Month: May 2017

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Start the Week - Post-Truth and Revolution

On Start the Week Amol Rajan seeks the truth in a post-truth world. The political columnist Matthew D'Ancona paints a dystopian picture in which trust has evaporated, conspiracy theories thrive, and feelings trump fact. He argues that the very foundations of democracy are under threat. Claire Wardle is hoping her organisation First Draft will equip users to verify the sources of stories and tackle misinformation online. But what happens when the peddlers of misinformation are state-sponsored? The Chinese writer Lijia Zhang spent a decade working in a rocket factory and her memoir, Socialism is Great!, reflects the great social transformation in China since the 1980s, and the shifts in trust and truth which mirrored such changes. The writer China Miéville, who is best known for his stories of urban surrealism, turns his attention to the story of the Russian Revolution. Producer: Kirsty McQuire.

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African Tech Roundup - Scientists Successfully Remove HIV Virus From Mouse Cells Using CRISPR

Scientists have found a way to remove the HIV virus from the DNA in mouse cells using CRISPR/Cas9 technology. According to the journal, Molecular Therapy, use of the technique has led to the complete elimination of infection in mouse organs and tissue after just one treatment. Now, that's the kind of international tech news that really gets us excited around here! And, yes! The team at the African Tech Round-up is back from a much-needed break, and we're super-stoked to catch up on news like this CRISPR HIV breathrough, as well as dive into some of the other significant headlines that dropped while we were away. We're pleased to announce that Musa Kalenga will be joining Andile as a guest co-host on the show every fortnight starting this week to chat about the most important stories and to unpack major trends impacting Africa's tech ecosystem. Music Credits: Music by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Music licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
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Serious Inquiries Only - SIO41: Talking Free Speech, with Michael Shermer

I'm very pleased to be speaking to Michael Shermer this week, someone who has been more on the free speech war side of things, and someone who has said previously that liberals won't dialogue with him. Well, to his credit, he eventually noticed my Twitter chirpings at him and was willing to have a long form conversation about our disagreements. I think there's a lot of room for optimism at the result, so check it out! Links discussed: Overblown Piece on WaPo Advocating Censorship; Study on Racism and Trump Voting; George Mason Study on Dissonance and Party Affiliation; 538 Article on Perceived Discrimination; Support us on Patreon at:  patreon.com/seriouspod Follow us on Twitter: @seriouspod Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/seriouspod For comments, email thomas@seriouspod.com Questions, Suggestions, Episode ideas? email: haeley@seriouspod.com  
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Amicus With Dahlia Lithwick | Law, justice, and the courts - Animus Amicus

In the wake of the unceremonious termination of FBI director James Comey this week, one previously unfamiliar name has dominated the news cycle: Rod J. Rosenstein. The former federal prosecutor became the U.S. Deputy Attorney General just over two weeks ago, and since then, has found himself at the center of storm around President Trump’s most high-profile firing to date. Leon Neyfakh has been covering Rosenstein for the past few weeks, and joins us to talk about whether anyone at the Department of Justice can remain neutral in these polarized times. 

We also speak with University of Virginia School of Law professor Micah Schwartzman about this week’s oral arguments in one of the lawsuits challenging President Trump’s revised travel ban. Schwartzman is among a group of constitutional law scholars who filed an amicus brief arguing that the executive order violates the Constitution’s Establishment Clause.

Transcripts of Amicus are available to Slate Plus members, several days after each episode posts. For a limited time, get 90 days of free access to Slate Plus in the new Slate iOS app. Download it today at slate.com/app. Please let us know what you think of Amicus. Join the discussion of this episode on Facebook. Our email is amicus@slate.com.

Podcast production by Tony Field. Our intern is Camille Mott.

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More or Less: Behind the Stats - Nurses’ pay, Scottish seats, Penalty shootouts

What is happening to nurses pay?

Amid reports of nurses using food banks, Jeremy Hunt said he doesn?t recognise claims their wages are worth less now than in 2010. He says nurses are actually paid ?31,000 - more than the average person. If he?s right, why do so many nurses say they?re earning much less than that?

The Great Scottish Election Conspiracy

The reporting of the Scottish council elections has caused a bit of a stir. Did the SNP lose seven seats or gain six. The media including the BBC reported that they had lost seats, the many SNP supporters are sure that this isn?t a fair representation of their performance. This all hinges on how you look at the results last time around and how you account for the major boundary review that took place between elections. Tim tries to get to the bottom of what has happened with Professor David Denver from Lancaster University.

Penalty shootout maths

What do coffee, stew and nerve-biting football finales have in common? Maths whizz and football aficionado Rob Eastaway explains all. UEFA, European football?s governing body, is currently trialling a new system for penalty shootouts. But what is the maths behind the new system ? and could a century-old Scandinavian mathematical sequence offer a better approach?

Presenter: Tim Harford Producer: Charlotte McDonald

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50 Things That Made the Modern Economy - Intellectual Property

When the great novelist Charles Dickens arrived in America in 1842, he was hoping to put an end to pirated copies of his work in the US. They circulated there with impunity because the United States granted no copyright protection to non-citizens. Patents and copyright grant a monopoly, and monopolies are bad news. Dickens’s British publishers will have charged as much as they could get away with for copies of Bleak House; cash-strapped literature lovers simply had to go without. But these potential fat profits encourage new ideas. It took Dickens a long time to write Bleak House. If other British publishers could have ripped it off like the Americans, perhaps he wouldn’t have bothered. As Tim Harford explains, intellectual property reflects an economic trade-off – a balancing act. If it’s too generous to the creators then good ideas will take too long to copy, adapt and spread. But if it’s too stingy then maybe we won’t see the good ideas at all. Producer: Ben Crighton Editors: Richard Knight and Richard Vadon (Image: Copyright stamp, Credit: Arcady/Shutterstock)