led by Scott Marston he's the prime minister and I had the system in place because they made quite regularly every year I had. An ability to communicate a better structure to 2 to one another so when the pandemic hit COAG was ready and I could come together quite quickly and although there were differences of opinion and by much we could sort of at least communicate and the states and territories could weapon government shut the borders internationally managed are unchanged to a degree to implement these economic initiatives as I mentioned job keep a job so they can previously so you know we were kind of at an advantage in that respect that we could enact our pandemic response relatively smoothly but it wasn't without planning well and in addition to those measures both political and blocked out I've been focusing on a lot of because of its extreme example obviously Australia had testing and contact tracing as well. So so we're going to hear a little bit more about all of that now from an Australian epidemiologist named Mary Louise McLaws do you know one of you could just stand by a little bit and listen listen to my conversation that I had with Mary Louise yesterday but before we do that I just want to credit a.b.c. Radio Melbourne's breakfast show hosted by Sammy Jay because you sent us this lovely little thing Sammy Jay wrote a jingle of sorts for when close used to come under or came on his show. When you're in the middle of a global pandemic confusion he's right so you need to do the assistance consistent and easily digestible public information so you can. Rely on a spy or a just you know who you need it's a deep on the just an issue I see keeping hold of the cold it's Mary Louise surname . That was the a.b.c. Isabel a.b.c. Melbourne this program by Stanley j. . Did you know. We all love music. Journalist he spreads information and the most enjoyable. Feeling so I mean you're you're a rock star there. No no no just I mean I'm not a rockstar I'm just an epidemiologist. So that was from my conversation last night with Mary Louise McLaws who in fact is an epidemiologist at the University of New South Wales in Sydney She's also a member of the w h O's expert advisory panel for Infection Prevention readiness and response to cope with 1000 and we talked late last night East Coast time over zoom and I started by asking the class to describe the 1st wave what happened in Australia during that 1st wave of covert that hit the country back in March. Somalia has provided a what would happen if the borders weren't closed and they identified that if there wasn't isolation quarantining social distancing that they might need to $5000.00 intend to camp beds and I think that scanned them a lot because at that time we only had 7010 to care beds across the country. I think that government might have toyed with the idea of a nonscientific herd immunity but when they heard that from the mandalas I think that the government read the Australian people very well that they had to do something so they finally did close their borders and I think that was the beginning of a good story for straight Australia of course is a nation a continent and surrounded by water which I imagine made perhaps border closure while still difficult perhaps a more feasible option than other countries might. So then that the numbers go down precipitously to almost nothing until the 2nd search begins what about. A are so in Turiya on the 18th the 2 they were heading into a point in a return but generally in a strain or people trust their leaders to look after the health and yes there was a small proportion of people who didn't want to wear my skin and I think that's where they came at the Karen where this particular woman was having a meltdown of not wanting to wear a mask in a crowded shop but mostly everyone complied. Curious about something here in the United States from the beginning as you know in the spring the language was always around flattening the curve so that the health care system would not be over well I don't recall hearing a single x. For in the United States saying not just flatten the curve but drive the cases down to 0 but that was never in the conversation in this country but it sounds like that's what Australia has basically achieved twice now why was that goal set versus getting it the head of it down to a level where the health care system in Australia could manage it because it's a very different set of responses based on the decision. Or will admit that we've never had an elimination protocol so the the federal government close in the border said to say that said we're going to protect you and yes there was that original idea that we don't want the health system overrun but the population didn't hear that the population heard we don't want you to get sick that's basically the message that myself and others and commentators journalists like health offices pushed and the population said Ok that sounds reasonable and they cooperated I mean you're talking to a country when we had a massacre and put off for many years ago then Prime Minister John Howard said this should never happen again all of you who don't live on the farm and don't need a gun had you gone in and we all went down to good show re don't need a gun so there are people that of course shoot for fun you know target shooting they kept theirs but has been to lock and key and have to license but. The majority of Australians don't have guns unless they're on hom so astray and think of the greater good I don't think they realised and that they are always thinking about what is good not just for them but probably else so I think it is very much a population personality can describe what the coronation was between the Australian Federal Government and the state governments I mean obviously. There's another lack of coordination here in the United States which is part of the problem that what was that like there well it's interesting aside there are 2 major parties like there are in the United States and and I think that those in opposition realised there was there were going to gain anything by being discordant but it ate state and territory off and did their own thing. Fortunately it was very same same I mean they all closed their borders to each other the one difference being New South Wales public health and being very well resourced for the last 30 years so I have a colleague who was trained by the c.d.c. In America Professor George Reuben who came back from America and decided that what he liked about the c.d.c. Were the training and the should never epidemiologist so he quit in place a similar program in New South Wales Health which then was built on over 30 years which then meant that contact tracing was also d. Centralised So it wasn't just with in the head office and that meant that content traces and public health offices knew exactly what was going on in their region but New South Wales had a lot of contact try. He says at one stage I think 700 but they could also call on this train into henceforth to increase that sitting here in the United States speaking here it sounds to me that you are describing another planet to be quite frank right because in this country right now is the global for the common pandemic to ask. What is the global health community saying about the United States honestly it's been a great sadness actually you've got one post and dying every 30 seconds. 8 to great sadness and for those of us who aren't American Heart templating we just can't believe it because in a stranger in Europe we always looked at America to lead science we always did I mean I've been to cities to we all all epidemiologist went to see this it went to America and to think that c.d.c. Has been silenced is surprising because America is so philanthropic when it comes to science and when you lead us to getting a the rover on Mars and get to the moon we're grieving for you because you know you America doesn't need very well and it doesn't lead by bullying it leads by providing innovation and inspiration and at the moment it's not there but we know it will come back. Mary Louise McLaws she's an epidemiologist at the University of New South Wales in Sydney and a member of the w.h.o. Expert advisory panel for Infection Prevention readiness and response to cope in 1000 I made. This is on point. Dina Rosendo of manager at a.b.c. Radio Melbourne there in Melbourne as I mentioned at the beginning of the show you've lived in the United States for several years just pick up on that last thought from Mary Louise of how. When you look at what's happening in the us do you know how how do you think about it. Yeah I mean make that as you know I have a special place in my heart for America really lived. It was so you know the country was good to me my 2nd child was born in Boston and the rest it isn't as a country that when you live elsewhere in the western world American peers as the peak of civilization even feels to me as Mary Louise mentioned looking from the outside in the only qualities associated with American individualism qualities which I once Myatt and I think you down right now and you can blame the administration for some of that division but not all of it it doesn't matter if you have the smartest doctors of the best hospitals but if you don't have a community working together to support one another it's relevant and so I guess my heart for America now is that you guys can come together and you don't have an interest actions insults that she can answer that once again you can return to prioritizing the