Ep.25: The Heart of Texas

Headlights: Voices from The Progressive South

SYNOPSIS: The redistricting fight in Texas set the stage for a national scramble to redraw congressional lines ahead of next year's midterm elections. Among those at the center of the battle was Texas state Sen. Sarah Eckhardt, a leading progressive voice in the state Legislature and one of the Democrats who fled the state in an effort to block the Republican power grab. This week, we hear from Eckhardt about that, and about the broader fight for representation in the Lone Star State. The biggest obstacle she sees? A lack of engagement by voters who feel ignored and have tuned out. She has ideas about how to bring them back in. Also, we look at the deportation of a Latino journalist in Georgia; a fascinating primary emerging in Memphis, over Tennessee's only Democratic congressional seat; and how yet another redistricting case being heard by the Supreme Court this week could spell the effective end of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. In our arts and culture segment, we preview the LEAF Global Arts Festival in the North Carolina mountains this weekend — which is marking its 30th year, and possibly also its final one.

SHOW NOTES: "Spanish-language journalist arrested while covering protest near Atlanta deported to El Salvador" Associated Press "NAHJ expresses concern over deportation of journalist Mario Guevara" National Association of Hispanic Journaliss "A Letter From Detained Journalist Mario Guevara" ACLU "Tennessee House primary puts Democratic Party's generational divide on display" Politico "Supreme Court to hear arguments in pivotal case on the Voting Rights Act" SCOTUSBlog LEAF Global Arts "CNN Explores Recent Decline of Music Festivals" EDM Tunes

CONTACT: Jesse Mayshark [email protected] [phone]