Progress in Congress 👩🏽💼
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👩🏽💼 The Senate confirmed Congresswoman Deb Haaland to become President Joe Biden’s Secretary of the Interior. Why is that a big deal? 👖 Why weren't some members of Congress allowed to wear pants until the 1970s? 🍄 Why are mushrooms the new hot topic in the world of space exploration? 🌮 Plus! The Trivia Question of the Day!
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Transcript
Various Voices 0:00
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
Bethany Van Delft 0:06
From hungry heroes to congressional fashion, in the next 10 minutes, we'll get the lowdown on what's up in the world. I'm Bethany Van Delft, and this is The Ten News. Just last week, some incredible news came out of Washington DC. The Senate confirmed Congresswoman Deb Haaland to become President Joe Biden's Secretary of the Interior. Why is that a big deal? Haaland is the first Native American in our country's history to lead a cabinet agency. She was already one of the first Native American women to serve in the House of Representatives when she was elected to represent New Mexico's first district in 2018. But her new job is even more important because the Department of the Interior is in charge of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Sound Bit 1:01
What does that mean?
Bethany Van Delft 1:02
Also known as the BIA, it's the agency responsible for managing the relationship between the government and indigenous tribes, and it has a long history of ignoring and mistreating these indigenous tribes. The Department of the Interior also works to protect endangered species natural resources and takes care of nearly 500 million acres of public land. That's 1/5 of the entire United States. Wow. Haaland has been pretty open about her support for things like strong environmental protections and creating jobs that support a clean energy future. So we're so excited to see what she'll do and her new position. Did you know that until the 1970s, some members of Congress weren't allowed to wear pants? Our correspondent Pamela Kirkland explains why covering your legs used to be so controversial.
Pamela 2:04
Pants, we wear them pretty much every day, although maybe we wear pants a little bit less now that we're doing things remotely. But you've probably never given a second thought to putting those pants on one leg at a time. Well, despite being some of the most powerful women in Washington DC, once upon a time wearing pants was a big no-no if you were a woman in Congress.
Sound Bit 2:30
Seriously?
Pamela 2:31
Believe it or not. Women even wearing pants didn't really become a widely accepted way for working women to dress until the 1970s.
Sound Bit 2:41
Are you kidding me?
Pamela 2:42
They generally wore dresses and skirts. But in 1969 Congresswoman Charlotte Reed did something no woman had done before, she walked onto the floor of the House of Representatives in a pantsuit.
Sound Bit 2:56
Oh, yeah.
Pamela 2:57
One congressman told her I was told there was a lady here in trousers, so I had to come over and see for myself. Most of the men there that day complimented the Congresswoman on her new look. But even then, it was still too much for the very formal US Senate to handle.
Sound Bit 3:15
Whatever.
Pamela 3:16
In 1987, Maryland Senator Barbara Mikulski became the first Democratic woman elected to the Senate. At the time, there was only one other serving female senator Nancy Kassebaum, a Republican from Kansas, Senator Mikulski said she liked wearing pantsuits, and each senators office had their own rules. But on the floor, women wearing pants was still an unwritten rule. Fast forward to 1993, there were a total of six women senators, one of those new senators was Democrat Carol Moseley Braun, the first black woman elected to the Senate. She'd been wearing pants while serving as state senator for years. But when she got to Washington, she told CNN, she didn't know she was gonna cause such a stir.
Carol Moseley Braun 4:03
So I came to work one morning, I had on a pantsuit, I thought I was looking cute. I get there and come to find out. It was this great whole blue behind the scenes about me having on pants.
Sound Bit 4:14
Welcome, Senator Carol Moseley Braun.
Carol Moseley Braun 4:17
So that's what started it.
Pamela 4:20
Senator Mikulski said she had had enough. She made up her mind women in the Senate should be able to wear whatever they want. She talked about that moment in an interview with CNN's Dana Bash.
Carol Moseley Braun 4:32
What you wore became a very big deal. For a woman to come on the floor in trousers was viewed as a seismographic event. The Senate parliamentarian looked at the rules to make sure it was okay. And I kind of walked on that day. And you would have thought I was walking on the moon.
Pamela 4:53
Senator Mikulski, Senator Kassebaum and Senator Moseley Braun along with a group of female staffers started a pantsuit revolution in the chamber in February of 1993. And today instead of a few female senators, there are 24 women serving in the US senate and proudly wearing pants if they want to.
Bethany Van Delft 5:22
Up next, everyone's favorite nature nerd Laine Farber explains how some funky fungus may help astronauts stay safe as they fly through space.
Laine 5:35
So back in December, I told y'all to trade in your swimsuits for spacesuits, when SpaceX launched the first commercial rocket ship, and efforts to make traveling the galaxy a reality for everyday people like you and me. Now, it's a little early, but I still think exchanging your one piece for a pressurized space onesy is a pretty good idea. Okay, but you might need one more thing before you book your future trip to Mars. Mushrooms.
Sound Bit 6:05
No way.