great agreed because as we've seen in Australia you are stronger when you're together. Well in true words have not yet been spoken Dina and I thank you for it so let's let's look forward for a little bit in Australia itself because one thing that Mary Louise McLaws did tell me last night is that she is actually a little bit concerned now that the restrictions are being significantly relaxed in Australia she wants she'd prefer to see mandatory mask wearing in more places public transit cetera. And the Christmas holidays coming up at where the United States at a time of great gathering in Australia so how does the immediate future look are people. Going to be willing to practice the kind of safety measures that you've had to do for so many months in order to keep those numbers low. Well it's really interesting because of course Victoria suffered the most we were like the pariah in terms of all the states you know it we had a leak in quarantine and we that's why we need to go back into that 2nd really harsh lockdown and so we've worked out really as hard as the rest of the country and it is really frightening for me and my fellow be touring and that with restrictions easing and the federal government now starting to allow international arrivals back into the country that of course they have to go through current chain they have to part 140 days in a hotel when they arrive and they regularly tested but there are 2 flaws in that system we resort an example just last week where some German there actually a stray incident I have Joe national they join national national So therefore they were a mother and son from Germany but they have strengthened citizenship and they came . In from internationally and they managed to slip through and were walking around lost at the airport until a security guard spotted them and said he your hand I said all we're looking for somewhere requiring tape and that freaked everyone out because had the security guard not caught them and they were willing to do the right things you know in fairness to them but but you know I could have gone out into the community and we could have had undetected they are virus they've been under tension in the community and had that happen so we are really nervous we've worked too hard to get to this point but you know it's going to happen we can't live like this forever I guess the hope is that the vaccine is on its way and that if we can just get through the next number of months that you know hopefully will be out which you have the vaccination as light as the Egypt that we do we certainly I've got friends who. Have gone to Sydney and the company did. Getting off the plane now and people are not actually does that have to quite and where. And it freaks. Well Dana stand by here for just a 2nd because when we come back we'll hear a little bit more from someone who stated one of those quarantine hotels in Australia and we'll bring this conversation home back here to the United States about what lessons if any can be applied to this country specifically now that California is back in lockdown will be back this is on point. Support for Connecticut Public Radio comes from u. Conn's Jorgensen center presenting an evening with Kelly and joy holiday songs and personal favorites from Broadway and the American songbook Jorgensen digital stage December 12th at 8 Jorgensen dot Yukon dot edu she was the queen of take on music and now there's a Netflix show about her life that already. Beat like Janet Jackson you mean something English but some fans say Celine of the series is a weak tribute to one of the strongest women in music the extraordinary life of Selena next time on one day. Coming up this morning at 11. I'm Rachel Martin from n.p.r. As 2020 comes to a close you might be reflecting on the last 12 months maybe you're figuring out what you'll take away from the year as we head into a new and Morning Edition is here to help Yes we get you ready for your day with updates on the news but we also help you understand what's happening and what it means for you so take a moment to reflect and listen every week day. And weekday mornings from 5 to 9 support for Connecticut Public Radio comes from you our members and from Hartford health care if you need emotional or mental health support call the Hartford health care hotline 833-621-0600. Support for on point comes from the listeners of w b u r Boston and your n.p.r. Station from new a personalized weight loss program designed to give people know alleged to set new goals and the tools to stick to them for good learn more at noon and 000 am dot com and Geico offering auto insurance coverage for cars trucks or S.U.V.s and providing 247 customer service and more information on auto insurance at Geico dot com or 180947 auto. This is on point i Magna talk Robertie this hour we're talking about how Australia did it how right now they have a tiny number of cases just 6 new code positive cases across the entire nation of Australia and I'm going today by Dana Rose indoor she's with us from Melbourne Australia she's manager of a.b.c. Radio Melbourne and you know talking about also whether there are lessons to be learned for us here in the United States and I'm getting some push back here on Twitter from Glencoe an egg who says As frustrating as it is here in the u.s. We are unique in the world for many reasons primary is our immense population 330000000 3rd highest in the world we can't scale up what smaller countries do and expect it to still work here get an engineer on the air please Ok Glenn all due respect 1st of all if you can tell me to get an engineer on over Twitter I've got an engineering degree I understand what scale is I understand what it means Ok Australia is once you know it's like 112th the population of the United States puts true but you also heard what Dana was talking about when one family walks around the airport in Australia looking for a place to quarantine they take care of their family so my point is well Australia is doing what we could have done at the start maybe we can't do it now with more than 15000000 cases of covert here in the United States but the largest country in the world China certainly did something am I suggesting that we do everything the Communist China did no but I'm also suggesting that maybe we ought to be thinking about different ways that we could have acted and can act to do a better job for Americans so sorry Glenn I don't even know who you are I'm glad you listen to on point but that American exceptionalism really gets to me it just does and we're here to learn we are here to learn from any positive example we can now there are many people in Australia do you know has mentioned this who didn't like the lockdowns who don't like the sacrifices they had to make to get to where they are with those miniscule number of case. And we actually heard from them too so this is journalist Gerard Ryle he had important work travel that required him to come to the United States and to Europe and in order to get back into Australia he was required to go straight from the tarmac to a special quarantine hotel room or a hotel that. The Australian government created it was guarded by police he could not leave there were police at the doors and he stayed there for the full 2 weeks before he could return to his home now Gerard's meals were delivered to his door at the hotel he received a mental health check in daily it was comfortable but rial admits he also felt resentful for having to endure such strict control measures people here are willing to give up certain freedoms to gain this I guess and to try and combat the virus I'm not sure that other countries would have that and I'm not sure would it be possible to do you know if you were in an island of the middle of nowhere like a struggle. You know it's hard to compare I mean the weather here is beautiful because it's now summer it's nice to be able to run without a mask on to enjoy all the privileges of restaurants and other rains and everything but I realise that the world since it really isn't like that and there are things we have to give up I mean I really resented having to apply for a visa to leave the country because my whole working life is about moving from country to country and I used to be able to you know getting on a plane going away for 4 weeks coming back for a while on the way again and I really did resent the loss of freedom I was worried that I wouldn't be getting a visa I realize that I'm one of the perfect shoe that were allowed to leave the country I am come back again I'm not sure everyone would be happy with that situation but there's a lot of freedoms that you have to give up I mean at one point everybody here was encouraged download an app that basically is like a Spy App on your phone you know you now if you want to go into you know a hairdressing salon or every you've got a. But I think that in the same of the restaurant you go to restore your brain they may monitor your movements a lot some people would not like this and I was a journalist of course I don't like being traced I don't like people going where I'm going who are meeting it's actually quite a. Thing for me so they are giving up a lot of what I think people would think are fundamental freedoms so there's a price to pay or price free zone. Mr ard Ryle investigative journalist and director of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and we talked to him quite a bit you can hear our extended conversation with him about his experience under government required quarantine