Edwin talks to Jeff Jarvis, visiting professor in the School of Communication and Journalism at Stony Brook University.

Catch “The Big Picture with Edwin Eisendrath” Saturdays from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/the-big-picture).

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Edwin is joined by Donna Ladd, editor at Mississippi Free Press. She discussed the proclamation of April as Confederate Heritage Month in Mississippi and its implications. She highlighted the extremist views of some advocates who romanticize the Confederacy and criticized Governor Tate Reeves (R) for quietly publishing his proclamation through the Sons of Confederate Veterans. She emphasized the need for historical accuracy and warned against the revisionist Civil War narrative perpetuated by organizations like Beauvoir, which operates the Jefferson Davis Home and Presidential Library. "To me, it sends the message that we are not better than our past if we allow this to happen," Ladd told WCPT.

Catch “The Big Picture with Edwin Eisendrath” Saturdays from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/the-big-picture).

And find “The Big Picture (Full Episodes)” podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, YouTube, Amazon and TuneIn.

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Edwin is joined by David Pepper, lawyer, political activist, author (of fiction and nonfiction), and former chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party. He discussed the growing resistance against authoritarianism in America and highlighted the story of an Ohio nurse named Valerie who recently started organizing rallies in Cincinnati. Pepper said she had "really never been to a rally before January. It gave her courage. She felt like the courage was sort of contagious in the crowd. And so they needed to do one in Cincinnati and she went to a website and signed up, and . . . a couple weeks ago, she had about 4,500 people" show up at the April 5 "Hands Off" rally.

Pepper called for broader participation from institutions and individuals to counteract the administration's attacks on higher education and drew a line from Viktor Orbán's Hungary to Donald Trump's America. "What did Orbán do with higher ed in Hungary? He converted it all to right-wing higher ed," Pepper told WCPT. "The end goal here -- this is why you can never comply. They'd rather destroy current higher ed than have it be as it is. But their ultimate goal is to put higher ed and its infrastructure to work for their cause."

Catch “The Big Picture with Edwin Eisendrath” Saturdays from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/the-big-picture).

And find “The Big Picture (Full Episodes)” podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, YouTube, Amazon and TuneIn.

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Edwin is joined by David Roberts of the Volts newsletter and podcast (which focus on the technology, politics, and policy of decarbonization).

They discussed the impact of the current administration's environmental and energy policies. Roberts criticized the administration's inefficiency and its focus on coal, noting that coal is no longer economically viable without significant government subsidies. He highlighted the global shift towards clean energy, particularly in China, and argued that the U.S. is undermining its own clean energy transition and global competitiveness by prioritizing fossil fuels and attacking research institutions.

Catch “The Big Picture with Edwin Eisendrath” Saturdays from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/the-big-picture).

And find “The Big Picture (Full Episodes)” podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, YouTube, Amazon and TuneIn.

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Edwin is joined by WGN-TV chief meteorologist emeritus Tom Skilling, who discussed the severe consequences of budget cuts to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Weather Service. He highlighted that the service collects 6.3 billion weather observations daily and produces 1.5 million forecasts and 50,000 warnings annually. "These are essential," Skilling told WCPT. "They're life saving."

He emphasized the critical role of local offices in providing accurate, real-time data to first responders and the aviation industry, and warned that federal budget cuts could degrade forecast accuracy and jeopardize public safety.

"[W]hat's going on is really concerning in an agency that's been lean and mean and consistently ranked among the most respected federal agencies in our government," Skilling said. "People respect the weather service. It's often the top-rated government federal agency, because people understand its products and use them all the time."

Catch “The Big Picture with Edwin Eisendrath” Saturdays from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/the-big-picture).

And find “The Big Picture (Full Episodes)” podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, YouTube, Amazon and TuneIn.

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Edwin is joined by Rep. Sean Casten (D-IL), who discussed his legislative efforts, particularly his cap-and-trade bill aimed at regulating carbon emissions. He also addressed the broader challenges of American democracy, the importance of public education, and the need for collective action against the Trump administration's unconstitutional actions. Casten underscored the significance of maintaining a thriving democracy and the role of scientific research in national progress.

Catch “The Big Picture with Edwin Eisendrath” Saturdays from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/the-big-picture).

And find “The Big Picture (Full Episodes)” podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, YouTube, Amazon and TuneIn.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Edwin is joined by Peter Gleick, water and climate scientist, author, and co-founder of The Pacific Institute. Gleick discussed the role of water in the recent Los Angeles fires, highlighting the impact of rising temperatures on soil and vegetation dryness, and criticized President Donald Trump's executive order to release water from Northern California dams, which he says was ineffective and detrimental to farmers. He also discussed the unsustainable use of groundwater, the importance of economic and technological solutions to mitigate water scarcity, and the urgency for making a faster transition to renewable energy.

Catch “The Big Picture with Edwin Eisendrath” Saturdays from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/the-big-picture).

And find “The Big Picture (Full Episodes)” podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, YouTube, Amazon and TuneIn.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Edwin is joined by Hadar Harris, PEN America’s managing director, Washington.

Harris discussed the challenges to free speech in the U.S., highlighting the impact of book bans, media restrictions, the marginalization of NGOs, and attacks on higher education, and emphasized the importance of individual and institutional efforts to protect free expression.

"There's this sort of twisting of the concept of what civil rights are and what illegal discrimination means," Harris told WCPT. "The whole concept of what DEI is, the concept of what gender is, and even the concept of what antisemitism is . . . is being instrumentalized to . . . undermine institutions in ways that will kind of comport with this ideological approach to things and to not necessarily go through the legal processes or to comply with the law but to really impose a particular vision of free expression, a particular vision of free speech, and a particular vision of the 'golden age of America.'"

Catch “The Big Picture with Edwin Eisendrath” Saturdays from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/the-big-picture).

And find “The Big Picture (Full Episodes)” podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, YouTube, Amazon and TuneIn.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.