The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 8.22 The Billie Eilish Taylor Swift Problem, Horrifying Dangling Cable Car Rescue, & Today's News

Episode Date: August 22, 2023

Go to https://www.masterworks.art/defranco to get special VIP access. New artworks are available today!Go to http://hellofresh.com/50defranco and use code 50defranco for 50% off plus free shipping. Catch up on our latest PDS: https://youtu.be/N7SdJ2Si-ck Check out our daily newsletter! http://dailydip.co/pds  Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/phillydefranco/?hl=en  –✩ TODAY’S STORIES ✩ – 0:00 - 7 Kids & Teacher Stuck on Dangling Cable Car  01:44 - Billie Eilish Fans Condemn Jesse Rutherford’s Latest Song 02:46 - Taylor Swift Fans Slammed For Swarming Jack Antonoff’s Wedding 04:59 - CA Woman Shot For Displaying Pride Flag 06:40 - Sponsored by Masterworks 07:44 - Airline Collision Near Misses Happen Way More Often than Anyone Thought 11:54 - Experts Concerned As Marijuana Today Is More Potent Than in Past 18:20 - Sponsored by HelloFresh 19:23 - States Across the U.S. Grapple With Teacher Shortages 24:17 - TN Public Safety Special Session Starts with New Rules, Restrictions on Protests  ——————————   Produced by: Cory Ray Edited by: James Girardier, Maxx Enright, Julie Goldberg, Christian Meeks Art Department: William Crespo Writing/Research: Philip DeFranco, Brian Espinoza, Lili Stenn, Maddie Crichton, Star Pralle, Chris Tolve  ———————————— #DeFranco #BillieEilish #TaylorSwift ———————————— Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we're talking about these kids stranded hundreds of feet in the air after one of the cables out of a cable car snapped, the secret about near misses that are happening at airports multiple times every week, these messy controversies around Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish, and how the recreational marijuana industry is actually making legal weed dangerous. We're going to talk about all that and so much more on today's brand new extra large Philip DeFranco show. You daily dive into the news, so hit that like button to let me know you like these big shows, and let's just jump into it. Starting with, this news is nightmare fuel.

Because today you had this group of seven children and their teacher with that group traveling to a school in a remote mountainous area using a cable car. Which it turns out is a very popular method of transportation for the residents of this valley in Pakistan. Because since getting built some five years ago, it's been an absolute blessing to the local students. Where their trek to the nearest school was reduced from two hours to just four minutes. But today, at around 7 a.m. local time, as the cable car was halfway across a gaping ravine, one of the cable lines carrying the car suddenly snapped, leaving this container full of kids as young as 10 years old dangling by a single intact cable some 900 feet above the ground. And to make matters worse, attempting a helicopter rescue is super risk because of gusty winds and the possibility that its rotors may further destabilize the car, which is actually what began to happen when an army helicopter hovered overhead while

a commando slid down a rope to deliver food and water, with it getting a little too close, causing the cable car to shake heavily. Meanwhile, you had someone inside the car telling a local ally via cell phone that one child with a heart condition had fainted after panicking, and by nightfall, only two of the children had been taken to safety, with videos showing one kid getting airlifted off the cable car by a helicopter and a harness, then the other reportedly being saved by locals using a zipline. But then they had to call off the helicopter rescue as night fell, making it too dark to continue. As reportedly floodlights were installed and a ground-based operation was underway, with officials instead trying to get passengers off one by one with a second smaller cable car or trolley. And finally,

more than 15 hours after that cable snapped, the remaining six passengers were brought back to their families. And then, in entertainer backlash news, we've got Billie Eilish and Taylor Swift this week, though for drastically different reasons. The first involving Billie Eilish and Jesse Rutherford. Right, if you don't know, Billie and Jesse previously dated, and their relationship drew a lot of criticism because of their age gap. Reportedly, they started dating when he was 31 and she was 20. Now, they've since broken up, and people think that Jesse released a song about her and their age gap called POV.

A song including lyrics like, She's been listening to me since 2013. I know she's got daddy issues. Welcome to the family. People think that's a reference to the fact that Billy previously said she was a fan of his growing up. Even though Billy is reportedly close to both her parents, the daddy issue line is believed to be a direct jab at their age difference. So you had people saying things like, she was 12 in 2013, if that's not disturbing enough. And singing about how your ex was listening to your music when she was a child and you were a grown man, then bragging about her having daddy issues?