listen to that point Radio dot org So Dina hang on here with us for just a minute because as I said I want to bring this conversation back here to the United States and yeah maybe maybe the lessons from Australia are not applicable now at least across the entire United States but this week California 40000000 people almost all of California 40000000 people went back into lockdown so there are at least is one very potent. Comparison point here for us to make and joining us now from South Los Angeles is Jim mine Joe president and c.e.o. Of St Johns Well Child and Family Center a network of community health clinics in Southern California Jim Mangia welcome to on point Jimi there. Yes thank you for having me. So 1st of all tell us. California's going back into you know some form of lockdown How would you describe what the lockdown is right now there. It's kind of a semi lockdown it's. A lot of it's the honor system there are Ching households that don't live together not to socialize they have closed down the restaurants and even outdoor dining as well but I think a lot of the the lockdown is mostly going to impact folks who have the ability to quarantine at home and work at home and most low income Californians are still going to have to go to work and will still be getting infected so talk more about that because I is is there still is there adequate p.p. Has there been assistance for these folks to to to be protected. Well there is no mandate for employers to. Provide p.p.a. For their employees and that's one of the big reasons that we've had such a huge amount of infection particularly in South l.a. Where you know most of our patients at St Johns are front line essential workers garment workers factory workers grocery workers and so there is no employer mandate and I think that was in even in this latest lockdown I think that was what was best and should have been part of it so can I just turn back to Dina in Melbourne for a 2nd because you know I didn't ask you about this before but I mean Australia too has essential workers that the company economy cannot function without I presume that they were not under lockdown during those 4 months at least in Melbourne where they. You know we needed to have a permit to be able to travel for work so you had to be danged to be an essential worker jam would leave your house and go to work and. People who worked in aged care in hospitals myself in the mill you know we were dangerous and we were. Too good to go to work if we had to be Ok And and so I presume maybe I shouldn't presume anything in this day and age but for hospital workers and things like that Were they adequately protected with with p p e Dina Oh and during the lockdown and during the height of the pandemic he of people were really worried that they weren't adequately protected and that you know they were there was nothing to be that the root correct surgical masks were being supplied to frontline doctors. Of course we did have those concerns. You know I think that they were all addressed with costs and you know we maggots room so Jim Mangia in South Los Angeles what kind of it infection rates are you seeing there. Well we're testing 5 to 600 people a day sometimes 700 people a day there's lives you know around the block for people to get tested and many many people have symptoms and we're seeing positivity rates as high as 2530 percent and if any given day. So that's more than 100 people a day that we don't have to initiate contact tracing those at high risk will get monoclonal and shared but it's a massive effort and the positivity rates are climbing to alarming rates and as you said amongst the people who have no choice and it do don't have the the means or the privilege to stay home in the midst of yet another lockdown which I think is supposed to last for what 3 weeks or so. At least Yeah it's supposed to go through Christmas but yes I think your point is important which is that most of the people who are bearing the brunt of the covert pandemic which are primarily African-American and Latino and low income communities of color do not have the luxury of quarantining at home and they're also not going to places to work that are safe and I think what the state really needs to do is mandate that employers provide protective equipment to every single worker and that's how we're going to get a handle on this until we do that. Positivity rates and low income communities throughout the country are going to going to continue to soar and the black and Latino communities are going to continue to bear the brunt of Govan infection hospitalization and death Yeah you know you heard me a little earlier kind of unload on poor Glen Carney who sent us that tweet about my anger about American exceptionalism So let's let's just give Glenn the benefit of the doubt there and say Ok maybe we can't do anything across the entire United States now but we're focusing our lens to California let's even focus it further just to Los Angeles where you are Jim is there anything that you heard in the Australian example from what Dina was sharing for example I mean Melbourne has 5000000 people there is there anything that you heard from Australia that you think we could or should aim hard has an idea to get a handle on the pandemic here. Well I think you know there are so many things that are that are that Bendis joint that from the very beginning I mean. I think yes of course to answer your question directly but if I could go around a bit to get there you know 1st issue was that we couldn't get tests wops to even do testing because the Trump administration made a decision in March to send those tests wops to the for profit commercial apps so the test so swabs went to the areas that had the highest insurance payouts. Then we were finally you know we were able to negotiate with a local lab and get tests wops then there was the issue you know of the lack of contact tracing and then there was you know the politicization of the mask in this country so it feels like everything that's been done the polarization that's been created by this administration and the abject failure made it impossible for us to to be in control of this virus so I think theoretically yes there are many things that. That Australia did that we could have done and we could continue to do but it's not going to happen I mean the Chamber of Commerce is much too powerful in California so they're the ones that are pushing back against mandating that employers provide p p 8 to their employees and so you know I think most of us are holding our breath and praying for the vaccine because at this point I don't see anything that's being done that's going to really. Then this curve and flat this curve and and you know again the black and Latino communities are bearing the brunt of it yeah anything including the sword lockdown that you have right now yeah you know it's kind of like you know for those of us who have the luxury of staying at home. You know it's great and obviously people are frustrated and you know people are are violating various aspects of it there's virtually no force. But the fact is if we don't in my opinion it's you know from what I've seen and we've been doing this now since march on the frontlines if we don't get masks and protective gear to front line employees we don't mandate that we are not going to get a handle on this and that's the that's the reality that states and certainly California a magnet Tucker party this is on point. Dana Jim there mentioned sort of hoping and praying for the vaccine I wanted to talk with you for a minute about about that very issue in Australia because back in August Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison in a radio interview said that he would make the code 1000 vaccine mandatory in Australia for as many Australians as possible would you be prepared to My could serve x. National mandatory. But certainly we've got to get about 95 percent and so I would be applying that that is well taken medical advice that's the obvious answer to that and I hope that that's what I would be expecting you'd expect it to be mandatory are expected be as mandatory if you can possibly make it there Oh I think they should for any back on medical grounds but that should be the only By says I mean we're talking about a pandemic that is destroying you know the global economy and tighten the laws of hundreds of thousands all around the world and $430.00 strides. You know we make the most extensive and comprehensive response to this to get a strategy back to normal so that's the Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison in a radio interview in August and that 430 Australian does he mention was as of August I think now it's at about 900 or 908 total but Dina has we just got about a minute here has there been push back to Morrison suggesting the vaccination should be mandatory. Yes and there are the sanctions and hear about the fact as there are in the us and I would say that he's backtracked from those comments so a little bit later in the day he came out and he had to clarify I'm saying it's not going to be House reach you have the vaccine and it was sort of suggested as well later on that he would necessarily even have the power to make it mandatory and so we have closely watching what's happening in. Their vaccination program and I imagine they'll be more of a take up here in Australia when the vaccine does arrive if it seems to be going well in the well I mean we've been talking all hour about the Australians willingness to sort of band