Neil deMause on Reopening Coverage, Nicole Porter on Covid and Prisons

Janine Jackson

MP3 Link

North Paulding High School, Georgia

This week on CounterSpin: Two Georgia teens were reportedly suspended for posting a photo of their recently reopened high school—students pressed together in a hallway, few wearing masks—and apparently the principal gave kids a threatening talking-to about saying anything "negative" about the school...like that maybe it was endangering their lives and those of their families. Expect more of these kinds of conflicts, and silencing attempts, as places make choices about what to reopen, when. Our guest says more thoughtful attention to the "how" of re-opening is necessary, but for that, you'd need to listen to people who actually know—and care—rather than constantly handing the mic to Mr. “It Is What It Is." We'll get an update on coronavirus coverage from freelance journalist and author Neil deMause.

MP3 Link

Also on the show: There are people who think that once you're in prison, you can be forgotten; you've been deemed a bad person, and whatever happens to you, you somehow deserve. For those people, the unsurprising sweep of Covid-19 through the incarcerated population is at most a footnote to the bigger story. But growing numbers of Americans are questioning the whole criminal justice system — who goes to prison and why, and what are the supposed reasons it's better for society to have them there than back in the community. For those people, the pandemic is a chance to shine a light on decarceration—not just in a time of disease, but all the time. We'll talk about that with Nicole Porter, director of advocacy at the Sentencing Project.

MP3 Link

Plus Janine Jackson takes a quick look at recent coverage of Trump's TikTok threats.

MP3 Link