Literally so fucking gross, I'm glad she left him. Meanwhile, you had other people taking issue with the lyric, feel like Alejandro when she gaga on my goo? Are people saying on top of the sexual innuendo, the Lady Gaga reference, that he's playing on the goo-goo gaga to refer to Billie as a baby? But also, a notable thing with this is,

at least publicly, Billie has only spoken kindly of him since their split. So really, for the most part, this is a fan reaction in the court of public opinion. If we're going to talk about fan reactions, we've got to talk about the Swifties. Right over the weekend, Taylor Swift's friend and music producer Jack Antonoff got married in New Jersey to actress Margaret Qualley. With Taylor attending the festivities, including the wedding itself and the rehearsal dinner. And once fans found out that Taylor was there, they decided this couple's rehearsal dinner should just turn into an open invite affair.

With tons flocking to the venue, swarming the entrance and the streets around it, apparently just hoping to catch a glimpse of Taylor. While I didn't see an official count release, the Huffington Post said there were thousands gathered there, with reports saying the police had to be called to the area because this was such a scene. And even when she attended the actual wedding, there were reports of crowds as well, with TMZ saying that because this was actually anticipated, Taylor's security actually worked with local police to shut down areas and organize fans in advance of the event, with fans also reportedly waiting outside for her for as long as 12 hours. And so with that, you've seen people just absolutely horrified by this behavior, saying, among other things, it's just so disrespectful. A wedding is such an important

day. People arguing that anyone who did this isn't a real fan, as opposed to such a big threat to Taylor's own safety. People writing things like, even outside the psychological toll this is likely taking on Taylor, y'all are putting her life at risk. You realize how easy it is for a dangerous stalker or violent individual to be hiding in that crowd? And some just throwing it out there, if you're really that big of a fan of a musician, respect them enough to not disrupt their friend's wedding by stalking them en masse. Unhinged behavior. You know, people have also noted that Taylor has frequently written about how much she struggles with this aspect of fame, right? It's a prominent theme in her music, but because she has so many fans, so many of her fans still do this. One of the wildest things is this isn't even the only crowd Taylor pulled this weekend,

because even a fake Taylor Swift was drawing tons of people at malls in Los Angeles over the weekend. But here's what I'll say right now. One, I think it's important we don't paint all Swifties with the brush here. When you have the amount of fans that she has, even when only a small percentage go fucking cuckoo, that's still a lot of people. When you get a lot of people together and excited, sometimes logic and decency go out the window. But in no world is this fucking behavior okay. I now get the hype around Taylor Swift. Like I've listened to her music. I was like, oh, that's pretty good. I went to her concert, immediately got it. She's absolutely fucking amazing. But all of that excitement doesn't turn her into a non-person. Like just try to put yourself in her shoes. You just want to go to your

friend's wedding, be supportive, share in that experience. But you have to worry just by being there, I might ruin everything. And not for the normal reasons like, oh my God, am I going to say something super awkward? But for what follows you, that's got to drag on you. But unfortunately, I think that for the people that really need to hear this, this is going to fall on deaf ears. And for everyone else, I'm just kind of preaching to the choir. And then we need to talk about the outrageous murder of 66-year-old Lori Ann Carlton. Lori was a California fashion entrepreneur, a loving mother of nine children, and notably for this story, a proud ally of the LGBTQ community. And one of the ways she expressed that was by hanging a rainbow pride flag outside of her Magpie clothing store in Cedar Green near Lake Arrowhead. With one of her kids saying that in the two years since the business opened, vandals had ripped down pride flags on several occasions. And adding that each time their mother would simply just replace them with bigger ones. But this latest time was different because a 27-year-old guy by

the name of Travis Ikiguchi reportedly tore down the flag and hurled homophobic slurs her way. And so Carlton did what her family said she always did when hate reared its ugly head. She confronted the man directly. And that, according to police, is when he shot and killed her. With Travis then fleeing on foot and when police found him a few miles away, he shot at them, they shot back, and he was killed. And now, to no one's surprise, we've learned that he had been posting anti-LGBTQ and anti-law enforcement content on Twitter and Gab for a long time. But still, the overwhelming reaction to this tragedy in the small town of Cedar Green is one of utter disbelief. Right, for Lori's family, friends, and community, her killing comes as a senseless, shocking act of

