The World and Everything in It: November 1, 2022

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Good morning!

School children are lagging behind and the latest test results show by how much.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Also today the race for the senate seat in Pennsylvania, following a noteworthy debate between Dr. Oz and John Fetterman. We’ll talk it over with our political reporter.

Plus WORLD’s Classic Book of the Month, The City of God.

And WORLD Founder Joel Belz on why manners matter.

REICHARD: It’s Tuesday, November 1st.This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Mary Reichard.

EICHER: And I’m Nick Eicher. Good morning!

REICHARD: Now news. Here’s Kent Covington.

KENT COVINGTON, NEWS ANCHOR: Kyiv attack » Power crews in Ukraine are struggling to get lights and heat back on after Russian missiles and drones rained down on Kyiv and other cities on Monday.

AUDIO: [Russian spokesman]

A Russian military spokesman said it hit Ukraine’s energy infrastructure with what he called “precision strikes.”

AUDIO: [Russian spokesman]

The strikes were apparent retaliation for what Moscow alleged was a Ukrainian attack on its Black Sea Fleet.

At UN headquarters on Monday, Ukrainian Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya told world leaders …

KYSLYSTISYA: Terror against civilians has become a hallmark of Russia in this war of aggression against Ukraine.

Russia–grain » The United States is calling on Russia to end its renewed Black Sea blockade of grain exports from Ukraine. State Department spokesman Ned Price …

PRICE: Russia is again weaponizing food in the war that it started.

Russia claims that Ukraine is using commercial shipping“for military and sabotage purposes”.

But UN officials rejected Moscow’s allegation. Martin Griffiths is the UN’s under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs.

GRIFFITHS: Coming to alleged misuse of cargo vessels in the initiative for military purposes, none were in the corridor on the night of the 29th of October when the reported attacks took place.

Despite Russia’s declaration that it would block grain exports, 12 ships with grain left Ukrainian ports on Monday. One vessel carried Ukrainian wheat to Ethiopia, where a severe drought is affecting millions.

Election polling one week out » Election Day is one week from today. Most analysts predict Republicans will take control of the House. But the Senate appears to be a dead heat.

A handful of races will likely decide control of the chamber, including a close contest in Georgia.

WALKER: We only got a few more days. And people who haven’t voted, get out and vote and have your voices heard!

Republican Herschel Walker, heard there, holds a slim one-and-a-half point lead over Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock in recent polls.

Another pivotal race is happening in Pennsylvania. Democratic candidate John Fetterman.

FETTERMAN: If you come out and step with us, we will be able to stand with you in DC!

Fetterman holds a lead of a little more than a point in an average of recent polls. But the only poll taken since his recent debate with Republican Mehmet Oz shows Oz leading by a few points.

In other close races, GOP candidates lead by 1 to 2 points in Nevada and Ohio.

Republicans need a net gain of one Senate seat to regain the majority.

Trump asks SCOTUS to block Congress from tax returns » Former President Donald Trump filed an emergency appeal with the Supreme Court on Monday. WORLD’s Josh Schumacher has more.

JOSH SCHUMACHER, REPORTER: Lawyers urged the high court to block the Treasury Department from handing over Trump’s tax returns to House Democrats.

Trump said the Democratic-controlled Ways and Means Committee could have his returns as soon as Thursday unless the court intervenes.

Lower courts ruled against Trump, finding that the committee does have broad authority to obtain tax returns.

If Trump can persuade the high court to step in, he could potentially delay a final decision until the start of the next Congress in January when Republicans might be in control.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Josh Schumacher.

Affirmative action hearings » College admissions in America may soon be colorblind.

Conservative Supreme Court justices on Monday seemed to signal that it might be time for 50-year-old affirmative action policies to go.

Plaintiffs argued that the practice discriminates against Asians and other races.

Harvard and the University of North Carolina argue that they need to consider the race of applicants to ensure diversity on campus.

But Justice Clarence Thomas said…

THOMAS: I’ve heard the word diversity quite a few times, and I don’t have a clue what it means. It seems to mean everything for everyone.

He questioned the benefits of forced racial diversity in modern times.

The court's conservative justices all expressed doubts about the practice, while the three liberals defended the programs. Justice Elena Kegan said she believes what it means to believe in American pluralism…

KAGEN: Is that actually our institutions, you know, are reflective of who we are as a people in all our variety.

The Supreme Court has twice upheld affirmative action. But one of those rulings called the practice “dangerous” and said it would need to end eventually.

