An exploration of the transformational events and movements that are creating a new normal in our society, as told by reporters on the ground in the Pacific Northwest. Hosted by Sara Bernard. Season 1: The Pandemic Season 2: Defunding the Police Season 3: Education … Cover photo by Lindsey Wasson
Episodes
Wednesday Jun 03, 2020
Ep. 7 - Vote-by-Mail Is the Future — and It’s Already Here (Season 1)
Wednesday Jun 03, 2020
Wednesday Jun 03, 2020
When President Donald Trump focused his ire on mail-in ballots late last month, Twitter did something unusual. It fact-checked him. His claims that moving away from in-person voting during the pandemic would lead to widespread fraud was unsubstantiated, the company said. His tweets, and that unprecedented tweetback, were just the latest in a spirited debate over the adoption of mail-in balloting brought on by the pandemic threat. But in the state of Washington, the debate is over. For almost a decade, voters in the Evergreen state have elected their leaders and weighed in on initiatives without ever setting a foot in a polling place, all while avoiding any whiff of widespread voter fraud. For this episode of This Changes Everything, Crosscut news and politics editor Donna Blankinship speaks with host Sara Bernard about the fight over mail-in ballots and the lessons that Washington state has been sharing with other states that are weighing their options as they prepare for election season.
Wednesday Jun 10, 2020
Ep 8 - Caring for the Dead in a Pandemic (Season 1)
Wednesday Jun 10, 2020
Wednesday Jun 10, 2020
Over the last three months, Americans have made drastic changes to almost every aspect of their lives to limit the spread of the coronavirus. They have transformed the way they work, the way they relax, the way they eat, the way they worship. At the center of all of this change is death, the singular thing that those changes are intended to forestall. So, naturally, death has changed as well. On this week's episode of This Changes Everything, host Sara Bernard contemplates what happens in this moment when a loved one passes away, whether from the virus or another cause. She speaks with reporter Margo Vansynghel who tells the story of Jessica Henry, a woman whose life was upended by the virus and who is now a part of the death-care industry. Henry shares her experiences with the changing procedures and rituals that surround death during COVID-19 and how being face-to-face with death everyday is changing the way she thinks about life.
Tuesday Jun 23, 2020
Ep. 9 - What We Lose When Small Businesses Close (Season 1)
Tuesday Jun 23, 2020
Tuesday Jun 23, 2020
Running a small businesses is already rife with difficulties. But since the coronavirus pandemic arrived and governments placed restrictions on gatherings and commerce to help stave off an influx of infections, survival has become impossible for some. Even as the state begins easing the restrictions, the path back to solvency for those that have survived is harrowing, and the threat of a second wave of infections looms. Host Sara Bernard speaks with Crosscut changing region reporter Manola Secaira about the difficulties small businesses have faced and the prospect of a future filled with a lot more corporate consolidation and a lot less character.