together for the common good do you expect that is ironic right now because you know we come from where Bush here you are from a nation of convicts It's quite ironic that was that Ruffalo is now. You're the 2nd Australian who mentioned that part of the country's history I wasn't even going to go there. Ok Well Jim and you've got 10 seconds left with you. Is the vaccine the only hope really now. I think it is again I think you know these lockdowns was so we'll have some impact and hopefully they will but yes it's about the back singing and getting it into the hands of the frontline health providers as soon as possible to accelerate people. Is President and c.e.o. Of St John's Well Child and Family Center a community of a network of community health clinics in Southern California California again in lockdown thank you so much for joining us Jim Thanks for having me and Dina Rosen Dorf manager of a.b.c. Radio Melbourne Dina thank you so much for taking us to Australia it has been so great to talk to you once again thank you. Great talking with thanks for having me . This is on point. Point is a production of w Boston and p r. Point comes from the listeners of. Where the program is produced as your n.p.r. Station from life lock free money consumers that they could miss certain threats by only monitoring their credit like their info for sale on the. Learn more at Life Lock dot com slash n.p.r. And Geico offering motorcycle and r.v. Insurance more information available on motorcycle and r.v. Insurance at Geico dot com or 180947. Follow Connecticut Public Radio on Twitter at w n.p.r. For news updates throughout the day. The 2020. Is going to look very different this year with big in person events a no go and most people working remotely normally the Christmas party. We put everybody. Else to change how some companies are jazzing up their holiday parties this afternoon on All Things Considered from n.p.r. News this afternoon at 4 support comes from arts leadership and cultural management you can. Plug a lot of parts of this economy the music industry has been stress tested what was already broken is really creaking in collapsing. Trying to make ends meet and what touring world might look like on the other side of this pandemic. On market. Hope you can join us tonight at 630 this is Connecticut Public Radio n.p.r. And n.p.r. Age 51 married in at 90.5 w p k t w p k t h d one Norwich 89 point one. Point 5 w. Our ally Southampton at 91.3 and w n p all dot org. Latin music in the early ninety's was barely understood in the American mainstream one woman changed all that the for the age of 24 from w.a.m. You read n.p.r. In Washington this is a one and. High end channeling today on one a. Day how no musician rose in prominence with crossover hits like come on the floor and video. But she was killed just before breaking into mainstream start up now there's a Netflix series about her life and her legacy doesn't do Selena justice we put that question to some of her biggest fans but 1st we check in on Georgia which certified it's election results for a 3rd time this week Representative Lucy bath joins us to talk about what impact all the political drama could have on the fate of the Senate that's coming up on one and. Line from n.p.r. News on Korver Coleman more than 215000 new coronavirus cases were reported in the u.s. On Tuesday and advisory panel for the Food and Drug Administration meets tomorrow to discuss a coping 1000 vaccine made by Pfizer Health and Human Services secretary Alex A's are says when a vaccine is approved the u.s. Will ramp up its distribution you should start seeing and at points in February and March general population vaccinations occurring what we said is we expect that in the 2nd quarter of next year we'd have enough vaccine for all Americans that want to spoke to c.n.n. President elect Joe Biden is expected to name Ohio congresswoman Marsha Fudge to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development He's expected to tap former Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to return to that job N.P.R.'s Joel Snyder reports Biden will also introduce his choice for defense secretary today retired General Lloyd Austin General Austin would be the nation's 1st black defense secretary but there are concerns in Congress about maintaining civilian control of the military like him mad as 4 years ago Austin will need a congressional waiver because he has not been out of the military for the required 7 years a measure designed to ensure civilian oversight at the Pentagon Austin could also come under criticism for his post retirement service on corporate boards including the weapons maker Raytheon technologies President elect Biden is already making the case for why Austin should be confirmed by the Senate writing in The Atlantic Biden said also would work to put the civil military balance back on track trials later n.p.r. News one of the world's largest corporate consulting firms is apologizing for its work to turbo charge sales of Oxycontin and other opioid drugs McKinsey and Company worked closely with produce pharma as N.P.R.'s Brian Mann reports internal documents newly revealed as part of lawsuits against produce pharma show Mackenzie's consultants working aggressive. Behind the scenes to help revive sales of opioids which were declining because of public health concerns one McKinsey proposal involved making secret payments to compensate other companies whenever someone became addicted or overdosed because of produce medications an internal e-mail shows a McKinsey executive talking about the growing legal risk linked to produce pharma and appearing to suggest quote eliminating all our documents and e-mails in the statement McKinsey now says they've stopped all consulting linked to opioids they say their work for produce pharma quote fell short of the company's of the gold standards Brian Mann n.p.r. News a coroner in Columbus Ohio has ruled a fatal law enforcement shooting of a black man last Friday was a homicide the Justice Department and the f.b.i. Have joined the investigation into the shooting death of Casey Goodson Jr Goodson's family claims he was shot repeatedly in the back as he walked into his house. You're listening to n.p.r. 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Dot com slash remote learning Good morning I'm at a wire with these headlines the States one day coded 1000 positivity rate spiked up to almost 8.7 percent yesterday that's the highest single day positivity rate since the spring in Connecticut there is some variation in the numbers from day to day but officials had warned before Thanksgiving of a possible increase in virus transmission after the holiday if too many people traveled or held indoor gatherings the number of people hospitalized with the illness in the state increased by 40 yesterday to more than 1200 the numbers have been indicating a resurgence in the virus in Connecticut this fall after a relatively quiet summer in a report released yesterday Connecticut voices for children argues that the tax burden in the state falls to have a. Working class or middle class families the advocacy group says those families pay a larger percentage of their incomes in taxes than wealthy families Connecticut voices says the most fair solution would be to raise taxes for wealthy state residents and cut taxes for lower income people the group says any additional money collected could fund services that would address income inequality and support the economy but conservative lawmakers have long argued that tax increases on the wealthy would prompt them to move their assets out of state a matter wire a meteorologist Karen r.g.s. As another chilly December day look for highs between 35 and 40 which is so little bit cooler than normal for December 9th a few spotty snow and rain showers are possible as the day moves along tonight will be partly cloudy and not as cold as last night loans will be in the low thirty's and then tomorrow will be a bit warmer with highs reaching up into the forty's with a Connecticut Public Radio weather report on meteorologist Garrett r.g.s. This week on disrupted How can athletes be a force for change I think the people who say sports we've seen have no problem turning around and having politics in sports when it's their politics. Talks about the league social justice Council and how she and others are keeping the conversation going. In this afternoon and to support comes from the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven. This is one day I'm Jan White in Washington President Trump is continuing to try to undermine the election results in Georgia despite the fact that the state was recertified for Biden this week the president has particularly set his sights on Republican governor Brian Kemp on Monday the president tweeted quote what's wrong with this guy what is he hiding in quote that night on. Fox News Republican Senator Lindsey Graham piled on blaming Governor Kim for not fighting for Trump and saying quote There's a civil war brewing in Georgia Meanwhile the Senate runoff election is less than a month away and the balance of power in Congress remains in question Representative Lucy make bath is a Democrat representing Georgia's 6th congressional district she won reelection to her 2nd term in November she's also the author of standing our ground a mother's story represented if the bath Welcome to one day thank you so much for having me what impact do you think these attacks and and this instability might be having on the people you represent. I'd