Bridge collapse update » Police in western India made arrests Monday in the deadly collapse of a newly repaired, Colonial-era bridge. WORLD’s Kristen Flavin has that story.

KRISTEN FLAVIN, REPORTER: Police have formed a special team to investigate the accident. And so far, officers have arrested nine people, including managers and staff of the company that operates the bridge, the Oreva Group.

Police opened a case against Oreva for suspected culpable homicide and other violations.

The suspension bridge, built in the 1800s, collapsed into a river on Sunday killing at least 134 people. It had reopened just days earlier after six months of renovations.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin.

I’m Kent Covington. Straight ahead: test scores reveal just how much school children across the nation are lagging behind.

Plus, the Classic Book of the Month for November.

This is The World and Everything in It.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: It’s Tuesday, the first day of November, 2022. You’re listening to WORLD Radio and we’re glad you’ve joined us today! Good morning, I’m Mary Reichard.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher. First up on The World and Everything in It: The nation’s students are falling behind.

For the first time in three years, students took the National Assessment of Educational Progress test (known by the acronym “NAP”). And the results were dismal. It showed that school students all across the country are up to a year behind after the COVID-19 shutdowns. WORLD’s Josh Schumacher has our story.

GUIDERA: Today’s data release is a clear and heart-wrenching statement that Virginia is failing her students.

JOSH SCHUMACHER, Reporter: That’s Virginia’s Secretary of Education Aimee Guidera on the day the NAEP scores were released.

Only about 30 percent of fourth graders in the state of Virginia are reading at or above grade level.

Kurt Kreassig is the Dean of Education at Regent University. He says students in the third or fourth grade who aren’t reading on grade level are likely to struggle for the rest of their school career.

KREASSIG: They're going to struggle in school, get frustrated, have a greater potential to drop out. The percent increases dramatically when a student cannot read on grade level by fourth grade.

But Virginia isn’t the only failing state. It’s every state. And students who are behind now will continue to be behind. And will continue to be frustrated by it.

KREASSIG: Students make the decision to drop out of school around ninth grade, they don't wait till they're a senior in high school. So we've got the potential of having large numbers of students never finish high school, what kind of job can you get without a high school diploma, you can still work in a trade, you can still be very successful. But for the vast majority without a high school education, there's limited options.

And that could be a detrimental blow to the United States’ economy.

KREASSIG: We're talking trillions in lifetime earnings that are potentially lost for the students.

Kreassig says money—government funding, or private assistance—will help. But the school system as it is, and specifically teachers, don’t really have the bandwidth to do more.

KREASSIG: How are you going to just rely on the classroom teacher to up their game when they're already beyond capacity?

Kreassig explains that teachers have taken on a variety of extra roles during the pandemic—social worker, surrogate parent, and sometimes spiritual guide.

But it isn’t just teachers who suffered. Siva Raj lives in the San Francisco area and has two sons. Each of whom suffered in very different ways.

RAJ: For my older guy who was in high school and it was just gotten was like a, you know, a freshman at that bind. And he really struggled with the coursework, and he is very extroverted kid, very athletic, you know, really likes kind of being out there, and the social interaction, etc.

This was different from his younger son.

RAJ: He was, you know, he's a little bit more introverted, but he could see his teachers, he could see his peers on on the Zoom screen. I mean, he has this appetite for learning. And it felt like his appetite was not being satisfied, he was really kind of like, not getting what he wanted from, you know, his schooling. So he was able to cope with the coursework, that was an issue for him, he was in, you know, third grade when the pandemic head and now he's in fifth.

But it was also rough for the parents, as well. Autumn Loijen also lives in the San Francisco area. She has three kids who were all stuck at home for part of the pandemic.

LOIJEN: I think being a single parent and having three kids to manage two of whom, like, you have the preschooler who wants constant attention, you have the older kid who doesn't stay on track very well. And then you have your middle kid who is you know, only a second grader. And so, you know, trying to make sure they're all in the meetings that we're supposed to be in and so on. It was a lot, you know, we were, we were, you know, exhausted every single day.

But it wasn’t just exhausting, either.

LOIJEN: I think it's hard to communicate how difficult it was, and how, like soul crushing it is to see your child suffering. You know, people say, Oh, I jump in front of a bus for my kid. And I always thought it was theoretical until I had them. And then I'm like, No, you really will jump in front of a bus for your kid. Right? Yeah. And feel that level of commitment for them, and see them struggling and in pain and be unable to help.

