After 31 people were killed in two mass shootings back-to-back in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio, many people have wondered if such attacks are the new normal. And some have pointed to the xenophobic manifesto reportedly published by the Texas shooter, and the fact that authorities are treating it like a domestic terrorist attack, as illustration of the rising white nationalist extremist threat in America.

The 91st annual Academy Award nominees were announced this morning, making some history in the process. The streaming service Netflix got its first-ever best picture nominee with Roma, a film about a domestic worker set in Mexico in the 1970s. Black Panther got a best picture nod as well - the first-ever superhero movie in the category.

For President Donald Trump, lying appears to be second nature. But how is this culture of misinformation affecting the American people? Holly LeCraw, a local novelist and founder of the Newton chapter of "Indivisible," a Trump resistance movement; Jen Deaderick, a local writer currently working on an illustrated history of women's citizenship; and Michael Jeffries, a sociologist and an associate professor of American Studies at Wellesley College, joined Jim Braude to discuss.

Incidents of racism and discrimination make headlines everyday and everyday white people decry these injustices, then move on. And now, some are calling for those white people to use their privilege for good. Jim Braude was joined by Shirley Leung, Boston Globe business columnist and WGBH contributor, and Michael Jeffries, an associate professor at Wellesley College to discuss.

Uploaded by WGBH News on 2017-04-20.