brutality. But for LGBTQ advocates, as senseless and shocking as it is, Lori's killing adds to the growing pile of victims of anti-queer violence across the country this year. With some notable cases including O'Shea Sibley, the gay man in Brooklyn who was stabbed to death at a gas station seemingly for just dancing to Beyonce. 18-year-old trans man Jacob Williamson, who was killed in South Carolina after meeting up with a stranger that he met online. 24-year-old Akira Ross, who reportedly was shot at a Texas gas station in front of her girlfriend after the gunman yelled homophobic slurs. Three trans women who were killed in separate incidents in Texas, Georgia, and Puerto Rico. And Colin Smith, a straight cis man who was killed defending his LGBTQ friend from homophobic harassment in Oregon. And with all of that, advocacy groups partly blaming this rise in

the political climate in which over 500 anti-LGBTQ bills have been introduced to states during this year's legislative session alone. And then you've probably been hearing me talk about these guys over the past few months, million dollar art investing without the million dollar price tag. And again, they are a fantastic sponsor of today's show, Masterwork. You know, Picasso, Banksy, Monet, that's not even half the iconic offerings they have. They've been doing this for years and the numbers don't lie. With over 790,000 members and almost a billion dollars in assets under management, that's saying a lot about the confidence investors have in the company. They've provided tens of millions in net returns paid to investors,

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by going to masterworks.art slash DeFranco. Skip the wait list to gain access to the billionaire asset class at masterworks.art slash DeFranco. And then how often do you think airplanes in America almost crash into one another? Once a week, once a month, maybe a few times a year. Well, actually, according to a New York Times investigation, it happens a couple of times a week and hundreds of times a year. And these mistakes reportedly are often caused by human error.

With a major factor being overworked air traffic controllers stretched too thin in the midst of a staffing crisis. Right, and we've talked about these types of near misses before, like back in January with a Delta flight and an American Airlines flight taking off from JFK, with the air traffic controller having to frantically stop the Delta flight from taking off to prevent it from smashing into the American Airlines flight crossing the runway at the same time. There was also just last month, the Southwest Airlines flight having to abort landing because another Delta flight was taking off from the same runway. That crash being avoided by mere seconds. And just a few weeks ago, an American airline pilot had to yank their plane up 700 feet to avoid a mid-air

collision with a United flight. And according to the investigation, these are just a couple of the more than 46 commercial airline near-miss incidents in just the last month alone. And actually, according to a NASA database containing confidential safety reports filed by pilots and air traffic controllers, there have been around 300 accounts of commercial airline near collisions in the last 12 months that data was available, which notably is a number that has doubled over the last decade. Although there, it's unclear if this is due to worsening safety conditions or an increase in reporting. Also, you have FAA spokesperson Matthew Leonard presenting data showing that runway incursions,

such as when planes get too close to each other at the airport, they happen nearly 25% more often now than a decade ago. Well, yeah, some of these incidents have grabbed headlines and attention recently. Many near misses just don't get shared publicly at all. Though at this point, I do want to make an important note that while near misses do seem to happen frequently, or at least more than I'm fucking comfortable with,

actual crashes are still pretty rare. In fact, the last fatal crash involving a major US airline was back in 2009. So please, someone, anywhere, everyone, knock on wood, because we are living in the longest streak without a deadly crash in US aviation history. However, those in the industry are saying that there are growing holes within the system that are increasing the risk of a disaster.

With one controller who just barely prevented a crash even asking in their report to the NASA database, is it going to take people dying for something to move forward? And there are several issues that those in the industry say is increasing risk, including a lack of collision warning systems in airports despite repeated recommendations from safety authorities. But definitely, the big problem is how understaffed air traffic controllers are. In fact, only three of the 313 air traffic control facilities in the nation are fully staffed. With one controller in their safety report to the FAA saying, the staffing shortage is beyond unsustainable. It has now moved into a phase of just plain dangerous. Controllers are making

mistakes left and right. Fatigue is extreme. The margin for safety has eroded tenfold. Morale is rock bottom. I catch myself taking risks and shortcuts I normally would never take. And adding, it is only a matter of time before something catastrophic happens. But also notably, the air traffic controlling staffing shortage isn't a secret. I mean, it dates all the way back to the Reagan administration in the 80s when thousands of controllers who were on strike were replaced. And since then, more and more controllers are retiring and leaving the industry. Then you throw in that fun little pandemic we all lived through, and the shortage