States like Virginia are trying to take “learning recovery” action to remedy the situation. Parents like Siva and Autumn say that their children are getting caught up. Still, it’s been a challenge—and it’s taken a long time.

RAJ: It's only you. And everything is on your shoulders. Now, the entire future of these two individuals rests on you, there's nobody else you can count on here. Right. And especially if you're a single parent, that kind of button is even more, and you'll generally feel like, Hey, if you can't help them, then their future is compromised. And you know, this, it's not, it's not hypothetical, this is real.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Josh Schumacher.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Coming up next on The World and Everything in It: Face off in Pennsylvania.

Candidates for U.S. Senate Dr. Mehmet Oz and John Fetterman debated each other last week in Harrisburg.

They’re both vying to take the seat of retiring Senator Pat Toomey. He’s a Republican. Democrats are trying to flip the seat from the GOP and fill it with Fetterman.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Joining us now is Carolina Lumetta, one of WORLD’s Washington correspondents. Carolina, welcome.

CAROLINA LUMETTA, REPORTER: Hi, Mary, good to be back.

REICHARD: You went to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, to watch the debate between U.S. Senate candidates Mehmet Oz and John Fetterman. Set the stage for us, if you will. How important is this race?

LUMETTA: Well, Pennsylvania really is considered a bellwether state and a microcosm of what is going on in the rest of the country. So on the ground level, this is a purple region. Voter affiliation is nearly evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats. At the legislative level, the Commonwealth is pretty familiar with gridlock. Democratic Governor Tom Wolf is frequently at loggerheads with the state legislature which is Republican-led, so not a whole lot of bills get passed in a regular session. At the national level. Both parties are scrambling to claim a majority this cycle not just in Pennsylvania, but also in the US Senate. So it is a pretty important race this year.

REICHARD: Many layers to think about. So tell us how the debate went.

LUMETTA: So, this was unique in that most of the focus on the debate was more on the style rather than the content. John Fetterman is the Democratic candidate. He's a former mayor, also the current lieutenant governor. He runs on a pretty liberal platform, which includes advocating for abortion with no restrictions. He said he would codify Roe v. Wade, legalize marijuana and lighten prison sentencing. But the big story here is his personal health. He suffered a stroke just days before the May primary and actually, Mary, he was in surgery getting a pacemaker put in while voters were at the polls. In the months since, he's taken a lighter campaign trail schedule, he's been going through physical therapy, and said that he still suffers from some auditory processing issues. During the debate, he had closed captioning to make sure that he understood the questions, but even then, he still had some trouble verbalizing his answers. Sometimes he mixed up words, mushed some together, or just left a few out. He said he expects to be fully recovered by the time he takes office. But that is something voters will have to take on faith.

REICHARD: His health is a legitimate issue as far as being able to do the job?

LUMETTA: It is. But the other interesting thing is that people are hesitant to talk about this. Oz has released a lot of ads and criticized Fetterman for not releasing his medical records saying that he is unfit to be a US senator. Supporters and Democrats say that even criticizing his health is discriminatory. And this is actually something I experienced, too. Outside of the debate venue, I talked with a democratic volunteer. His name is Bernard and I asked him and some other supporters if they had any concerns about their candidate's recovery. And they said even asking the question was discriminatory.

REICHARD: So let’s talk about his opponent. How did Doctor Oz do?

LUMETTA: Compared to Fetterman, he was pretty eloquent. It's really clear that he is comfortable at a podium in front of a microphone, and he did keep on message. He did reroute almost every question to try to brand Fetterman not just as a Democrat, but a radical one. And this is interesting because he has been endorsed by former President Donald Trump. Even so, he is actively working to avoid an impression of being a MAGA Republican. He has said that he is pro-life but would allow some abortion exceptions such as in the case of rape, incest, or life of the mother. He wouldn't answer whether he would support another presidential run from Trump in 2024, just whoever the Republican Party chooses.

REICHARD: We’ve been mentioning Fetterman’s health challenges. But I want to ask in addition to that, what other challenges each candidate has to overcome in order to win?

LUMETTA: Right, so, Oz has to find a way to move past a persona of being kind of a snake oil TV salesman, which is word for word what was painted on some signs that Fetterman supporters waved outside the debate venue. He dodged a question during the debate over whether he profited from advertising of untested or possibly unsafe medical treatments during his television series. And additionally, many Pennsylvanians see him as an outsider. He only moved to the state from New Jersey in the past two years.

