2019
September
27
Friday

Monitor Daily Podcast

September 27, 2019
Error loading media: File could not be played
 
00:0000:0000:00
00:00
Linda Feldmann
Washington Bureau Chief

Today’s five stories look at the alternate worlds of opinion amid impeachment, the stakes in Afghanistan’s presidential election, a civil debate over an old Moscow beer plant, how culture shapes our hearing of music, and a Ugandan man’s walk to fight deforestation.

First, some thoughts on the value of being present. 

Over the summer, Matt Dickinson and his wife, Alison, took many weekend trips to New Hampshire – home of the first primary – to watch Democrats campaign for president. They saw Joe Biden, Beto O’Rourke, Amy Klobuchar, and several others. Like a good reporter, Professor Dickinson understands the benefits of being there and soaking it all in. And when you’re a political scientist at Middlebury College in neighboring Vermont, it’s almost a no-brainer. 

His goal was to listen. How are the candidates selling themselves? What are voters asking them? 

“Impeachment just didn’t come up,” he told me. 

There was lots of policy discussion and candidate pitches around electability. But the ultimate sanction against an American president – to threaten expulsion via the constitutional process of impeachment in the House and, if successful, a trial in the Senate – wasn’t top of mind. 

Now it is, following an explosive whistleblower complaint against President Donald Trump and Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s announcement of support for an impeachment inquiry. All eyes are on public opinion. Which argument – for or against – will carry the day? Our lead story today explores sentiment around the country. Meanwhile, the Dickinsons plan to keep visiting New Hampshire and observing campaign events. Their next trip should be especially interesting. 


You've read 3 of 3 free articles. Subscribe to continue.

Today’s stories

And why we wrote them

Mohammad Ismail/Reuters
An election commission worker in Kabul, Afghanistan, prepares ballot boxes for Saturday's presidential election, Sept. 26, 2019.

Difference-maker

Liam Taylor
William Amanzuru looks at a felled Afzelia africana (African mahogany) tree in Adjumani district. The Ugandan government has banned the cutting of this species.

The Monitor's View

AP
A visitor takes a snapshot at the Valley of the Fallen mausoleum near Madrid, Spain.

A Christian Science Perspective

About this feature

A message of love

Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP
Photojournalists strive to capture moments that tell a full story, bringing news from the remotest corners of the globe in an instant. Through them we learn more about the world, and ourselves. Here is a roundup of photos from this week that Monitor photo editors found the most compelling.
( The illustrations in today’s Monitor Daily are by Karen Norris and Jacob Turcotte. )

A look ahead

Thank you for joining us today. We hope you’ll come back Monday when correspondent Doug Struck looks at how editors and publishers are trying to save local news – and maybe democracy.

More issues

2019
September
27
Friday
CSM logo

Why is Christian Science in our name?

Our name is about honesty. The Monitor is owned by The Christian Science Church, and we’ve always been transparent about that.

The Church publishes the Monitor because it sees good journalism as vital to progress in the world. Since 1908, we’ve aimed “to injure no man, but to bless all mankind,” as our founder, Mary Baker Eddy, put it.

Here, you’ll find award-winning journalism not driven by commercial influences – a news organization that takes seriously its mission to uplift the world by seeking solutions and finding reasons for credible hope.

Explore values journalism About us