The Current Affairs panel unpacks the accusation of liberal bias, asks whether landlords are necessary, and shares their favorite lost historical hero.
The Panel:
- Brianna Rennix, senior editor
- Vanessa A. Bee, social media editor
- Sparky Abraham, finance editor
- Nathan J. Robinson, editor-in-chief
- Pete Davis, host
Further reading on institutional bias:
Pete wrote an article on "working the ref" at Harvard Law; Paul Krugman and Todd Gitlin wrote similar articles. Pacific Standard has a piece on racial bias in the news and The Washington Post has a study of news audiences by ideology. And, of course, the grandfather of "the news is biased" takes is Noam Chomsky's Manufacturing Consent.
Further reading on landlords:
The original Sean Hannity story can be read about in The Guardian and The Los Angeles Times. Jacobin has two useful pieces: "The Permanent Crisis of Housing" and "Evict the Landlords." Rebecca Burns wrote a major piece on Wall Street landlords earlier this year.
Further reading on alternatives to landlord domination:
Here are three big solutions: (1) Alexis Zanghi on rent control; (2) Jake Blumgart and Michelle Chen on community land trusts; (3) Jeff Spross on affordable housing; and (4) Ryan Cooper and Peter Gowan on social housing.
Further reading on our historical heroes:
The Smithsonian has a great essay on the "Quaker Comet" Benjamin Lay. Here's the wikipedia on Manuela Sáenz. Here's an essay on the civic lessons we can gain from AA. Here's Benjamin Banneker's letter to Thomas Jefferson. And here is the wikipedia page for Vanessa's friend, Lilly Jacobson.
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