Sirius XM | Top of Mind with Julie Rose: The Senate Judiciary Committee will vote on Amy Coney Barrett’s Supreme Court nomination on Thursday. The vote is expected to go in her favor there, and in the Senate. Senator Lindsey Graham predicted that in his opening speech, before we ever even heard from Judge Barrett. So if the hearings aren’t for senators to figure out how they want to vote, then what are they for?

A U.S. map peppered with red and blue has become the unofficial logo of the presidential election in recent years. But it hasn’t always been that way, and, like much in politics, it’s a bit more complicated.

A U.S. map peppered with red and blue has become the unofficial logo of the presidential election in recent years. But it hasn’t always been that way, and, like much in politics, it’s a bit more complicated.

Hadeid Arreola sat at her family’s kitchen table during dinner about a month ago discussing the upcoming election with her parents and three sisters. Voting was important to her family, especially her parents, Mexican immigrants who became U.S. citizens about 25 years ago. They had always stressed its importance to their children.

For months, two names — presidential candidates Donald Trump and Joe Biden — have consistently dominated news headlines and social media feeds in the leadup to Election Day 2020.

Many hotel rooms on the Strip are empty, thousands of hospitality workers have been laid off, and whether President Trump or Democratic nominee Joe Biden wins Nevada’s six electoral votes could hinge on which party voters blame for the battered economy.

For generations, redlining was used to designate neighborhoods—typically in urban areas with high concentrations of minority residents—as places banks should avoid offering home mortgages. The term originates from Federal Housing Administration maps developed in the 1930s where “red” labeled high-risk lending zones. To be “redlined” meant that households were structurally denied home loans and lost the opportunity to build wealth.

For generations, redlining was used to designate neighborhoods—typically in urban areas with high concentrations of minority residents—as places banks should avoid offering home mortgages. The term originates from Federal Housing Administration maps developed in the 1930s where “red” labeled high-risk lending zones. To be “redlined” meant that households were structurally denied home loans and lost the opportunity to build wealth.

In this special edition of the podcast, Bill Finan—director of the Brookings Institution Press—talks with two of the authors of a new Brookings press book that explores America’s current political division from demographic and geographic perspectives. David Damore, Robert Lang, and Karen Danielsen, all professors at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, are co-authors of Blue Metros, Red States: The Shifting Urban-Rural Divide in America’s Swing States. Damore and Lang join Finan for this episode in which they address some of the factors that tend to make large metropolitan areas lean Democratic while existing in a sea of rural areas that are largely Republican. And, how do states like Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Texas—with both large urban areas and widespread rural areas—express this red-blue divide between rural and metropolitan areas? Listen also to find out which two counties in America could indicate which way the election is going on November 3.

In this special edition of the podcast, Bill Finan—director of the Brookings Institution Press—talks with two of the authors of a new Brookings press book that explores America’s current political division from demographic and geographic perspectives. David Damore, Robert Lang, and Karen Danielsen, all professors at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, are co-authors of Blue Metros, Red States: The Shifting Urban-Rural Divide in America’s Swing States. Damore and Lang join Finan for this episode in which they address some of the factors that tend to make large metropolitan areas lean Democratic while existing in a sea of rural areas that are largely Republican. And, how do states like Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Texas—with both large urban areas and widespread rural areas—express this red-blue divide between rural and metropolitan areas? Listen also to find out which two counties in America could indicate which way the election is going on November 3.

Of all the many reasons to vote this year, for some people one seat is all they need. That seat happens to be on the United States Supreme Court.

The passing of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg made me reflect on her quote, “Women belong in all places where decisions are being made. It shouldn’t be that women are the exception.”