Month: April 2016

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the memory palace - Episode 87 (Victory)

The Memory Palace is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX.

Do you live in Toronto? Chicago? Milwaukee? Minneapolis? How about L.A.? Come see the Memory Palace live this May.

SPOILERS BELOW

Music * We hear Portrait Gallery from Luke Howard. * A smidgen of Julia Kent's lovely Dorval. * The incomparable Moondog's Gloving It pops up a couple times (as it tends to do around these parts). * Denmark by the Portland Cello Project rolls out for quite awhile. * John Lewis and Sacha Distel play the title track from their Afternoon in Paris album. * We hear To, from Zach Cooper's Styles Upon Styles. * There's a bit of Eine Kleine Gamelan Music from The Gamelan Son of Lion (seriously). * Ends on P, by Labradford.

NOTES * The classic text on Charlie Faust is Lawrence Ritter's The Glory of Their Times:the Story of the Early Days of Baseball as Told by the Men Who Played It, one of the key texts of early baseball history, first published in 1966. * The definitive resource on Faust is Gabriel Schecter, who's written his biography for SABR, the Society for American Baseball Research, and a monograph called Victory Faust: The Rube Who Saved McGraw's Giants. * I also want to point you to Rob Neyer's lovely piece on visiting Faust's grave.

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The Gist - Purpleness

On The Gist, music writer Chris Molanphy guides us through the purple rain. We’ll remember Prince’s impact on the Billboard chats over the course of his career. Chris writes Slate’s Why Is That Song No. 1 column. He recently wrote about Prince for Slate: “How Prince Ruled the Charts in the ’80s—Even When His Name Wasn’t on the Songs.” For the Spiel, where should we draw the line when it comes to how we treat our prisoners?

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More or Less: Behind the Stats - Brexit numbers

EU Treasury report

This week there was much debate over the Treasury report which modelled how leaving the EU would affect the economy. Tim Harford speaks to the Spectator?s Fraser Nelson about how the document was presented to the public, and how it was reported. Chris Giles of the Financial Times explains that there are useful points to take from the Treasury?s analysis.

Hinckley Point nuclear power station

What is the most expensive ?object? ever built? The environmental charity Greenpeace has claimed it is set to be the most expensive object on Earth. But could it really cost more to build than the Great Pyramids? We take a look at some of the most costly building projects on the planet.

Chances of serving on a jury

A listener in Scotland is curious to know what the chances are of being selected for jury service. Several of his family members have received summons, but he has not. We look at who is eligible to serve, and what your odds are of receiving a summons.

European Girls Maths Olympiad

Last week we told the story of how the European Girls Maths Olympiad (EGMO) came into being. We followed the UK team on their recent journey to Romania to compete against 38 other teams from Europe and around the world.

Life expectancy of a Pope

In 2014 Pope Francis alluded to the fact he didn?t expect to live more than another two or three years. A group of statisticians have taken a look at the life expectancy of popes over the centuries and decided that he may have been rather pessimistic.

Presenter: Tim Harford Producer: Charlotte McDonald

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The Gist - The Energy Crisis and the End of American Liberalism

On The Gist, Josh King answers our question about President Obama’s visit with King Salman of Saudi Arabia. He was our guest earlier this week, and he’s the author of Off Script: An Advance Man’s Guide to White House Stagecraft, Campaign Spectacle, and Political Suicide. Then, Meg Jacobs joins us to discuss the lasting political legacy of the ’70s gas crisis. She’s the author of Panic at the Pump: The Energy Crisis and the Transformation of American Politics in the 1970s. For the Spiel, the president who was usurped off the $20. It’s not who you might think.

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SCOTUScast - Williams v. Pennsylvania – Post-Argument SCOTUScast

On February 29, 2016, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Williams v. Pennsylvania. Terrance Williams was convicted and sentenced to death for the robbery and murder of Amos Norwood. The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania affirmed Williams’ conviction and sentence, and his initial attempts to obtain state postconviction relief failed. His subsequent petition for federal habeas relief also failed. He again sought post-conviction penalty-related relief in state court and prevailed in the Court of Common Pleas on a claim of unlawful evidence suppression. On appeal, however, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court reversed the grant of relief and lifted the stay of execution (though a temporary reprieve was later granted by the governor for other reasons). The Chief Justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, Ronald Castille--who had joined the opinion reversing the grant of relief to Williams--had also been the District Attorney for Philadelphia during Williams’ trial, sentencing, and appeal. In that capacity, Castille had authorized his office to seek the death penalty for Williams. Williams had moved to have Chief Justice Castille recuse himself from hearing the appeal of post-conviction relief, but Castille declined to do so. -- The question now before the U.S. Supreme Court is twofold: (1) Whether the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments are violated where a state supreme court justice declines to recuse himself in a capital case in which he had personally approved the decision to pursue capital punishment against the defendant in his prior capacity as an elected prosecutor and continued to head the prosecutor’s office that defended the death verdict on appeal, and where he had publicly expressed strong support for capital punishment during his judicial election campaign; and (2) whether the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments are violated by the participation of a potentially biased jurist on a multi-member tribunal deciding a capital case, regardless of whether his vote is ultimately decisive. -- To discuss the case, we have Cassandra Burke Robertson, who is Professor of Law, Laura B. Chisolm Distinguished Research Scholar, and Director, Center for Professional Ethics at Case Western Reserve University School of Law.