For Fetterman. He needs to be more specific on what his policies would be since he couldn't verbalize them well at the debate and with verbalizing them to this cause some concern for other analysts. There was a Republican analyst I interviewed. His name is Mark Weaver, and he has been a debate coach for decades. He told me that there were concerning gaps and mistakes that Fetterman made, and he said, “This would make him the least effective person in what some people have called the world's greatest debating society, the U.S. Senate.”

REICHARD: What has been the fallout politically since the debate happened?

LUMETTA: It's still soon to say since it's only been a week, but polling is starting to trend more in Oz's direction. Some aggregate polls find Fetterman up by just 1.5 points. So it is still a statistical tie at this point. The caveat here is that polling is notoriously unreliable this year with fringe voters on the right and left just simply not picking up the phone. Since the debate, high profile Democrats have been mobilizing to show that they do still support Fetterman they have full confidence in him. This includes Senator Bob Casey Jr. and even President Biden himself. On the Republican side, they have been moving a lot of money—millions of dollars—from other campaigns to support the rest of Oz's. And we are exactly one week from election day so every dollar counts.

REICHARD: It sure does. Well, to keep up with all WORLD’s election coverage, head to wng.org and sign up for Carolina’s weekly newsletter called The Stew. Carolina, thanks so much.

LUMETTA: Thanks for having me.

NICK EICHER, HOST: San Francisco has lots of choices for fine dining and now it has another: fine dining for dogs.

Excuse me, for dogues. Right D-O-G-U-E, rhymes with vogue.

Dogue is a new restaurant for pups with persnickety palates—my words, not theirs. Rahmi Massarweh is a classically trained chef who decided to quit the rat race, so to speak, to cater to canines.

Massarweh spoke to news channel KEYT.

MASSARWEH: It’s as much an experience for the dogs as it is for the owners, for the humans. I don’t know, sometimes, who has more fun.

So a three-course meal—75 bucks per, which seems a tad steep. But for the person who’s paying, there’s a mimosa and a human treat in it for ya, if you’re good boy.

It’s The World and Everything in It.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Today is Tuesday, November 1st. Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day.

Good morning. I’m Mary Reichard.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher. Coming next on The World and Everything in It: Classic Book of the Month for November.

Some classic books admittedly aren’t a lot of fun. That doesn’t mean they’re a waste of time, like this one. Here’s WORLD’s Emily Whitten.

EMILY WHITTEN, REVIEWER: Saint Augustine of Hippo wrote our Classic Book of the Month back in the 5th century. He begins this way in the audiobook version read by Mark Meadows.

CLIP: The glorious city of God is my theme in this work which you, my son, Marcellinus, suggested….

Originally written in Latin, Augustine composed The City of God over about twelve years near the end of his life. So, it reflects a lifetime of study by one of Christianity’s greatest theologians.

It also reflects the challenges of his time. When barbarians sacked Rome, some claimed it was because Romans had rejected the pagan gods. Augustine answers that charge in The City of God, pointing to Rome’s sin and God’s sovereign rule as the true reasons for Rome’s loss. In this audiobook clip, he also reminds readers that Christ’s power can be seen another way—the attacking Visigoths often spared Romans who took refuge in Christian churches.

CLIP: The cruelties which occurred in the sack of Rome were in accordance with the custom of war, whereas the acts of clemency resulted from the influence of Christ’s name...

Classical educator Clint Lum says Augustine can help us understand the cultural and political conflict of our day. For one thing, Augustine argues that such conflict flows naturally from the clash of two cities all around us—the heavenly city and the earthly city. Here’s Lum reading a passage on this point.

LUM: What we see then is that two societies have issued from two kinds of love. Worldly society has flowered from a selfish love which dares to despise even God. Whereas the communion of saints is rooted in a love of God that is ready to trample on self. 

Lum says these two cities aren’t always easy for us to recognize.

LUM: They are commingled, and in fact in each individual, though we might have our citizenship in the city of God, we, to varying degrees, are still very much under the influence of the earthly city.

Augustine saw the influence of both cities in his own life. Raised by a pagan father and a Christian mother, Augustine rejected Christ as a young adult. But pursuing his career for his own benefit proved unfulfilling.

LUM: But he gave up, I mean, what would have been a life like Cicero or like these great Roman figures.

After his conversion, Augustine wanted to lead a quiet life in North Africa, but he was dragged into church leadership by Christians who believed the church needed his gifts. The work took painful self-discipline.