like to say that I believe that nothing that is said or done is going to overturn the results of the election. Georgians brought the presidency to the United States and you know the vice president elect calmly Harris we were really really hard just doing a lot of good work on the ground our grassroots organization organizations all the collaborating that's been done with states most fair the Democratic Party of Georgia we did bring home the presidency and all of the rhetoric though it be divisive it just doesn't overturn the results of the election are you at all concerned that there are cracks forming in Georgia beyond the election results cracks that will be difficult to heal. I must say I'm very concerned by the rhetoric that we're are sharing the attacks on democracy they just absolutely have to stop it is you know a sense of. Just a sense of demoralizing our democratic process and it does have to stop but I know that Georgians will continue to soldier on we'll continue to do the work that needs to be done to bring these 2 phenomenal candidates Reverend Warnock and John also bring them to the finish line I'm I'm convinced that we won't be deterred Well Georgia's secretary of state Brad Raffensperger spoke to reporters on Monday this was the same day Georgia election officials recertify Joe Biden's when for the 3rd time all this talk of a stolen election whether it's Stacy Abrams or the president United States is hurting our state it's time we all focus on the future and growth I know there are people that are convinced the election was fraught with problems but the evidence the actual evidence the facts tell us a different story we just heard the George elections chief criticize both Donald Trump and Democrat Stacy Abrams for selling doubt in state election results Abrams has said that her 2018 loss in the Georgia governor's race was fundamentally unfair because of voter suppression What is your message to those who may question whether or not to vote in January whether their vote will matter. Well I do believe that the secretary of state is also attacking Stacy Abrams and Stacey Abrams called attention to the very real problems in voter suppression that we've had in Georgia I think everyone across the nation was able to actually watch with one of angsty all the voter suppression that we had with our June 9th primary and Stacey Abramson 20 team she actually lifted the curtain on so many issues that were led by then Secretary of State Brian can't we know that thousands of people were purged from our active voter rolls off of the clothes you know the polling locations understaffing of our polling locations so you know these I think everyone across the country these are things that people have witnessed that Georgia has suffered by in our voter suppression tactics so I would say that you know going forward we've learned the lessons I what we've experienced this this year in particular and the last couple of years and we've worked very very hard to make sure that we're protecting every individual's ability to be able to access their right to vote at the ballot box we're talking to Congresswoman Lucy Macbeth the Democrat who represents Georgia's 6th congressional district in the u.s. House of Representatives her district is just north of Atlanta. You won reelection in November in a district that former Republican Speaker Newt Gingrich represented for 2 decades what do you think your victory says about Georgia and how it's changing. The fact that you know I do hold the seat that was once held by Newt Gingrich and I am the 1st Democrat to hold this seat since 1979 and the 1st minority in the history of Georgia to ever hold the seat as I've said over and over again I term this the new south. We have a whole influx of people that are moving to Georgia from all over the nation actually and they're bringing with them their political ideologies and their lived experiences and and so they're bringing those to our politics that is coming into the fray of our politics and so it makes our politics far more diverse armor inclusive because that's who we are as a state now and in particular around that land a metropolitan area and so that's what you see happening that is the sea change that is happening within Georgia that is the reason why I am able to set up my state that is the reason why we have been able to you know bring forth you know the new president and vice president for the 117th Congress because there is a value change that we see happening in Georgia and I'm really excited about our future well you got into politics following the murder of your son Jordan in 2012 he was 17 when he was shot in the parking lot of a gas station by a white man who complained that his music was too loud how did that motivate you to become 1st an advocate for gun safety and eventually a member for a member of Congress I never ever thought I would be either one of those either one of these roles but I you know I had to put the pieces of my life back together and I guess beginning to speak out about what had happened not only to my son Jordan but you know other young black males and women around the country I wanted to really bring to light and bring to bear what people didn't seem to be paying attention to I was calling out the clergy and calling out the very colleagues that I now work with here in Washington and just saying that you know I'm on a mission I am on a mission to make sure what happened to me just. Happened to any other family and my story is just about you know a mother who is raising loving and having lost my son to gun violence and how I transitioned that last into gun violence prevention and because see and then ultimately elevating that to a run for Congress because I just knew that we had to make and balance prevention a policy agenda because 100 over a 100 people in America continue to die every single day when we don't make this issue forefront in our policymaking but I'm curious no intern your 2nd term in Congress and understanding the deep gridlock that exists right now where your frustrations about what you're able to get done and where do you see hope. Now I'm one who's always seen hope. Yes we do get frustrated and in particular you know the new freshman class that I belong to you are just so excited. And we've come in with all kinds of hopes and dreams and expectations and sometimes for us and me in particular we don't move fast enough but you know change is a process it evolves it happens it doesn't happen overnight. So those have been some of my frustrations However I've always believed in democracy and I've always believed in our ability as Americans to deliver to everyone in this country that sense of hope and that sense of the American dream and I know that we have the ability always you know to get back on the train track when we fall off we have the ability to get back on that track again get back on the train and move forward and I know that that's what we're doing at this point in time in history and so I have always worked across the aisle in a bipartisan way I understand that you know that is the way democracy works and that reaching across the aisle and finding commonality. Is what really works for American people because in my eyes I might be a Democrat but I represent everyone whether they are Democrat libertarian or independent because as a public servant we're called to do that very thing and in your 2nd term how will you continue to push forward gun safety legislation. I am looking forward to working with an administration who has said that gun safety is up I were ready for them I my colleagues and I have legislation federal background checks and sales closings Charleston local red flag walls number of pieces of legislation that we have just been waiting to put forth and hoping that we have support from the Senate and we know that for President elect Biden and vice president elect calmly Hare's they do understand the urgency of saving lives and so they will be willing to work with us and I do look forward to being able to accelerate what we've accomplished because each and every single day that we wait more people continue to die and I know what that's like and I don't want that for anyone and that's Congresswoman Lucy make path a Democrat representing George's 6th congressional district and the u.s. House of representative representatives her district is just north of Atlanta where was that if the math we appreciate your time thank you. Up next we're all about I'll tell you why in a moment I'm genuine This is one way from w.a.m. You and n.p.r. . They get all done. You know. They can. This is the. Support for Connecticut Public Radio comes from u.i. As c.g. And c n n g providing energy for Connecticut and ready to help their customers manage their monthly energy bills learn more at 877 Y's use. On the column one of our favorite writer a.j. Jacobs who recently described what it was like to try to know everything. In my brain I wish that I could remove but I can't for instance. So now I remember that and so. This afternoon. Civil rights groups are calling on President elect to appoint more black people to top positions in his administration but the head of the. Also immigrating to the United States. Will talk with the stars of the new film. That's next time. Afternoon at 3. 