The Dollar Store Takeover: A Virtual Listening Session and Conversation
A Dollar General store south of Nashville, Tennessee, is just one of about 35,000 dollar stores from the top three chains across the country.
Dollar General opens more than a thousand stores each year. That’s three new dollar stores across the country every day. Add in the other dollar franchises and there are more of these discount stores in the U.S. than Walmart, Starbucks and McDonald’s combined.
A series from the Gulf States Newsroom explained what’s behind the dollar store spread and the consequences across rural and urban neighborhoods. Reporter Stephan Bisaha looked at the plans for further expansion that are in the works and also shared the stories of communities who are pushing back.
Join us as we listen to the four-part audio series, which first aired in April, and discuss the stories with Stephan and some of his sources. The listening session will take place Tuesday, July 18, at 7 p.m. Register here.
GUESTS:
- Stephan Bisaha, senior reporter covering wealth & poverty, Gulf States Newsroom
- Willie Lake, Mayor of York, Alabama
- Lauren Chenarides, Assistant Professor at Arizona State University
- Kennedy Smith, Senior Researcher at the Institute for Local Self Reliance
Judge demands to know if White House is helping return wrongly deported Maryland man
The hearing is the first about Abrego Garcia's case since El Salvador's president told reporters he is not going to "smuggle a terrorist into the United States."
Trump signs executive action to lower drug prices
The action is intended to build upon the existing program for Medicare drug price negotiations, which was created by the Inflation Reduction Act that passed during the Biden administration.
Top House Democrat says DOGE data access at NLRB may be ‘technological malfeasance’
A top House Democrat is asking independent agency watchdogs to investigate after NPR reporting revealed DOGE may have taken sensitive data from the National Labor Relations Board.
New Israeli ceasefire offer demands Hamas discuss disarming, but group rejects it
Hamas is rejecting a new Israeli proposal to pause the war in Gaza, a Hamas official told NPR. Earlier, officials mediating talks had expressed optimism that a deal could be reached within weeks.
Higher ed war heats up as Trump threatens Harvard’s tax-exempt status
The president's comments came after the administration froze $2 billion in federal grants for Harvard after the university rejected what it saw as illegal government demands.
U.S. Army libraries target books with a focus on DEI or ‘gender ideology’ for removal
Books "overtly promoting DEI, gender ideology, and critical race theory" are under new scrutiny following a memo issued by acting Assistant Secretary of the Army Derrick Anderson.
