Georgia Today: 'Good Trouble Day' protests across Georgia; Clinical trial to address HIV; Flood terms

Orlando Montoya: Hello and welcome to the Georgia Today podcast. Here we bring you the latest reports from the GPB newsroom. On today's episode, protests against President Donald Trump take place across Georgia. A clinical trial aims to address the state's high rates of HIV. And knowing the difference between flooding terms could help keep you safe in an emergency.

Jennifer Klein: We do have on our website, under CoastalGeorgiaDNA.org, we do have a whole list of flood terms.

Orlando Montoya: Today is Friday, July 18. I'm Orlando Montoya, and this is Georgia Today.

Story 1:

Orlando Montoya: Protests and events against President Donald Trump's policies, including mass deportations and cuts to Medicaid and other safety net programs for the poor, took place at locations across Georgia yesterday. The national day of action, called Good Trouble Lives On, was held in honor of the late Georgia congressman John Lewis. GPB's Sarah Kallis reports from an event in Atlanta.

Sarah Kallis: Hundreds of demonstrators marched down Auburn Avenue to protest the Trump administration and honor the late U.S. Rep. John Lewis. The march concluded with a rally where ACLU Georgia executive director Andrea Young said the crowd must continue Lewis's legacy.

Organizer: John Lewis took that torch over the Edmund Pettus Bridge. We are still carrying that torch until our multi-racial democracy is what he envisioned it to be.

Sarah Kallis: The demonstration also marked the five-year anniversary of Lewis' death. For GPB News, I'm Sarah Kallis in Atlanta.

Orlando Montoya: Events were planned in other metro Atlanta cities, and in Southeast Georgia, Savannah resident Anne Fenstermacher attended the rally in her city.

Anne Fenstermacher: I'm unhappy with the Republican stance on things. The current administration has alienated our allies, has turned the clock back for the United States years and years and years, and I don't know how long it's gonna take to get that momentum back.

Orlando Montoya: The phrase "Good trouble" was coined by Lewis, the youngest and last survivor of the Big Six civil rights activists, a group led by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

Story 2:

Orlando Montoya: The deadly flooding in Texas reminds us just how quickly storms can trigger severe flooding. But devastation from high water can happen anywhere, including Georgia. Last year's hurricanes Debby and Helene caused significant damage. We have flash flooding, river flooding, and coastal flooding that can lead to flood watches, warnings, and emergencies. But what's the difference between these terms? Knowing them can keep you safe. So this week I spoke with Jennifer Klein, the coastal hazard specialist with the Department of Natural Resources in Brunswick. I asked her to define my most troublesome term, "flash flooding."

Jennifer Klein: We do have on our website, under coastalgadnr.org, we do have a whole list of flood terms. So I would encourage anyone to check it out. These have been identified as terms that we wanted to make sure is consistent among professionals so that they are using the same terms. But flash flood, it's potentially life-threatening. It's usually water going into a typically dry area. For instance, on the coast, it's those roads. Our roads are typically dry. And when you have a quick downpour of rain, that creates flash flooding because the water can't move fast enough. And we don't want people to drive through that. A 6-inch rain event could carry a car away or an adult away. And that can happen pretty quickly.

Orlando Montoya: So tell me about the difference between a flash flood warning and a flash-flood emergency, and what action people should take in each of those.

Jennifer Klein: Well, so the first phase would be a flood watch that the National Weather Service would issue. And that just says that there is a potential. The conditions are there for that to happen potentially. The warning is it's happening and so it's imminent.

Orlando Montoya: And then we get that flash flood emergency alert — happens while we're driving, it happens when we're at home. What action should you take when you get one of those?

Jennifer Klein: If you get something along those lines, it's really just emphasizing the need to stay, you know, indoors from where a lot of this is happening.

Orlando Montoya: But I'm driving, should I pull over?

Jennifer Klein: Well, I would say no. Same instance when you get those on your phone for a tornado, it's get to your destination and then get somewhere safe.

Orlando Montoya: NOAA has predicted another above-normal Atlantic hurricane season this year, so what should listeners know about flash flooding and hurricanes?

Jennifer Klein: Sure. You know, one thing we haven't talked about is here on the coast is our high tides. One of the terms that we discourage people from using is "king tide." King tide is a non-scientifically defined term. And so when people use it, they use it to mean different things. We encourage people to use "higher-than-high-tide flooding." And then when we also have hurricanes, we have that storm surge. That is coming up from the ocean. And so a lot of times we can have high tide flooding events with the storm surge. And so just knowing that those levels are even higher.

