an extraordinary act of political retribution in tennessee

Last week, Tennessee’s Republican-controlled House expelled two of its members — both young Black Democrats.

Emily Cochrane, a national correspondent for The New York Times, explains the story behind the extraordinary ousting and what it tells us about this moment in American politics.


Emily Cochrane, a national correspondent for The New York Times covering the American South.

The two expelled lawmakers, both young, Black men, are raising their fists in protest. In the foreground, Justin Jones is wearing a white suit with a brown tie, and in the background, Justin Pearson is wearing a black suit. They are both sitting in their seats at the Tennessee House.
The expelled lawmakers, Rep. Justin Pearson and Rep. Justin Jones raise their fists as a video of last week’s gun control demonstration at the statehouse is screened in Nashville.Cheney Orr/Reuters

There are a lot of ways to listen to The Daily. Here’s how.

We aim to make transcripts available the next workday after an episode’s publication. You can find them at the top of the page.


Emily Cochrane contributed reporting.

Special thanks to William Davis.

The Daily is made by Rachel Quester, Lynsea Garrison, Clare Toeniskoetter, Paige Cowett, Michael Simon Johnson, Brad Fisher, Chris Wood, Jessica Cheung, Stella Tan, Alexandra Leigh Young, Lisa Chow, Eric Krupke, Marc Georges, Luke Vander Ploeg, M.J. Davis Lin, Dan Powell, Dave Shaw, Sydney Harper, Robert Jimison, Mike Benoist, Liz O. Baylen, Asthaa Chaturvedi, Rachelle Bonja, Diana Nguyen, Marion Lozano, Corey Schreppel, Anita Badejo, Rob Szypko, Elisheba Ittoop, Chelsea Daniel, Mooj Zadie, Patricia Willens, Rowan Niemisto, Jody Becker, Rikki Novetsky, John Ketchum, Nina Feldman, Will Reid, Carlos Prieto, Sofia Milan, Ben Calhoun, Susan Lee, Lexie Diao, Mary Wilson, Alex Stern, Dan Farrell, Sophia Lanman, Shannon Lin, Diane Wong and Devon Taylor

Our theme music is by Jim Brunberg and Ben Landsverk of Wonderly. Special thanks to Sam Dolnick, Paula Szuchman, Lisa Tobin, Larissa Anderson, Wendy Dorr, Julia Simon, Isabella Anderson, Desiree Ibekwe, Renan Borelli, Mahima Chablani, Nell Gallogly, Jeffrey Miranda, Elizabeth Davis-Moorer and Maddy Masiello.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *