MinnPost Picks: on California wildfires, Medicare for all, and blaxplaining ‘blaxplaining’

“We Blaxplain Blaxplaining,” The New York TimesJenna Wortham and Wesley Morris, both writers for the New York Times and co-hosts of the podcast “Still Processing,” cast light on movies that unjustly portray black Americans in ways skewed to satisfy white viewers. The Aug. 2 podcast episode explains how blaxploitation in the 1970s has morphed into plots that center on hardship for black characters in today's films. “We're clearly in a new era of black filmmaking for black stories by filmmakers about the black experience in America, but these new movies might have more in common with their predecessors than they think,” Wortham says. — Jessica Lee, local government reporter“Democrats seize on cherry-picked claim that 'Medicare-for-all' would save $2 trillion,” The Washington PostIn the Fact Checker segment in the Sunday Washington Post, Glenn Kessler looks at the claims and counterclaims about a recent study into the costs of converting U.S. health care to a single-payer system, sometimes described as Medicare-for-all or M4A. He finds the recent study by the Mercatus Center that says it could add $32.6 trillion over 10 years more credible. — Peter Callaghan, state government reporter“More than 50% of this California county has burned since 2012. Some residents have had enough,” The Los Angeles TimesWildfires are getting more severe and more frequent in the American West: in northern California's Lake County, half of all land has been burned since 2012. As California's largest wildfire rages, the Los Angeles Times checked in with the fire-fatigued residents of Lake County and found that some of them are fed up with the cycle of evacuations and fear, and plan to leave the place for good. It could spark a wave of climate refugees in the U.S. — a group that may only grow over time. — Sam Brodey, Washington correspondent“Meet Gustavo Petro, Colombian Former Guerilla & Leftist Who Mounted Historic Campaign for Presidency,” Democracy Now!A few days ago, Democracy Now! interviewed Gustavo Petro, who ran and lost in Colombia's recent presidential election. He talks about his campaign, what Colombia is like right now, how he thinks its election fits into the broader context of Latin America, and his country's relationship to the United States. — Jonathan Stegall, user experience engineer

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MinnPost Picks: on California wildfires, Medicare for all, and blaxplaining ‘blaxplaining’

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