Racial Violence, Leslie Odom Jr, Yemen, Election Security

Racial Violence in America: History Informs the Present Guest: Ryan Gabriel, PhD, BYU Sociology Professor When fatal shootings of black men by white police officers started capturing our attention a few years ago, some Americans were quick to write them off as isolated incidents. There were complaints that angry protesters and the Black Lives Matter movement were stirring up tension where none existed. Racial discrimination has been illegal in the US for decades. Segregation is over. Jim Crow is history. Harping on the past just makes it harder to move on, some say.  But history informs the present. For example, there’s evidence that communities in the south, where lynching was prevalent 100 years ago, are more prone to white-on-black violence today. Hamilton's Leslie Odom Jr. on What Comes Next Guest: Leslie Odom Jr., Award-Winning Broadway Performer  Leslie Odom Jr. won a 2016 Tony for his portrayal of Aaron Burr in “Hamilton.” Now he’s touring with his new solo jazz album called, “Leslie Odom Jr.” We spoke last month just before his performance here at BYU. Mosul, Yemen, Saudi Tensions  Guest: John Macfarlane, Professor of History and Political Science at UVU; Fred Axelgard, PhD, Senior Fellow of International Relations at the Wheatley Institution at BYU We are now weeks away from an expected battle to retake Iraq’s second-largest city from ISIS. It could be a key turning point in the years-long effort to defeat the terror group also known as the Islamic State.  Could the 2016 Election Be Hacked? Guest: Richard Forno, PhD, University of Maryland More embarrassing internal emails from the Clinton campaign and Democratic National Committee are trickling out through Wikileaks. Russia remains the chief suspect in the hack, according to US security officials. We also know Russian hackers have accessed voter records in some states. So, this question of whether Russia could hack a US election isn’t completely paranoia. After all, most of us cast votes on touch-screen systems that are just computers. And computers can be hacked. Just how vulnerable is our US election system?