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Round for Latin music in the u.s. And for many Latinos she represented the possibility of an American dream but in 1905 she was shot and killed just before her 24th birthday and in Netflix series is exploring the singer's life and death but how does the latest portrayal of one of music's biggest icon's compare to the real life person joining us to talk about the legacy of Selena and the new Netflix show about her life is Maria Carsey a senior editor of Arts and Culture at w b u r She's also the host and creator of the upcoming podcast series anything porcelain are welcome to win a Maria. Hi Jen thanks so much for having me also with us is Alex our Goza He's senior staff writer for culture advice Alex thanks for being here Hi Thanks so much for having me as well and Ramon at an end as founder and curator of the Hispanic entertainment archives and a former publicist for Salon or Ramon welcome. Thank you for having me that to be here we also want to hear from you share your memories of Salerno with us you can comment on our Facebook page tweet us at one a or send us an e-mail at one a w am you dot org Maria we talked about one of the songs that gave Selena her big break Comella floor just explain a bit about her rise to stardom. Absolutely well I grew up on the Us Mexico border one of my very 1st memories is actually discovering Selena and even at 70 years old it was incredibly profound to me to see somebody who looked like my community who sounded like a community you know as a 1st generation Mexican American in this country. And Selina captivated the nation because her ascendancy came at a crucial time in history for that the nose you know in the mid ninety's when she when she came. When she really came into her own. Just a year before NAFTA had been signed contributing to an influx of immigration into the u.s. From Mexico from 1090 to 2000 there was a 60 percent increase in immigration to the u.s. And so anti immigrant sentiment was really taking root at the time you had even you know liberal law lawmakers like Dianne Feinstein talking about you know the anxiety of having so many immigrants come to the u.s. You had Prop 187 passed in California just the year before and Mexican Americans Latinos but specifically Mexican Americans were often portrayed us teen moms. College dropouts or violent gang members and so when Selena comes along. She represented this sort of transcendence without compromise this ability to ascend in American society without letting go of your roots and that manifest that it itself in everything from the way she dressed from the way she spoke You know the sort of celebration of curves before today's mainstreaming of the big butts her Spanglish accent her sort of pronounced red lips . She celebrated an identity that at that time was very much directed and so that was incredibly profound for a lot of people to experience and to see me included and so now you have this whole generation of people who have very profound impact for memories that have been found of Selina that have been foundational in sort of building their own identity in articulating their own Latino identity and so everything about her is laden with meaning her image is sort of a shorthand has transformed into a shorthand for a whole experience and so that's why people feel incredibly strongly even a quarter century later about the way she has betrayed the way she is represented because she has become this really really important symbol in American Latino identity Well here's a message we got from you one of you about the impacts Linda had on your life I grew up in intact an economy and how old and well you know what my 1st your idol and 6 years old I looked hurt but you remain may have one driver and when he passed away my family came to pick me up from school that day I mean worn her walk together and militants are going out in this day and her lycra that I don't with a huge huge figure to so many of us growing up you know we grew up in homes where we spoke Spanish and then everywhere else it. Be English I'm here with the incredible I who are both and it was so empowering for. Alex you've written about selling his popularity with Mexican American communities and more broadly Latino communities but you've also written about the influence she's had on your personal life when did you 1st hear her music. I was also pretty young when I when I listened to or heard Selena for the 1st time and it was through my cousin who grew up and was very into like North and and all that but I make an amusing and you know in my house it was mostly a hip hop rap post because that's what my brother and my sister listen to so when I would go to my cousin's house in the white i because like my dad and I also grew up on on the border and San Diego and. I I was there and that's where I really got to experience so much more of that music and I remember so vividly. When when Salerno was murdered the the way it impacted my cousin how she cried and I took puffy pain and I did a whole like me old to sit in on her wall and I was I was pretty young at the time but I remember being in all of just not just the music but like in seeing how much she meant to my cousin and such like it made me think like Ok why why why does she mean so much for her and over the years and having developed my own love for her and love of her music and and or said things on a deeper level about her meaning to you know the x. Community as a whole and particularly next in a Mexican Americans it's it's become so vividly clear why she was so important to us when we're hearing from you Mocha love tweeted Selena was one of if not the 1st non English speaking musicians I remember listening to as a little black girl growing up she helped me to not see or hear color and opened my ears to more variety of music to this day I still play her music and James Patterson tweeted I grew up in San Antonio Texas until it was killed when I was in high school the community was shattered at the loss of someone with such a bright future Ramon you knew the continua family and worked with as a publicist in the early days tell us more about those early years. Well let me just provide you a little bit of background I was in the military and I had been working I started work in the entertainment field 1968. I worked with orders and Italy's fate and Puerto Rico and I was pretty callous and as a writer on the entertainment. I had practically done this and that but when I heard Selena for the 1st time in 1905 it of that middle Garcia productions function that was still part and send 20 you know my ears just perked up and I just this wow this girl has talent I mean I could see a diamond in the rough and I volunteered to do publicity for Abraham you know on my own period I was not part of the staff and I was still in the girl and she was she was incredible from the get go I mean it was that natural talent God given talent. We heard silliness final performance of Camelot floor earlier talk more about who she was as a force of musical talent Absolutely I mean she was a true Vanguard someone who transformed a tradition of a very traditional genre into a very danceable of the moment Tex Mex somebody who took influences from American r. And b. From even rock and roll and fused it all with traditional Mexican folk guitar with the German poker. Which had developed in Texas over that 18th in 1980 and so she brought on of these forces together and the way she performed I mean she was a masterful performer she emoted her songs with such scale and that's why now 25 years later there's a live in year old 13 year olds who were not. Even born. Before she died but who have discovered her simply on the Internet or through the bio pic and who have become ardent fans because her charisma the the bountiful miss of her presence spills out now even now from the screen and so you know she she was. She started performing when she was 9 years old she started touring in Texas at that time by the time she was 12 she was a professional musician who was no longer in school and was training full time you know she had mastered her craft. She was an incredibly disciplined artist and so I think that's what a lot of people are craving from the Netflix series is to see sort of that masterful artistry that she had come alive on screen I'm Jan White You're listening to one day we're talking to Maria Garcia senior editor of Arts and Culture at w b u r She's also the hosting creator of the upcoming podcast series anything for it Selena Also with us Alexandra Goza senior staff writer for culture at Vox and Ramona at Amanda is founder and curator of the Hispanic entertainment archives and a former publicist for Selena Kington Yeah Kayla emailed as a mexican american my memories of listening to Selena center around my mom making tortillas and dancing So Lena meant so much to me my siblings and mom growing up in the ninety's and she still does and a quick correction Alex is the senior staff writer for culture at Vox Ramon before it's a limit to how music was largely unknown outside of Texas how was she able to expand its popularity. Well open the doors for the home use it were a live show and so on you know so you know something else when I had a national hit in 1963 called Talk to me. There was no Most orders but not in the way of something that I mean being female she had you know a lot of obstacles but she overcame everything she just lower body away. With something as music has influenced many of today's stars including Carty b. Here's a clip of Cordy be after a performance in Houston Texas Hey guys I just want to say that on you for the billboard. I was showing now this is the funniest 77 not. Seen but when I was going to say just like it was you was funny