became a crisis. And so now you have many controllers working six days a week, and some having even clocked more than 400 hours of overtime since the beginning of the year. And the schedule that many of these workers are expected to maintain is so bad, they even nicknamed it the Rattler, after the fucking snake. Now, the schedule was approved by their union. It's meant to spread busy shifts across employees. But it is a crazy schedule. And then you couple it with mandatory overtime, it's pushing many air traffic controllers beyond their physical and mental limits, with some even reportedly skipping medical care out of fear of losing their clearance to work. Meanwhile, others have taken to self-medicating with sleeping pills or alcohol. And this has led

to mistakes with potentially disastrous consequences. Now, the FAA is working to address the staffing shortage. In their latest budget request, they sought more than $117 million to train and hire more than 1,800 new controllers. However, they're also expected to lose around 1,400 due to retirement and other departures in the next year, and the new controllers take years to fully train. So there's no reason to think we won't continue to see these near-misses occur regularly. Or, fingers crossed, it doesn't happen, something even worse. But for now, federal officials have opened investigations into many of these incidents in an effort to improve safety and restore public confidence. And Jennifer Homendy, chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board, saying in a March safety summit, the absence of a fatality or an accident doesn't mean the presence of safety. These recent incidents must serve as a wake-up

call for every single one of us before something more catastrophic occurs, before lives are lost. And Lanner, the FAA spokesperson, saying their goal is to reduce the number of near misses to zero and saying in a statement, one close call is one too many. But in the meantime, we'll have to wait and see. And I guess enjoy all your trips now that I dumped all this baggage into your brains. You'll be fine, probably. And then we need to talk about this problem with weed, which I know for people that know me is a very surprising sentence to be coming out of my face because I've advocated for this stuff to be legal since before even most people were okay with it. But as you're gonna see,

weed has changed a lot over the years and developed some risks that I think are worth talking about especially if you're generally friendly toward it like myself. You know, over the past decade, recreational marijuana use has exploded as 23 states and DC have legalized it. And that translating into both big profits for producers

and more frequent use by consumers, especially young people. I mean, in a survey last year, nearly 43% of those aged between 19 and 30 said they use marijuana in the past 12 months, up from 29% in 2011. And notably, more than one in 10 being daily consumers, meaning they use marijuana 20 times or more in the past month. Though data suggests drug usage leveled off and possibly even decreased during the pandemic. But at the same time that weed is becoming more and more accepted and common, it's also becoming far more potent, and that has experts worried. Right, so let me explain. In 1980, the average concentration of THC in cannabis samples seized by the Drug Enforcement Administration was less than 1.5%. That then inched up to about 4% by 1995, and by

2017, it was 17%. And then you fast forward to now, and many varieties of cannabis flower are listed as having upwards of 30% THC. And understand, at this point, I'm just talking about regular weed that you smoke from a joint. For the oils, edibles, waxes, sugar-sized crystals, glass-like products called shatter that you find at dispensaries, the THC levels there sometimes exceed 95 percent. That's because since legalization, cannabis producers have experimented with extracting the psychoactive ingredient from marijuana plants and concentrating it in different products that look nothing like traditional weed. And with that, many people incorrectly assume that because it's derived from cannabis, it's being sold in stores,

and everyone else they know is using it, it must be safe. Yet, as both experts and comedians have observed, the stuff that you're getting high on today is not what your grandpappy was smoking. Whereas one scientist at the University of Washington's Addictions, Drug, and Alcohol Institute wrote, THC concentrates are as close to the cannabis plant

as strawberries are to frosted strawberry Pop-Tarts. Which, if you are high while watching this segment, I am so sorry for making you hungry. But what we're also seeing is as the THC goes up, CBD, the non-intoxicating compound tied to relief from seizures, pain, anxiety, and inflammation, has been going down, which is concerning because studies suggest lower levels of CBD can actually make cannabis more addictive. So you have scientists saying that marijuana not being addictive, that's just a myth. And in fact, they have a name for it, Cannabis Use Disorder, and in 2021, nearly 6% of teens and adults qualified as having it. And to give some insight here, you can feel free to

play along at home. According to DSM-5, you have this disorder as well if you fit two or more of these 11 criteria. You take more of the drug or use it more frequently than you intend to. You spend a great deal of time obtaining or using cannabis. You have an uncontrollable urge or craving to use it. You're trying to stop or cut back, but you aren't able to. You forego other social or recreational activities in order to use cannabis. You experience interpersonal conflicts as a result of your cannabis use. You fail to fulfill obligations at work or at home as a result of use. You put yourself in potentially dangerous situations as a result of obtaining or using cannabis.