Laine 6:06
Yep, that's right, y'all. Mushrooms are the new hot topic in the world of space exploration. But we aren't talking about any old fungus. We're talking about special radiation-loving fungi. Are you feeling a little lost? Well, let me explain. One of the problems of colonizing life on Mars is that it doesn't have the same atmosphere as Earth. Not only does that mean that there's no air to breathe, but also that there's nothing to protect potential visitors from the harsh radiation of the sun and distant galaxies. People, animals and plants can't survive high levels of radiation.
Sound Bit 6:46
Yikes.
Laine 6:47
Though most organisms die from radiation, there are a few little friends that can't get enough of this stuff. Can you guess who? That's right, mushrooms, fungi, ilango lay fungus. So not all fungi love radiation. But scientists recently discovered a few special species growing and one of the most highly radioactive places on our planet. And where exactly were these special species? Well, they were growing inside destroyed nuclear reactors at Chernobyl, a partially abandoned city in northern Ukraine, and the site of an infamous disaster. The Chernobyl nuclear power plant and the area surrounding it have been highly contaminated with radioactive waste since one of the plants for nuclear reactors exploded early on the morning of April 26, 1986. With very little able to survive long term radiation exposure, the scientists were surprised to find these special spores. Not only were these species surviving, they were thriving. Seeing these super spores give the scientists a neat idea. What if these radiation loving mushrooms could be used to protect astronauts from radiation. After a few lab tests and calls to NASA, Cladosporium sphaerospermum was launched into the cosmos to be studied at the International Space Station. After 30 days of monitoring the unassuming blob of fuzzy dark brown spores, the results were in the test was a success. The sample reduced radiation and grew at a steady rate. Wow. The fungus reduced radiation by 2%, which by itself is not enough to protect interplanetary travelers. But the scientists were very encouraged by the results. The researchers are now more curious than ever. They know that fungi has potential and that the possibilities are endless. All they have to do is keep reaching for the stars.
Bethany Van Delft 9:00
Lucky you, it's:
Sound Bit 9:02
What, what, what's the big idea?
Bethany Van Delft 9:05
Trivia on The Ten. What did a stunt man in Los Angeles do to help support his favorite local restaurant? Was it A) eat everything on the menu while on top of a moving bus? B) jumped from the restaurant's roof into a giant pile of tortillas or C) spent 24 hours sitting in a giant bowl of bean dip?
Did you get it? The answer is C!
When Hunter Ray Barker heard the Los Toros restaurant founded in the Chatsworth neighborhood in 1967 was struggling because of the pandemic, he knew he had to do something. Barbara says he's to come to Los Toros for family celebrations when he was a kid. In order to help bring the restaurant's attention, and hopefully customers, Barker got a tattoo of the Los Toros logo. Wow. While spending a full 24 hours in an inflatable pool full of bean dip out in front of the restaurant. I sure hope nobody dipped any chips in that after he was done.
Sound Bit 10:24
Disgusting.
Bethany Van Delft 10:27
Time's up. But before we go, here's a quick note for the grownups. We're hosting the Ten News town hall with the former commander of the International Space Station, Terry Virts, and we want to hear from you. Ever wonder what food astronauts really eat? Want to know what it's like to be in space for 213 days? Or how one becomes commander of the ISS? Submit a question of your own by visiting TheTenNews.com. That's t-h-e-t-e-n-n-e-w-s.com. And there's a chance your audio may be used as part of the podcast. How cool is that?
Sound Bit 11:14
Houston, we have a great question.
Bethany Van Delft 11:20
Thanks for listening to The Ten News. Look out for new episodes Tuesdays, Thursdays, and extras on Saturdays. The Ten News is a co-production of Small But Mighty Media and Next Chapter Podcasts are distributed by iHeartRadio. Editorial director is Tracey Crooks. Editing and sound design by Pete Musto, who also co-wrote today's episode with Ben Austin de Campo. Our creative producer is Jenner Pascua. Stephen Tompkins is our head of audience development. And our production assistant is Sarah Olender. Laine Farber and Pamela Kirkland contributed to today's episode. Our production director is Jeremiah Tittle, and The Ten News is executive produced by Donald Albright and show creator Tracy Leeds Kaplan. Do you want to be part of the show? Have a grown up help you record a question a joke or a fun fact do you want to share and email it to us at Hello@TheTenNews.com. And if you really love The Ten News, go to your favorite podcast app and submit a rating and review helps others find the show so they can join the fun to. I'm Bethany Van Delft. And thanks for listening to The Ten News. Be sure to find out who was sitting in your bean dip before you dip a chip.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
Sources for this episode
Deb Haaland Congress:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/15/climate/deb-haaland-confirmation-secretary-of-interior.html
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/15/deb-haaland-to-be-confirmed-as-interior-secretary.html
Pants in Congress:
https://medium.com/the-illusion-of-choice/the-pantsuit-revolution-9c72d1b709a2
Space Fungi:
https://mepag.jpl.nasa.gov/topten.cfm?topten=10
Trivia Question:
