Could there really be 26,911 words of European Union regulation dedicated to the sale of cabbage? This figure is often used by those arguing there is too much bureaucracy in the EU. But we trace its origins back to 1940s America. It wasn't true then, and it isn't true today. So how did this cabbage myth grow and spread? And what is the real number of words relating to the sale of cabbages in the EU? After the recent announcement that all schools would be converted to academies, a number of listeners have asked us to look into the evidence of how they perform. Education Secretary Nicky Morgan wrote a guest post on Mumsnet and More or Less were called upon to check her numbers. The popular TV show The Only Way is Essex claimed in its 200th episode that it had contributed more than a billion pounds to the UK economy. We investigate if this is true. Plus, can we trust food surveys? Stories about which foods are good and bad for you, which foods are linked to cancer and which have beneficial qualities are always popular. But how do experts know what people are eating? Tim Harford speaks to Christie Aschwanden, FiveThirtyEight's lead writer for science, about the pitfalls of food surveys. She kept a food diary and answered nutrition surveys and found many of the questions were really hard to answer.
New Books in Native American Studies - Heather Kopelson, “Faithful Bodies: Performing Religion and Race in the Puritan Atlantic” (NYU Press, 2014)
Heather Miyano Kopelson explores how religion, primarily expressed through bodily action, contributed to colonial notions of difference in her recent book Faithful Bodies: Performing Religion and Race in the Puritan Atlantic (NYU Press, 2014). She examines the religious rituals of TaÃno, Algonquian, and West African peoples in the New World, and how they intersected with Puritan theology and expression. By comparing these interactions in both New England and Bermuda, she demonstrates how divergent attitudes toward race could be, even among like-minded colonists. Her book demonstrates the centrality of religious attitudes in Puritans’ changing conceptions of colonized bodies, and therefore how racial ideologies developed in two radically different imperial outposts.
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Amicus With Dahlia Lithwick | Law, justice, and the courts - The Case Against the Case Against Confirmation
More than two weeks have passed since President Obama tapped Merrick Garland to fill Antonin Scalia’s vacant seat on the Supreme Court. But while their rationale has shifted somewhat, Senate Republican leaders remain as firm as ever in their refusal to hold confirmation hearings for the nominee. On this week’s episode, University of Chicago Law School professor Geoffrey R. Stone joins us to explain why the GOP’s intransigence is so threatening to the core institutions of federal government.
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Podcast production by Tony Field.
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The Gist - The Hamilton Rule
On The Gist, actress Erinn Hayes joins us to share her experiences performing as Dr. Lola Spratt on Childrens Hospital from Adult Swim. The show will be ending this year after seven seasons. For the Spiel, Zoe Chace
from This American Life takes over. She’s been speaking with Republican stalwarts about how Alexander Hamilton
inspired them to vote for … Hillary? Today’s sponsors: Slack, bring all of your communication at work into one place. Create a new team right now at Slack.com/gist, and you’ll get $100 in credit for when you decide to upgrade to a paid plan. Goldman Sachs. Information about developments currently shaping markets, industries, and the global economy, on the firm’s podcast, Exchanges at Goldman Sachs, available on iTunes. 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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Motley Fool Money - Better Burgers?
Chipotle serves up a Better Burger. McDonald's expands in China. And Lululemon jumps. Plus, Washington Post sportswriter Barry Svrluga talks about the business of baseball.
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