LUM: Some of those passages and confessions he writes, like, he's in the midst of dying all the time.

In terms of its subject matter, The City of God can be broken into several sections. Early on, Augustine looks at the Roman gods. He shows that they never have and never will provide happiness—either earthly or eternal. Lum explains what follows.

LUM: Part three, he's going to ask similar questions, but of Christianity. So what is the true source of happiness? And he's gonna go to Genesis one. Let's start at the beginning. And then from there, he's going to march his way forward to his present day. And then from there, he's going to march his way forward all the way into the eschaton...

Augustine echoes the teachings of Scripture, presenting history as ruled by the God of the Bible. Ultimately, those who embrace Christ through faith will find a joyful end.

LUM: On that day, we shall rest and see, see, and love, love and praise for this is to be the end without the end of all our living–that kingdom without end, the real goal of our present life.

Our Classic Book of the Month, The City of God by Augustine, isn’t a quick or easy read. An unabridged version may run more than 1,000 pages. Lum recommends starting with an abridged version like the one published by Image Classics. He also recommends using a reading guide and online lectures to sharpen your study. I’ve found the 2019 Youtube lecture by Graham H. Walker helpful on that point.

Lum says Augustine is a difficult thinker, but he can help us live wisely and faithfully.

LUM: This is a wonderful heirloom that we have as Christians, and we should take hold of it with pride.

I’m Emily Whitten.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Today is Tuesday, November 1st. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Nick Eicher.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard. Good books last. A century after Emily Post published her first book on etiquette, an updated guide to good manners has just been released.

Etiquette and rules. Why do they matter?

Here’s a classic commentary by WORLD founder Joel Belz.

JOEL BELZ, FOUNDER: Our eight year old looked at me with astonishment. Sitting just to my left at the dinner table, she had been attacking a wonderfully tender biscuit with her dinner knife. “Don't cut it with your knife,” I told Elizabeth. “Use your fingers and break it apart.”

“Use my fingers?” Elizabeth more than anyone at our table had been reminded dozens of times in recent months not to use her fingers, but her silverware instead. How arbitrary can all these rules be? I could feel the same bewildered questions ringing the table. So Emily Post and Amy Vanderbilt got a good going over for the next few minutes as we explored whether the ‘don't cut your biscuit with your knife’ rule was indeed arbitrary. Or if it was rooted in some more basic principle.

I think, I proposed–not particularly fearing to wade in where I knew nothing at all–that it probably has to do with showing what you think of the cook. Biscuits are supposed to be tender, not tough. If you use your knife on your biscuit, you're telling the cook that her biscuits are tough, that she was a failure in making them the way they were supposed to be.

Soon, however, another dimension of the whole subject hit the dinner table. Whether or not the etiquette books ever laid arbitrary rules on us, what about God's intentions? Are His commandments, his instructions and his rules just something he dreamed up to clutter our lives with things impossible, or even inconvenient to remember? Or are they rooted in deeper significance?

God's written word, and even his creation, sometimes seem arbitrary. To some, the arbitrariness is there when they hear God say that sex is right only with the person you're married to. To others, that rule makes sense. But they struggle when God states that the tithe is His. You may be faithful to your spouse and a regular tither, but still wonder why God prohibited the Israelites in Deuteronomy 22:11 from wearing clothes made of both linen and wool.

Now admit it. Doesn't that rule prompt you to look up from the dinner table in amazement? It should. When we quit being astonished at the complexity of what God has ordered in his creation, we've missed his purpose in putting us here. His rules for us as individuals, for society at large, and for His creation are never willy-nilly. Every one of them means something. The sooner we find out what they mean, the more we can revel in his greatness and His goodness. The ‘no knife to the biscuit’ rule turns the eater’s thoughts to the biscuit’s creator.

A few days later, I asked Elizabeth if that still made sense. She said it did. But that night I had to remind her to use her fork with her casserole.

EICHER: That’s Joel Belz, reading his column titled “Biscuits and Knives” from his book,Consider These Things. The column originally appeared in the April 21, 1986 issue of WORLD Magazine.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Tomorrow on Washington Wednesday, an election preview.

Also, WORLD Tour and an introduction to a very old sport.

That and more tomorrow.

I’m Nick Eicher.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard.

The World and Everything in It comes to you from WORLD Radio.

WORLD’s mission is biblically objective journalism that informs, educates, and inspires.

The Bible says: …since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him, we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. (Romans 5:1-3 ESV)

Go now in grace and peace.

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