This Sunday in #nerdland:
The United States is on the verge of an epidemic, but not one caused by the deadly Ebola virus. Instead, the epidemic on the horizon is one of hysteria. Despite reassurances from the CDC that at least in America, Ebola is “not a significant threat,” across the country, fear of the virus has been widespread. In Mississippi, many parents pulled children out of class upon learning that the middle school’s principal had recently returned from Zambia, a country located nearly 3,000 miles from any nations currently dealing with Ebola. And in Texas, where 911 calls are spiking over Ebola concerns, Navarro College has sent rejection to at least two Nigerian students claiming that the school is “not accepting international students from countries with confirmed Ebola cases.”
Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill, support for a travel ban from Ebola-stricken nations is growing, against the advice of experts. Dr. Corey Herbert will be with us to help untangle the real threat from the hysterics.
Next, the midterm elections are just 16 days away, and the Supreme Court has just approved a strict Texas voter ID law which could affect 600,000 of the state’s voters who do not have the kind of ID required to cast a ballot. Did the court get it right, or does the law represent an unconstitutional poll-tax? We’ll break down this and other recent midterm happenings, from #fangate to reports of as many as 40,000 missing voter registration applications in Georgia.
Then, Cruel and Unusual in Florida, where the state’s correctional institutions have seen an alarming number of suspicious deaths, including one female inmate who was found dead just days after writing to her family that a prison guard had threatened to kill her. Reporter Julie Brown covers crime and investigations for the Miami Herald and joins us to explain more.
The online video game community has been rocked by a series of heated tweets and discussions around the issues of gender, feminism and misogyny in gamer culture and in the video game industry. Along with game developer Zoe Quinn, gaming critic Anita Sarkeesian has been at the forefront of the often violent and vitriolic debate. She joins Melissa Harris-Perry to talk about her experience and to help us think about #gamergate in connection with feminism and the broader society. Finally, what’s a #newsfail? Citizen Radio hosts Jamie Kilstein and Allison Kilkenny will explain the title of their new book, which takes on media in America. Be sure to read what we’ve linked above, and watch Melissa Harris-Perry Saturday at 10am ET on msnbc! And don’t forget to tell us what story is most important to you and why on Facebook and Twitter with the hashtag #nerdland.
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