You continue using it despite negative physical and psychological effects. You have to use more of the drug to achieve the same effect. And 11, you suffer withdrawal symptoms when you stop using cannabis. And it's sad that for people with cannabis use disorder, there are different therapeutic treatments available. But also, it does feel important that use of this is sometimes a symptom. Part of the reason more people today smoke or take some THC product multiple times a day every day is to cope with the already worsening mental health crisis. So for those people, it's medicinal, but then ironically, cannabis can also have the opposite effect than intended. If you've ever gotten high

or watched someone else get high, you don't need me to tell you. Sometimes it can cause acute anxiety, paranoia, and poor memory. You may even be aware that heavy usage has been linked to an increased likelihood of depression and even suicidal ideation. Though there, I do need to note, researchers aren't certain whether that's causation or just correlation. But also, it's been associated with acute psychosis, which can sometimes lead to a lifelong psychiatric disorder. I mean, you got the director of the Adolescent Substance Use and Addiction Program at Boston Children's Hospital telling the New York Times that she's seen psychotic symptoms while high shoot up since 2000. And those include hallucinations, trouble

distinguishing between fantasy and reality, voices talking to them in their head, and strange behaviors like one guy who would tie plastic bags into knots. Also, there was a study that found that the risk of having a psychiatric disorder was five times higher among daily high-potency cannabis users in Europe and Brazil than those who had never used it. And yet another study reporting that in 1995, only 2% of schizophrenia diagnoses in Denmark were associated with marijuana use. But by 2010, that figure had risen to 6% to 8%, which the researchers associated with increases in the use and potency of cannabis. Moreover, some people develop physical symptoms such as cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome, with that being a condition that causes recurrent vomiting. And as a result of high-potency cannabis

products effects, we saw an estimated 800,000 people making marijuana-related ER visits in 2021. And while I think more and more research on the effects of high-potency weed is needed, experts think these symptoms and addiction are more likely at younger ages when the brain is still developing, which is also why clinicians often advise patients to put off cannabis use until later in life while they collect more data. But does this mean I want to be Ronald Reagan incarnate and wage another war on drugs? No. But I think we need to listen to what many experts are saying, that obviously, yes, we need more research, but also we should look into properly regulating the potency of THC products. And actually with that, while the FDA has issued warnings about

some cannabis products, only Connecticut and Vermont have imposed limits on THC concentration, with both states banning concentrates above 60%, with the exception of pre-filled cartridges, and capping cannabis plant THC at 30%. But again, and this hits on the research, others have pointed out that we don't have the data that shows that those specific percentages are actually safer. It's also not even just the potency or even how often you use cannabis that determines how much THC enters your brain. Two other big factors are your personal tolerance and the delivery mechanism. Like with a vape, for example, you get high faster or slower depending on the base the THC is dissolved in, the strength of the device's battery, and how warm the product becomes when it's heated up.

Which is why critics of potency caps argue that we should instead give up on arbitrary limits and just make sure companies properly test, label, and market their products. Which is kind of the path California moved toward last year, with lawmakers proposing a measure to put mental health warning labels on cannabis products. But ultimately, this brings us to the biggest problem, because whatever you think is the best policy here, the fact remains that for the time being, federal regulators are not tackling this issue. And that is because federally, marijuana is still technically illegal. So each state has to manage its own market. And all of that is putting the consumer at higher risk because you don't have the FDA inspecting the THC producing facilities, assessing quality control, or vouching for the safety and efficacy of products sold at dispensaries. But ultimately, before I end this story, I do not want to give you the wrong impression. I am not saying that cannabis is

some incredibly dangerous, horrible drug, because despite everything that we've talked about, it is still safer than so many other substances. And most people can consume THC, sometimes even every day without any serious problems. But if you are a supporter for legalization like myself, it cannot be just blind support. Denying the harmful effects that can pop up, it takes away your legitimacy, it hurts possibly the legalization movement. And two, recognizing the harms is the first step toward regulating and minimizing them, right? Just like any other consumer protection laws. That way there's no reason to ban it. With that said, whether you've never touched the stuff or you've smoked it, you've vaped it, you ingested it, what are your thoughts on this whole topic?

