The 21st Show

Student Activists Prepare For Climate Strike; Police And Home Surveillance Cameras; Fall TV Preview

 

Students standing in front of the Students For Environmental Concerns booth during the University of Illinois’ Quad Day on Aug. 26. Photo courtesy of Abbi Pstrzroch

Students are planning to walk out of school in what’s called the Global Climate Strike. Illinois high school and college students tell us how they want to see our leaders address climate change. Plus, doorbell cameras in homes have become more common. Some police departments, are hoping this network of privately owned cameras can help them stop crime. But it also raises some concerns about privacy. And, we’ll tell you what fall TV shows should be on your “must watch” list. 

Student Activists Prepare For Climate Strike

Young people around the world have organized something called the "Global Climate Strike." It starts tomorrow, and organizers say millions of people will walk out of their workplaces and schools to demand action on the issue of climate change.

The strike comes days before the UN is scheduled to meet at the Climate Action Summit. Just yesterday, Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg testified at a Congressional hearing on Capitol Hill, where she mentioned an UN report from last fall. 

Students all over Illinois are also planning climate strikes and marches tomorrow. We spoke with some of them this morning. Abbi Pstrzroch is a senior at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, majoring in integrative biology. She’s the president of Students For Environmental Concerns.

We were also joined by two high school students from different parts of the Chicagoland area. Patricia Agnes is a senior at Neuqua Valley High School in Naperville. Adelina Avalos is a senior at Whitney Young Magnet High School.

Police And Home Surveillance Cameras

There are many places in public where we’ve come to expect a surveillance camera might be watching like at a sporting event, a trip to a store or even a city street corner. 

But increasingly, homeowners are using cameras as well with companies like Ring and Nest making smartphone compatible monitoring systems people can hang above their doors. And police departments around the country are hoping that this growing network of private surveillance cameras can help them deter or solve crimes.  

Of course this also raises questions about privacy, and how much information law enforcement is able to access. 

The Rockford Illinois Police department recently became one of several departments in the state to set up a database home and business owners can opt into to share their security footage with police. Lieutenant Robert Reffett helped start the Community Camera Network.

Matt Drange is a reporter at The Information, an investigative reporting outlet covering business and tech companies in Silicon Valley. He’s done some in-depth reporting about one video doorbell company in particular, Ring.

Fall TV Preview 

We’re already more than midway through September and although the leaves haven’t changed yet, it is almost officially the start of fall.

Historically, fall has meant that TV’s best new shows are hitting the small screen. Although our ability to stream has taken a little off that fall premiere sheen, there’s still plenty of great TV you should be watching across all platforms. 

We’ve brought in two experts to give us their take on the seasons best shows. Erik Adams is the AV Club’s TV Editor. Jen Chaney is a TV Critic for Vulture.

Erik Adams's recommendations:

  • Watchmen (HBO)
  • Stumptown (ABC)
  • Sunnyside (NBC)
  • Living With Yourself (Netflix)
  • Big Mouth (Netflix)
  • The Good Place (NBC)

Jen Chaney's recommendations:

  • Watchmen (HBO)
  • Evil (CBS)
  • Morning Show (Apple TV)

Story source: