On Start the Week Anne McElvoy discusses our obsession with violence. The historian Richard Bessel explores its past ubiquity, but argues that our modern attitudes towards it have changed. There's little change in the attitudes towards women in the armed forces, according to a play by the academic Helen Benedict. Diana Preston sees history repeating itself as weapons of mass destruction continue to be used in much the same way as a century ago. For June Oscar, an Indigenous leader from North Western Australia, the history of her people has been dominated by the violent struggle with settlers from the 1770s. Producer: Katy Hickman.
New Books in Native American Studies - Andrew Needham, “Power Lines: Phoenix and the Making of the Modern Southwest” (Princeton UP, 2014)
Last month, VICE NEWS released a short documentary about the Navajo Nation called “Cursed by Coal.” The images and stories confirm the title. “Seems like everything’s just dying out here,” says Navajo citizen Joe Allen. “It’s because of the mine. Everything is being ruined. They don’t care about people living on that land.”
About four hundred miles southwest of the Four Corners Power Plant, where much of the coal stripped from Navajo land is burned for energy, stands the gleaming Chase Tower in downtown Phoenix, the tallest building in the state of Arizona.
Connecting the two places is a maze of energy infrastructure, hidden and ignored when a Chase executive enters his air-conditioned top-floor office. “Electricity and power lines had become second nature in Phoenix, as assumed and expected aspect of modern life,” writes Andrew Needham. “Appearing in Phoenix’s homes, businesses, and factories at the flick of a switch, electricity seemed to exist in neither time nor space. It simply was.”
But it had to be made somewhere, as Needham vividly illustrates in his new book, Power Lines: Phoenix and the Making of the Modern Southwest (Princeton University Press, 2014). With booming desert cities demanding ever more power throughout the last century and into the present, the Navajo Nation’s massive coal deposits were targeted for extraction, no matter the ecological or economic cost. People are still living with the consequences.
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More or Less: Behind the Stats - WS MoreOrLess: Xenophobia in South Africa
Are migrants ?stealing? jobs; does South Africa have more asylum seekers than any other country in the world? These are some of the claims we explore this week in the midst of some of the worst xenophobic attacks in recent years in South Africa. Plus ? could you go to jail for reporting false statistics? You might in Tanzania where they are in the process of bringing in a law to tackle publishing bad figures. We ask whether journalists and researchers should be worried. This edition of More or Less was first broadcast on the BBC World Service.
The Gist - Your Grandpa Is a Little Sketchy
Today on The Gist, professional storyteller Matt Dicks speaks with the winner of our storytelling challenge. Did we make the right pick? Hear our entries from yesterday’s Gist here. Plus, Emily Yoffe of Slate’s Dear Prudence column advises a dad whose unavailable father serially dates young women in impoverished countries. Should the dad cast his father in a second act—as a grandfather? For the Spiel, Mike remembers Long Island’s notorious Nassau Coliseum with Brian Koppelman from the Moment and Peter Thomas Fornatale. Today’s sponsor: The Great Courses, engaging audio and video lectures taught by top professors. Courses like “The Skeptic’s Guide to American History.” Right now, get 80 percent off the original price when you visit thegreatcourses.com/gist. Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at http://www.slate.com/gistplus.
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Motley Fool Money - Amazon’s Secret Weapon
Starbucks serves up a new all-time high. And Amazon and Microsoft find big profits in the cloud. Our analysts discuss those stories and delve into earnings news from Chipotle, Google, and 3D Systems. Plus, CNBC journalist Becky Quick previews the upcoming Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting. To get a copy of our e-book on Warren Buffett, just email warren@fool.com.
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More or Less: Behind the Stats - UK Election Podcast 3
Are we witnessing a jobs ?miracle?? Also under scrutiny - Scotland?s deficit; a mansion tax; and what would a Miliband-SNP pact cost us? The podcast features a collection of interviews from Radio 4's PM programme.
The Gist - What Makes a Story Unforgettable
Today on The Gist, professional storyteller Matt Dicks is here to coach one lucky Gist listener. We’ll review some favorite entries and discuss what kind of action and resolution help a story stand out. Tune in tomorrow to hear whom we’ve selected as our winner. For the Spiel, Mike stumbles upon an event for Thomas’ English muffins. Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at slate.com/gistplus.
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Cato Daily Podcast - Why Jail Parents Who Can’t Afford Child Support?
Jailing or denying a driver's license to parents who can't afford child support payments is, at best, totally incoherent. Walter Olson explains.
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The Gist - Are Probiotics Bulls–t?
Today on The Gist, it’s an episode that comes from the gut. First, reporters Erin Quinn and Chris Young of the Center for Public Integrity explain how companies have exploited a decades-old loophole in FDA approval of new food additives. Their article is called “Why the FDA Doesn’t Really Know What’s in Your Food.” And, in another installment of “Is That Bulls--t?” Mike asks Maria Konnikova of the New Yorker if the science backs up the hype around healthy bacteria. For the Spiel, Mike quacks a joke. Today’s sponsor: Stamps.com. Sign up for a no-risk trial and get a $110 bonus offer, when you visit Stamps.com and enter promo code TheGist. Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at http://www.slate.com/gistplus.
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Cato Daily Podcast - SCOTUS Rules on Police Stops & Drug-Sniffing Dogs
The Supreme Court has made it a little harder for police to detain motorists following the end of a legitimate traffic stop, but it won't end the use of drug-sniffing dogs. Jim Harper comments.
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