Orlando Montoya: Me, yeah, I lived on the coast for 23 years, so — lived in Savannah — so when I moved here to Atlanta, I really didn't appreciate at first the flooding risk here in Atlanta because those creeks can rise, that rain can fall. And I've seen, we've seen news events where people are getting washed away, so it can happen anywhere.

Jennifer Klein: Absolutely. I think — one thing that's important is to really kind of talk to your family and talk about where some of those flood-prone areas would be in your normal routine and know what the warning, the watches and the warning signals are and those evacuation routes are really important. As we saw with Helene, that impacted the entire state of Georgia. And then, whenever there is water over a road, turn around. Do not go through it. Even if it seems like a couple of inches, especially here on the coast, you might be driving through saltwater and you don't even know it.

Orlando Montoya: Well, this has been incredibly informative and important, and I thank you very much for talking with me today.

Jennifer Klein: Yeah, thank you for asking.

Orlando Montoya: That was Jennifer Klein, coastal hazard specialist with the Department of Natural Resources in Brunswick.

Story 3:

Orlando Montoya: Gov. Brian Kemp has suspended the mayor of a small South Georgia city who's facing felony charges stemming from efforts to halt a local election after one of the mayor's allies was disqualified from a city council race. Kemp's executive order yesterday suspends Mayor Kelvin Owens of Camilla, about 30 miles south of Albany. Owens and two other officials were charged with election interference and conspiracy to commit election fraud. Chaos roiled special elections in Camilla last November amid a long-running legal battle over local politics in the town, a farming community of about 5,000 people.

Story 4:

Orlando Montoya: A clinical trial in Georgia aims to address the state's high rates of HIV. GPB's Ellen Eldridge reports the so-called PrEP drug offers more options for preventing the disease.

Ellen Eldridge: The most recent data showed Georgia has the highest rates of HIV in the country. Lenacapavir is the first and only PrEP, or pre-exposure prophylaxis medication, administered once every six months. Valeria Cantos-Lucio is one of the study's primary investigators. She says their work at the three sites in Atlanta contributed significantly to the trial by enrolling the population at highest risk for HIV.

Valeria Cantos-Lucio: Namely, young Black populations, including gay, bisexual, transgender, and gender non-binary people.

Ellen Eldridge: But Early, Clayton, DeKalb, and Fulton counties have the highest rates of new HIV diagnoses in Georgia. For GPB News, I'm Ellen Eldridge.

Story 5:

Orlando Montoya: Landowners from a tiny coastal community founded by freed slaves were back in a Georgia court today fighting zoning changes that they say are racially discriminatory. Residents of Hogg Hummock on Sapelo Island have been trying for years to overturn the changes by officials in McIntosh County. They fear the new zoning will increase their taxes and weaken protections for the mostly Black and poor community.

Story 6:

Orlando Montoya: In Georgia business news: Atlanta-based Norfolk Southern and Nebraska-based Union Pacific are in merger talks to create the largest railroad in North America. A person familiar with the discussions who isn't authorized to talk about them publicly said the talks began earlier this year. Both companies declined to comment.

And a James Beard Award-winning chef from Savannah has opened a restaurant in Paris. Mashamah Bailey, of Savannah's critically acclaimed eatery, The Gray, opened a cross-cultural French and Southern lunch bistro, La Raie, or The Stop, on Tuesday.

Caption

Comedian and writer Mohanad Elshieky

Credit: John Cafaro

Story 7:

Orlando Montoya: With news this week that The Late Show with Stephen Colbert will end after next season, there's a lot of talk about the future of late-night TV and what it means for political comedy. One person who works in that world is comedian and writer Mohanad Elshieky. You might know him from Colbert's show or from NPR's Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. The Libyan-born, New York-based comic is bringing his stand-up to a show in Atlanta this weekend, he spoke with GPB's Pamela Kirkland.

Pamela Kirkland: I want to start with the Atlanta show. What can folks expect to hear from you when they come to see you at City Winery?

Mohanad Elshieky: Well, first of all, great jokes. Yeah, that's what you're paying for. That's 100%. I mean, this show is mostly a lot of personal stories and whatnot about living in Portland, living in New York, growing up in Libya, all of that stuff, just being in America and all. But like I said, overall, they're just gonna have a great time.