to see this picture with this outfit this is basically he's like I know what I was going to. Kind of you may. See. That. Alex and again you're the senior staff writer for culture advice it was known for her stage presence and her outfits tell us more about her style and her influence in the world of fashion Well she I mean her style has transcended time at this point and I in my piece that I wrote I even noted how my niece who's 7 years old born long after she passed away you know was screaming excitedly on Christmas morning when she woke up to a training bra that had that my sister had glued little plastic gems on and everyone was like. For you know I dream that I did or she was so excited that's the level of impact and it's you can't divorce the fact that her style was also just you know emboldened by her curves by her body by the power of her presence the. It was a powerhouse from the tip of her fingers to the stare in her eyes to the power of the the strength of her voice she just delivered in every single way and it meant so much to see someone on stage who looked like you who had the curves that you know at that time weren't really celebrated and I was wearing them with such pride within and showing them off in this like such funky outfits or I love it and to this day people still will rock their you know Selena inspired outfits not even as a costume they're just going out you know in regular touch. To a bar or club and they're like I'm feeling very Selena tonight and I'm going to like throw on my red lipstick my gold hoops and that it's by no accident that that's become such an intrinsic style when it comes to the Mexican American community when you think of like women in Echo Park and in El Paso and the one and San Diego like there are communities all over those regions and beyond you know that's the vibe that we're going for I mean the fact that I own as much leopard print clothing as I do know is that many large part thanks to her Maria where do you see her impact on popular culture and music. Well I mean everywhere you know beyond say has talked about you know how inspired she was by Selena you know what and an early version of a female pop star what it was like to see that in Selena growing up in Texas you know Lady Gaga wears. A t. Shirt with Salinas name on it the weekend recently posted it you know a video of him singing laugh a lot of you know in music I think she's really perceived as this this again this Vanguard who. Created spawn the whole movement a whole sort of us that ache and skiable that was based on sort of like working class Mexican American. Looks and that was incredibly profound for people and so yeah I see I see her impact in other pop culture and other musicians obviously in television with the Netflix show but most importantly I see her impact in the way people use her image to empower themselves and to sort of self actualized and to to express that their identity like Alex was talking about you know the big who looks the red lipstick the sort of natural frizzy hair you know that she wasn't trying to straighten the tightest of tights on her curves you know was a celebration. Of a body type that at that time wasn't celebrated even in very whitewashed Latin American programming so I see her impact and in this very little power let's pause for a moment we're talking to Maria Garcia with our Alex there are ghosts advice and Ramona every man as founder and curator of the Hispanic entertainment archives will be back in a moment I'm Jan this is morning. At least. A week. Was. Support comes from the ocean or Lifelong Learning Institute at u. Conn Waterbury one of 124 hours or programs nationwide with Virtual learning and social opportunities for adults over $5000.00 l. U. Conn dot edu she was the queen of take hard on music and now there's a Netflix show about her life 71. Doesn't it be like her Janet Jackson you mean something English but some fans say Selena of the series is a weak tribute to one of the strongest women in music the extraordinary life of Selena next time on one day. Coming up this morning at 11 I'm Rachel Martin from n.p.r. 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From your part time controller specializing in nonprofit accounting and committed to helping nonprofits during this crisis by supporting them remotely with their u.s. Based accounting staff more ad y p t c dot com and from the listeners who support this n.p.r. Station Let's get back to the legacy of Selena and the new Netflix show about her life with Maria Garcia senior editor of Arts and Culture at w b u r She's also the host in creator of the upcoming podcast series anything for Selena Also with us Alexandra Goza senior staff writer for culture advice and Ramon Ed Mendez founder and curator of the Hispanic entertainment archives and a former publicist for Selena came to New York and we want to hear from you what did Selena mean to you you can comment on our Facebook page tweet us at one a or send us an e-mail at one day at w. Am you dot org Nancy tweeted growing up in Brunswick Brownsville Texas on the Us Mexico border her music to find our Carnie aside those are by Lay's and our Rio Grande Valley assonance Well I want to get into this film or this series actually from Netflix Here's a clip that illustrates Hill and his relationship to our family so I was thinking if so you know likes to sing and maybe is learning mace I could be on guitar and we could all have fun playing together. You know relatives at parties maybe. Well because playing music is a privilege and it gave me some of the best times of my life and. I want you to have a 2 but because I'm Jesse She went home and she was one to play the drums Yeah but the drums are still here waiting for someone to play the. What. The Germans would you know it will be fine and no it won't be just for a family meal or the Trumans constantly trying to see the thing get see you. Tom Maybe he tried it might be fun more. Where moon was a relationship with your family like especially when they were collaborating on music I mean it's only that when she was 13 and that her 1st publicity photos and by that time everybody was right everybody was into music 100 percent 200 percent said I'm drawing c.b. On the own bass guitar and. On keyboards so it was a very. The love and family atmosphere there was no one in the mass or the there were nor going was everybody was just happy go lucky and enjoy what they were doing. Alex in your recent review of the new Netflix series you suggest that it cost us over the influence that Abraham continue had on to a career that her father and we're getting some comments from folks Lindsay writes on Facebook the series seems to focus more on the men in the story than the women the poor mother barely even has any lines and 0 character development it seems are primarily centered around the dad and brother and the c.e.o. Wrote on Facebook dad was clearly living for his kids no one that knows anything about the can to me a family will dispute that the kids and mom were employees anyone who is a fan is watching because of the limb but trust and believe that no one has rose colored glasses on we know how it all went down what did you how did you review the series what did you think well. I did see that the series is just such a huge disservice to honor her memory and her humanity and fall it really just was such a disappointment to watch and a truly watched show hoping and wanting it to be good I had my doubts just because of the level of. Honestly what I call exploitation of her memory that I've seen over the years sense or dead. You know as as sort of. As good as handled by Abraham can give any her father when you see Celine as image and signatures lapped on every single product but any time you know small independent artists who are super fans or other fans try to create something and they're hit with a cease and desist it's a very telling of who the family believes is allowed to you know quote unquote profit off her you know and so in watching this series it was such a disappointment to see that she was trunking down to this meek. Character this you know Sure Dad whatever you say Dad and smiling through it and that the that the vehicle of storytelling is primarily focused on her father and her brother as these sort of architects of her career and architects of her of her abilities and of her stardom when that was that would be disingenuous to her memory especially when we see all the footage all the interview footage all the concert footage of her firm for years now of just how just how impactful and just how powerful her she was on stage and her musical mastery was so incredible but he had said this before of just you know. At such a young age was developed as an artist she was a professional at a time when we were all wearing braces and were awkward and and could what probably feel embarrassed to be wearing even a baggy sweater you know she was on stage and holding it down and to give us this betrayal of this woman of this young woman who frankly doesn't even seem to have a say in her life at all it's concerning and I think it does a disservice to not just next woman watching but to the representation of our people on the screen someone who has met and spent time with Salinas family what do you think about how her career has been managed both during her life and posthumously. Well you know. Family it was integrity to her artistry from a very young age she talked a lot about how important it was and how lucky she felt that she shared like the past