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So try America's number one meal kit today. And then, y'all, back to school season is here. And if you're a parent, you've probably seen there's a huge fucking problem. The classrooms are missing something important, teachers. And that's because the nationwide teacher shortage we've been talking about the past few years, it's not going anywhere.

All right, with COVID really kicking off a wave of this problem back in 2020 and 2021. With this, maybe you've seen TikToks from teachers that have gone viral discussing their choice to leave education, talking about the emotional toll this career can take, people citing school safety, post-pandemic burnout, and the fact that it's a taxing job with low pay as common reasons for leaving. And time has not made it any easier. In fact, in many areas, the situation is only becoming worse and worse, prompting districts to become far more desperate in hiring

staff, with many schools having to get, let's call it, creative. Like in Texas, where it recently passed law makes it easier for veterans to become teachers, allowing both vets and first responders who meet certain criteria to get a temporary teaching certificate. With the Texas Association of School Boards saying that unless the person was specifically an instructor or trainer while in service, they will have to complete 20 hours of classroom management training to get the temporary credentials. And unsurprisingly, this has led to some concerns about the program. With the head of Texas' largest teachers union telling CBS News that while veterans might be a great place to look for new teachers, this specific measure might just end up filling schools with unqualified, unprepared staffers who are less likely to stick around. And when you look

at the details, the state needs more than a band-aid solution. With it being reported that nearly 50,000 teachers left the field last year, which is more than 13% of the state's teachers. Also, if this whole veteran thing sounds familiar, it's because Florida did it first. With the government there allowing veterans with no teaching experience to leave classrooms. And this, as many other states across the country are coming up with different and easier pathways for more people to teach. Like in North Dakota, you have Governor Doug Burgum granting a request that will temporarily allow expanded use of student teachers to help address the state's teacher shortage. Governor Burgum there noting that this is not a permanent solution. And saying this emergency action simply gives local school boards and administrators additional flexibility and retains local control in determining how to fill teacher openings with

the best interests of students in mind. So they're going to allow student teachers to act as teachers, notably with this coming at a time when 92 of North Dakota's 167 school districts are not fully staffed. And over in South Carolina, officials are using an approach that's kind of in line with that, right, focused on giving opportunities to incoming teachers. So there, instead of having student teachers work for free on their capstone projects, some school districts are opportunities to incoming teachers. So there, instead of having student teachers work for free on their capstone projects, some school districts are offering to pay teachers. So it's basically like a paid internship with Patrick Kelly, the director of governmental affairs with the Palmetto State Teachers Association,

telling the local news outlet, I think that's an appropriate pathway, especially if a district or a school is providing that new teacher with adequate support and backing. It can really become almost like a residency model, similar to what the medical profession has. You also have South Carolina currently weighing legislation that could allow more people to teach. With one of the laws, for example, allowing people with a college degree or work experience in a specific field allowed to teach that subject. We're also seeing some areas trying to play the long game. Like in

Chicago, for example, one of the strategies is encouraging middle schoolers to consider a career in education. That in the hopes that in 10 plus years that could pay off, right? Because this is not a short-term problem. And in Connecticut, the University of St. Joseph is going to be offering new undergraduate and graduate programs for elementary education and specialized education. There's also been a growing trend of four-day school weeks with nearly 900 districts in the U.S. operating on that schedule right now, and that notably up from 650 in 2020. You've had experts say that those four-day work weeks are not just making it easier to work around staffing shortages, but also it's a very attractive thing when you're trying to hire teachers. You also have a variety of programs

trying to offer new solutions that could increase the number of teachers, like REACH University, which is notably partnered with districts in Alabama, Arkansas, California, and Louisiana, offering bachelor's degree programs to paraprofessionals and other school employees that would make good teachers,

and offering an online degree while those staffers can continue in their current position. And USA Today reporting that this gives people like custodians and bus drivers, people already familiar with the schools, communities, and students, an opportunity to teach. With Joe Ross, president of REACH University, telling the outlet, We have overlooked a talent pool to our detriment. These people have heart and they have the grit and they have the intelligence.

