That Can't Be Right

If you've ever tried to rent an apartment, accepted a job offer, or been accepted to a university, you likely had to complete a background check. Losing horns if you had to pay for that background check yourself.  If you're living in that apartment or working that job, good for you! That means you passed the background check! But many people, for a variety of different reasons beyond their control...

A sexy, new phrase in tech is "Creator Economy". But what does it mean? Who does it include and exclude? What does it promise? What are we creators owed? And is it primed to go the way of the sharing economy? (2021 Uber prices ain't nothing nice, but I can't tell if it's improving outcomes for drivers, who are not employers). Two articles came out shortly before we recorded that really got me thin...

We treat teachers pretty poorly here. Even though they are responsible for educating future voters, teachers, politicians, managers, and everyone else. How can we do better by educators? Princess Moss, Vice President of the National Education Association, offers up some answers as she describes her career in education, the aftermath of No Child Left Behind on standard assessments, and shares some...

I think storytelling in video games is as exciting as any other medium, so I found someone who could explain why I might be right. Press play to hear us compare our mothers' gaming skills,  stay for a description of Heather's Iron Man COVID helmet, why the freemium model stinks [my opinion], and why people are running up the price on Charizard cards.  Keep up with Heather: https://twitter.com/heat...

Are you in Los Angeles? Are you listening to this while you crawl down the 405? Or the 101? Or the 5? Don't you think that if everyone else got on public transportation things would get better? Don't you realize that everyone thinks that? UCLA Professor Mike Manville breaks down how Los Angeles traffic got to be national news every holiday and the one true solution. Sorry fanboys, it doesn't invol...

Shaun King has branded himself as an activist and organizer. But is he? Hanna Phifer explains how King has elevated and inserted himself into conversations without care for the people he claims to be serving. Connect with Hanna: https://twitter.com/WrittenByHanna https://writtenbyhanna.substack.com/ Follow along on the internet: https://www.instagram.com/tcbrpod/ https://twitter.com/TCBRpod https:...

A month before the 2020 election, that President Joe Biden WON,  spending had already reached $14 billion. Not counting the flurry of last-minute donations, and additional spending in the Georgia Senate race. Meaning, the calculable 2020 election spend was greater than the GDP of 100+ nations across the world. How? Where does the money go? Where does the money come from? And why isn't the FEC doin...

USA Basketball announced the roster for the 202021 Tokyo Olympics on June 21st. 12 incredible women from (not quite) across the WNBA's deep talent pool. Notably absent? 2012 #1 Draft Pick, 2012 Rookie of the Year, 2016 WNBA MVP, and 2020 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament MVP, Nneka Ogwumike. How could someone with those credentials (and that's not even her full resume) be left off? Who "took" her...

Inspired by a tweet (I probably spend too much time on Twitter), I wanted to understand why health insurance doesn't extend to our eyes and teeth, why the US doesn't have a more robust public health system (thanks racism), how healthcare and drugs got to be so expensive (thanks Bob Dole), and what healthcare looks like in a "post-COVID" world.  The tweet: https://twitter.com/stepville/status/13977...

The US banking system is dominated by a few large players whose only mandate is to maximize the value for shareholders. And like many long-standing institutions in the US, it has frequently left poor people and people of color on the outside looking in via bad legal policy and bad corporate decision-making. But what if the US had a national system with a focus on serving the economic and social ne...

I hate the phrase Daddy Day Care. So I reached out to Professor Jide Bamishigbin from Cal State Long Beach about how being an involved dad can lead to fewer incidents of depression in new dads, the obstacles new dads face, and what changes he would enact to make it easier for dads to bond with baby.  Follow Jide on the internet: twitter.com/jidebam   Follow along on the internet: instagram.com/tcb...

Inspired by a tweet from journalist and pride of Shaker Heights, Wesley Lowery, my friend Lesley Gwam and I dive into Beyoncé's discography to determine if she's ever released an R&B album. Come for the nuanced conversation. Stay for the bad jokes. The tweet: https://twitter.com/WesleyLowery/status/1358447665936277504?s=20 Follow along on the internet: https://www.instagram.com/tcbrpod/ https://tw...

Are women's sports boring and unprofitable or does sexism influence investing, coverage, merchandise, TV deals, and more?  Follow along on the internet: https://www.instagram.com/tcbrpod/ https://twitter.com/TCBRpod https://thatcantberight.substack.com/p/coming-soon   Follow Rhian on the internet: https://twitter.com/RhiansHope https://www.instagram.com/rhianshope https://www.joinclubhouse.com/@rh...

In 2019, I read The Death of Adjunct , an eyeopening account from Adam Harris about Dr. Thea Hunter, a highly educated black woman "trapped in academia's permanent underclass".  I turned Professor Aaron Hanlon to understand how what happened to an adjunct, non-tenure track faculty like Dr. Hunter could even happen, what it means for students, what it means for other professors, and consequences fo...

In his First Address to a Joint Session of Congress in April 2021, President Joe Biden cited a report that 55 corporations paid $0 in federal income tax. Some after a year of record-breaking profit. I read the report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy and sat down with Executive Director Amy Hanauer to break down how Nike owes less in federal income tax than I do, how justice flows...

If you know me, you know I hate when college football coaches fail up and leave a mess in their wake. In this episode of That Can't Be Right, I'm chatting with Jenny Dial Creech about what happened within the football program and across the campus under Head Coach Art Briles, Athletic Director Ian McCaw, and Baylor University President Ken Starr, what she learned covering these events, and how col...

I love Beyoncé. But I hate that she's never won Album of the Year at the GRAMMY Awards. So I turned to Dr. John Vilanova, Professor of Practice in Journalism & Communication and Africana Studies at Lehigh University whose major work concerns the influence of race and culture on ideas of what "great" music sounds like. We unpack what led him to this area of research (it involves the 2009 VMA Awards...

A few months ago, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn the results of the 2020 election results in four battleground states. None of which were Texas. But also, Ken Paxton has been under indictment for nearly 6 years. That can't be right. I didn't really understand what the trouble was so I Googled and I read every article politics reporter Emma Platoff wrote about...

In March 2021, articles hit all the entertainment magazines and their Twitter accounts posted that Hollywood Loses $10 Billion A Year Over Lack of Black Representation , or Hollywood Losing $10 Billion Annually to Racial Inequality , and finally Black inclusion gap costs Hollywood $10 billion a year. And it's not just about what's happening on screen. I'm talking to Jay Tucker, Executive Director...

Check out That Can't Be Right hosted by Rhian Rogan. Subscribe for deep dives into the structural wrongs, cultural oddities, and wild opinions that we all love to hate. Premieres April 21st.   Follow along: https://twitter.com/TCBRpod https://www.instagram.com/tcbrpod/