one of her biggest passions in life music and her artistry with her father and their synergy is what made Selena you know it's come alive. At one point her brother was one of the most prolific songwriters and the fastest growing John Wright in the country they were truly changing as yon read together and there was a lot of solidarity within their family for that they shared a dream. But of course it's complicated right because like Alex was saying Selena was not. This meek girl in fact the reason why so many people are still in Amherst with her is because of her spunky for Roche's personality that comes through I mean she could switch from a reverent diva to like humble girl next door as I've written before in a blink of an eye and so to not see that pretrial to not see the mastery. And to have her role sort of wilt in service of you know her manager father and her songwriter brother in the Netflix show you know leaves a lot of people really craving so much more and you know. Abraham made a promise her father made a promise shortly after she passed that he would never allow the world to forget his daughter and so I think that he has lived his life in earnest trying to keep that promise I know you know that there are people who believe that he exploits her image I think that he has a different version of sort of what it means to guard and preserve and protect her legacy and I think there's a tension between him wanting to do that as a father feels incredibly protective and of her being bigger than now right like she's bigger than just Selina his daughter I mean she is a cultural force that has come to symbolize and define the whole identity and so there's a tension between you know who own Selena's likeness and we've seen that you know for a quarter century now since since she passed so so I think it's a little complicated you know and there's a reason Abraham gets portrayed as sort of this graph a sexist much he's that got a guy and he will tell you that like. That that is his personality he is sort of like he does sort of command every situation he's and he is sort of like an alpha guy he's a product of his time. But there's also there was also a relationship between them between Abraham and Selena that was our. That is true artist that I wish we would see in the series yes it's true that like that Abraham was a musician whose dreams you know did not come true and I think one way to read that is that he was living through his children another way to read that is that he and Selena shared this bond as as artists and you know they they shared this crap and there was this really special relationship like he had a tremendous amount of respect for her as an artist and show I wish we would see that a little bit more Ramon you worked with the king to me a family closely what do you think about some of the criticisms against her father . Well I agree with Maria and Alex on ever having controlling but he was Should businessman and he did everything because he wanted the band to succeed if he had to push and if he had to be hard on them it's because the ultimate goal was success was the National had a goal record a platinum record in fact I'm glad the series. Had a few scenes. What he called. Covering the period during the time they paid their dues it's not only one person's talent the ability to sing but also all the people behind it the photographers writers the booking agent which Abraham was. No we get back to Abraham Abraham was a manager he was a booking agent he was a promoter and there were there were he was a bus driver he was a sound man he was the electrician he was a mechanic my seller her mother was a light person and then she ab's way of work the lights behind the scenes when they were playing when they were paying to reduce from 196989. So there was a lot of struggle there's there's photographs of Abraham does was seen that I took and you can see those on Facebook I just post them yesterday but I'm on the Hernandez covering all that period so and so I'm glad they did cover the you know when they were struggling when they were him as a bus and they were saw them as he was all for his family all for Selena if he did what he did it was you know so she would be the person that's remembered No I'm genuine here listening to want to say we're talking to Ramon at an end as founder and curator of the Hispanic entertainment archives and a former publicist for Selina continue Also with us Maria Garcia senior editor of Arts and Culture at w b u r She's also the host and creator of the upcoming podcast series anything for it Selena Also with us Alex is that our Go senior staff writer for culture advice Alex were many viewers and for the show runners this series on Netflix is a winner for the win for Latino representation on screen do you think that complicates the criticisms leveled against the show. Well I think I'm not sure if I would call it a win presentation to be honest it's available and it's there but just because something's available in there doesn't mean it's doing the you know the triumphant you know feat of giving us a story that's fully representative or you know you know hope to see ourselves in a way that I think it could have done I think it could have been a lot more and. There is you know it has its failures but failures but it also has it does have its strong suits and it's points that can be celebrated but in all it's just I think it was just such a. I keep saying disappointment and the disservice that it did because in the end it's it's it's treating her story as a sort of does defied version this that flair and her humanity when she like as said that this is a this is a very complicated a very complex story and she meant many things to many people and those things are almost removed in and in service of telling this. Like a Lifetime movie as down to the bad costuming and wigs of the story about like this very nice girl who had a credible talent and had a very pushy controlling father that you know pushed her where we know it's like so if she were here and program on another is like we know that and the family did this together that they really fought and did this audit gather and and watching it was hard for me to not see you know you know we lost that before she had a chance to tell her own story before she had a chance to decide what her story in within this story was and so we're getting the version that the family deems Ok or deems that is the right story. Well not necessarily the story that would give a full picture of the of the experience but the best area and you think about you know the film the 1907 film starring Jennifer Lopez that came 2 years after her death so it's understandable. At all any point it would be understandable that a father would be protective of his daughter's image just specially after such a tragic event and that film coming out 2 years after of course you want to give the audience the most the best version of her the version where you you can really celebrate what a kind and incredible young woman she was for 25 years past her death at this point so I think there's an opportunity to dive in even deeper to really kind of explore the complexities of like what she faced as such a young person placed in this position I want to go to the couple of other comments that we've gotten about a letter to Tamara tweeted My 1st cd was stolen as a young girl she helped me build my confidence and sing loudly I knew all the words even though I couldn't speak Spanish now as a mother to an Afro Latino little boy I want him to know her music and also see his mother as a strong creative confident and multilingual artist just as beautiful as Selena we've got about 30 seconds here Maria despite the issues people have taken with this series portrayal of Selena Why do you think her story is when we keep coming back to. You know her story is one we keep coming back to again because she's bigger than herself and because all of these people a whole generation of people have these very beautiful tender profound memories that came to define their identity that helped them understand who they were in the world how they belonged in the world Cereno was that person who helped us understand where we belong and even now a quarter century later she still lives that's Maria Garcia She's senior editor of Arts and Culture at w.v.u. Our She's also the host and creator of the upcoming podcast series anything for sin and also with us Alexander goes the senior staff writer for culture advice and Ramona Ed Mendez the founder and sure either of the Hispanic entertainment archives and a former publicist porcelain a contender thanks to you all remember to subscribe to the one a pod cast it's where you'll find our best guests and stories each day you can listen whenever you like and get it where ever you find your podcast today's show was produced by daughter are starting this program comes to you from w.a.m. You part of American University in Washington distributed by n.p.r. I'm Jan White thanks for listening to Talk More see this is one. Thing. Support for n.p.r. 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A lot of parts of this economy the music industry has been stress tested what was already broken is really creeping in collapsing. Or trying to make ends meet and what touring world might look like on the other side. You can join us tonight at 630 this is Connecticut Public Radio n.p.r. And n.p.r. Age 51 married in at 90.5 w p k t w p k t h d one Norwich 89.1. 88.5 w. Our ally Southampton at 91.3 and w n p all dot org.