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The problem with the news right now? It’s everywhere. And each day, it can feel like we’re all just mindlessly scrolling. It’s why we created What Next. This short daily show is here to help you make sense of things. When the news feels overwhelming, we’re here to help you answer: What next? Look for new episodes every weekday morning.All episodes Host
Mary Harrisis the host and managing editor of What Next, Slate s new daily news podcast. She has reported throughout the public radio system, for NPR, Marketplace, and WNYC.
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Originally published on December 22, 2020 3:37 pm
Guns are just about as American as apple pie. To many, especially white folks, they ve represented all the highfalutin ideals enshrined in the constitution: independence, self-reliance and the ability to live freely. For Black folks, guns often symbolize all those same things but, as we like to say on the show, it s complicated.
As we talked about on our latest episode of the pod, firearms have always loomed large in Black people s lives going all the way back to the days of colonial slavery. Right from the jump, guns were tied up in America s thorny relationship with race; you can actually tell the story of how America s racial order takes shape, in part, by tracing the history of guns in the U.S. and who was allowed to own them.