Pamela Kirkland: How would you describe your comedy in your own words?

Mohanad Elshieky: I mean, the way I would describe my stand-up comedy, like you said, it is laid-back, it is chill. I'd say my style is like very plot twisty because I love plot twists. So like every joke has like an ending that is different from what one would expect or like wherever you think the story was going, it's going into a different direction. So I try and do a lot of that, but overall, it was just like pretty chill.

Pamela Kirkland: You mentioned you were born in Libya and now live in New York. How have your personal experiences shaped a lot of your comedic material?

Mohanad Elshieky: Yeah, like you said, I was born in Libya and I feel like I came here to the States like 11 years ago and as an immigrant. So a lot of it is — is looking at America doing outside commentary, like from someone who did not grow up here. So I think it's pointing out the absurd because people like obviously are born here and raised here. So like a lot of the stuff they're like used to. Versus me coming out from the outside. I'm like, "I don't think this is normal." So I think when people see someone like from the outside pointing stuff like that at you, they're like, "oh yeah, I don't think that is normal, too." And it's funny that you're bringing that up.

Pamela Kirkland: You've been in a lot of different spaces where comedy and politics meet, like you were writing and consulting for Love It or Leave It, that podcast. You've done Colbert and written for them. Do you think satire, political satire is doing its job right now? Or is it just harder to keep up with the news because of the fast-paced cycle these days?

Mohanad Elshieky: I think it is hard now, yes. And like you said, I used to write for Love It or Leave It, but now I'm doing Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me on NPR, and it is. It is hard because sometimes the news is just like very, very ridiculous to the point where it's like, what am I even making fun of here? This is like — and I know it's funny because people are always like, oh yeah, jokes write themselves. I'm like, "No, they do not. They do not write themselves!" They take hours and hours of just looking at the news and being like, what am I even looking at right now? This is, this is bad. Or this is too absurd to even make jokes about. I think, yeah, satire is like, we still need it, but it's just, it is just hard because people are not able to tell about what is real and what's not anymore. So I feel like it's become harder to do satire because people have to recognize it's satire, you know? And now it's very hard to recognize it's satire. So it's just like on you now to make it clear that this is a joke or we're just joking here. This is not what I actually think or this is not the real thought process behind what's being delivered. So yeah, it is doing its job. I feel like we need more than satire, to be honest right now.

Pamela Kirkland: And now you're writing for Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, which our listeners absolutely love. What's it like working on that show that's part-comedy, part-current events, and part-quiz show?

Mohanad Elshieky: I love it. It's truly like maybe one of the best jobs I've ever had like in comedy. It's just so fun. The show is like — we, like, obviously it does politics but it does a lot of like also just like silly news and stuff like that. The team itself is like everyone there is like so so nice.

Pamela Kirkland: How is writing for Wait Wait different from prepping for a stand-up performance?

Mohanad Elshieky: I mean the main difference is whether it's like evergreen or like, you know, like you're doing now news. Like I feel like Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me you do the joke now. Next week, it's — it's old news. You can't do it again. For stand-up, like, OK, it has to be fresh because I'm on tour. I'm doing it for like months and months too. Like, I'm doing it until the end of the year. I like people have to find these jokes funny no matter what the time frame is. So that's why it's, it is — it's different. And honestly, I do — like, standup is always going to be the most enjoyable art form for me. I think the fun part about standup, is that if a joke does well, it's — it's you who wrote it. It's you on stage. If it doesn't, you also have to take the brunt of that. But that's, why it is — it is fun. There's always that risk of like where, especially with new jokes or like, or being at a new place, uh, you're like, "OK. I don't know how this joke is gonna go," so when it does well, it's like a very, very great feeling.

Pamela Kirkland: Mohanad, thank you so much for speaking with me.

Mohanad Elshieky: Thank you for having me.

Orlando Montoya: That was Mohanad El-Sheikhi speaking with GPB's Pamela Kirkland. The comic will be on stage at Atlanta's City Winery this weekend.

Orlando Montoya: And that's it for today's edition of Georgia Today. As always, we invite you to take a look at GPB.org/news for all the latest news from our GPB reporters across the state. Refresh that page from time to time to find out what's new. If you have feedback for us, send it our way at GeorgiaToday@GPB.org. And as always, hit subscribe on this podcast to keep Georgia Today current in your feed. I'm Orlando Montoya. I hope you have a great weekend and come back to us next week for more Georgia Today.

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