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Speaking Freely With Annette Newell


Jan 20, 2022

My guests for this episode are U.S. Representative Suzanne Bonamici, Oregon, and Jonathan Pidluzny, Vice President of Academic Affairs, American Council of Trustees and Alumni

Topics: New COVID-19 variant, homelessness, transportation’s impact on the environment, and a lack of history and civics education making politics less civil. 

Synopsis: With the emergence of cases of a new COVID- 9 variant in our country and many others, what can we do to prepare?   I asked Oregon Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici for her insight on that. We also talked about how many people are struggling with homelessness, and not having enough food.  Also we looked at the challenges to redistricting in Oregon, as the state’s population keeps growing, And, an effort underway in Oregon to make trucking go electric, that could impact the future of trucking in America and around the world.

Then, I talk to Jonathan Pidluzny, Vice President of Academic Affairs, American Council of Trustees and Alumni.  His group just completed research on universities and colleges throughout the country, including the University of Washington, and found that most are eliminating basic education on American History and civics.  We discussed how that is impacting the level of civil discourse in the U.S.  The study of top universities in the country found even for history majors, they no longer require American history.  We also discussed Oregon’s new requirement for civics education that the state legislature approved this year.

(Episode originally aired 12/5/21)