The 217 Today Podcast

217 Today: Friday October 16, 2020

Olivia Butts
 
Nathan Bradford, father of Nathan Bradford Jr., stands on his land near Bristow, Oklahoma. Bradford received $50,000 as part of a class action discrimination lawsuit against the USDA. He says behind where he is standing, there used to be peanut fields.

Nathan Bradford, father of Nathan Bradford Jr., stands on his land near Bristow, Oklahoma. Bradford received $50,000 as part of a class action discrimination lawsuit against the USDA. He says behind where he is standing, there used to be peanut fields. Seth Bodine/Harvest Public Media

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Friday October 16, 2020

Today's headlines: 

  • The confirmation hearing of Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett wrapped up yesterday in the US Senate. We hear from an Illinois Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

  • A team at Washington University in St. Louis is testing whether lab-made antibodies could be used as a treatment for COVID-19.

  • The C-U Women’s March and Rally starts tomorrow at noon at West Side Park in downtown Champaign.

In today's deeper dive, Black farmers in the Midwest historically struggled with all the challenges facing other farmers, but they also were held back by systemic racism. We’ll learn more about the challenges of being a Black farmer in the Midwest from Harvest Public Media's Amy Mayer.

217 Today is produced by Olivia Butts. Reporting today contributed by Lecia Bushak, Shahla Farzan, and Amy Mayer.