Everyday is Election Day... this week on 51%, a talk with the author of a book that tells women how to run for office... plus the future of Mormons in politics and Native Americans taking stewardship of ancestral lands.
Women are increasingly showing up as leaders of government... according to the Center for American Women and Politics, in 2013 98 of the 535 seats in the US Congress are held by women. 75 women hold statewide elected executive posts...and the proportion of women in state legislatures is at 24%
But for many women, there's still a self-imposed barrier – a feeling that it's just too hard, or we don't have what it takes. Author Rebecca Sive has written a book that breaks down that wall – spelling out just what is required to be an effective leader, what it takes to run for office, and how to make a difference. It's called Every Day Is Election Day: A Woman's Guide to Winning Any Office From the PTA To The White House.
Up next, heading to Utah to explore the future of Mormons in politics...and Native Americans reclaiming stewardship of land once thought lost forever.
Mitt Romney has said his presidential aspirations are over...but he's been meeting with donors and senior campaign leaders and said he would help out GOP candidates in 2013, in the midterm elections and in the 2016 presidential race. Romney's “Mormon Moment” in American politics has opened doors once thought tightly shut. KFAI's Jemma Brown went to Salt Lake City to find out about the political future for Mormons.
And finally, policy that's taking generations to change.
Each year, wildfires destroy thousands of acres of land... this year the August wildfires in central Idaho were among some of the worst officials say they've ever seen. The hot, dry summer had already been estimated to have seen about a billion dollars in damages from fires around the country. But there was a time when those lands were managed...and fires weren't as wild.
Hundreds of years ago, the land north of the Feather River in the mountains of California's Plumas and Lassen Counties was filled with villages of native Mt. Maidu people. After the Gold Rush, prospectors, developers and government agencies took over their land. Their population dwindled and the tribe lost access to the land for traditional practices. Now, the Mt. Maidu people are working with an old adversary to regain formal stewardship of their homeland. Lisa Morehouse reports.
That report comes to us courtesy of After TheGold RushRadio.
That’s our show for this week. Thanks to Katie Britton for production assistance. Our theme music is by Kevin Bartlett. This show is a national production of Northeast Public Radio. Our executive producer is Dr. Alan Chartock.