560: Paying for school lunches, and Luigi Mangione is no hero

A national survey reports that a shocking number of Americans under the age of 30 condone the murder of health industry CEO Brian Thompson, an act allegedly committed by Luigi Mangione.

Me and Chad Oban discuss that survey on this episode of Plain Talk. Do the people justifying the murder of Thompson understand that people they don't like so much might decide to play by the same rules? What happens when other sorts of political extremists begin justifying violence this way?

Also on this episode, a coalition calling itself Together for School Meals has formed to begin advocacy for legislation that would pay for school lunches for all North Dakota students. Tony Burke, a government affairs director for the American Heart Association, which is one of the groups in this coalition, joined us to make the case for the initiative.

"It's broader than just school lunches," he told us, arguing that it's "about healthy students."

How much will the initiative cost? How will it be implemented? What impacts will it have on existing federal funding for North Dakota's school lunch program? We asked, and Burke answered.

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