There's a piece of paper standing in the way. There, you also have the outlet speaking to a custodian in Louisiana who's in the program. She's saying she's known to all the students in her school and colleagues always notice that she kind of has this knack for speaking to kids. Reportedly, she always wanted to be a teacher but could never afford to go to school for it until learning about Reach University. So now she spends 15 hours of her work week in the classroom with students and she takes online classes in her free time. So you have people who support these programs noting that these workers understand the community already. Though understandably, you have people wondering how effective and sustainable these programs are. And if all of this sounds like,

wow, those are desperate measures, yeah. I really do not want to undersell how desperate some of these schools are to just fill positions right now. I mean, during the 2022-2023 school year, data from Brown University estimated that there were 36,000 teacher vacancies nationwide, and that as 163,000 teachers were not qualified for their jobs. So when you hear people say, there is an education crisis, it is not hyperbole. And these shortages can and have had a real impact on students. And several outlets noting that low-income districts tend to suffer the most from these shortages compared to higher-income areas. With PBS noting that when low-income areas deal with shortages, they are more likely to offer fewer student services and extracurriculars in larger class sizes. Right, programs and classes get cut, especially advanced subjects, which can really hold students back. You know, because if you have a student that can't take the advanced class and demonstrate their success in it, it puts them at a disadvantage for college applications, scholarships, and more.

And so where I want to end this story is if you are a student, a teacher, you're a parent, a whoever, what has your experience been? Yes, over the past few years, but also what is it right now? How are things playing out for you? And also, what do you think about all these solutions that people are trying to throw out? And then we need to talk about this absolute mess out of Tennessee, right? So there's been this special legislative session on the books there to discuss gun violence, mental health, and a few other issues. And that session was actually called for by Republican Governor Bill Lee as a response to the Covenant School shooting from back in March. And as you might remember, you know, following the shooting, many Republicans didn't

want to talk about firearms. But that leading to public protests, as well as three Democratic lawmakers protesting the two black members getting expelled. Though notably there, they were just re-elected to office in early August and started off the session to fanfare from supporters. But either way, what we saw was Lee limit the parameters for what could actually be discussed at the special session to just 18 topics. And among those that included things like juvenile justice and red flag laws. But then for some reason, Republican house members went even further by specifically banning any deviation from those topics and limiting what house members could say. With that, unsurprisingly being met with a lot of criticism. And so now with all this, the Speaker of the House there has the ability to silence lawmakers who try to

discuss topics not on the docket. And Representative William Lamberth warning his colleagues, stick to the bill, stick to the policy. Folks that are here in the gallery for a special session that the governor has called have asked us to debate important issues. Let's stay on the issues. And on top of that, lawmakers can be punished for a, quote, material disruption of officials' legislative business, meaning they can't use microphones or recording devices during the session. And if someone breaks the rules, which is at the sole discretion of the Republican speaker, then they'll lose their speaking privileges. But then Republicans went even further to try and limit the scope of the session by heavily limiting who can attend. Right, normally, the House gallery is open to the public, and on

the first day, there were people holding signs asking for gun reform. Which also, an interesting side note, is that many of those people were actually Republicans themselves. So it doesn't appear like the party's base as a whole, at least in Tennessee, is opposed to gun safety bills. However, signs are now no longer allowed and only half the gallery is open to the public. That other half reserved for staff and lobbyists. And on top of all that, the amount of people from the public allowed anywhere in the Capitol building has also been reduced. And so with that, we've seen House Democratic Caucus Chairman Representative John Clemens heavily criticizing all the special rules, saying they limited participation and transparency in this government. and a spokesperson for the families of the Covenant

school shooting survivors releasing a statement saying, Tennessee should protect speech rights. The gallery should be open primarily to the public and political expression. Including the use of small signs is a right protected by the First Amendment and in no way distracts from the member's ability to participate in constructive dialogue. And that is where today's extra large dive into the news is going to end, but do not worry, because for more news you need to know right now, I got you covered right here. You can click or tap, or I'll include links in the description down below. Or if you've already seen every damn thing, the good news is my name's Philip DeFranco.

You've just been filled in. I love your faces, and I'll see you right back here tomorrow.