Month: June 2017

Posted on

More or Less: Behind the Stats - WS More or Less: Samba, strings and the story of HIV

Trumpets are blasting in this week?s musical episode. But can medical statistics be transformed into a jazzy night out? That was the challenge which epidemiologist Elizabeth Pisani set for composer Tony Haynes. This June, his Grand Union Orchestra will be performing Song of Contagion, an evening of steel pans, saxophones and singers telling the story of diseases including Zika and AIDs.

We met Elizabeth and Tony in an East London music studio, to hear Song of Contagion come together for the very first time.

Producer: Hannah Sander

(Photo: Detail close up of French Horn musical instrument, part of the Brass family of instruments. Credit: Shutterstock)

Posted on

Start the Week - Inventing the Self: Fact and Fiction

On Start the Week, Andrew Marr explores where truth ends and invention begins in the story of the self. The theatre director Robert Lepage has spent decades creating other worlds on stage; now his one-man show recreates his childhood home in 1960s Quebec, with truth at the mercy of memory. Rebecca Stott has written the story of her family that her father left unfinished, including the Christian cult that inspired their devotion, until doubt led them astray. Miranda Doyle casts doubt on the veracity of memoir itself, by writing a series of lies to get at the truth of her family story. Andrew O'Hagan has examined three lives existing more fully online than offline: the Wikileaks founder Julian Assange; the fabled inventor of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto and 'Ronald Pinn'- an experiment in identity theft that disrupts the very notion of the self. Producer: Katy Hickman

Image: Robert Lepage on stage in 887 by Ex Machina/ Robert Lepage Photographer: Eric Labbé.

Posted on

Crimetown - Bonus Episode: The Arrest of Ralph DeMasi

80-year-old Ralph DeMasi is known throughout New England as both a prolific armored-car robber and a dedicated family man. After decades in prison, he thought he would live out his last years in freedom. Then the police made a break in a cold case, and now Ralph has a new charge on his long rap sheet: murder.

For a full list of credits, and more information about this episode, visit our website at crimetownshow.com.

Read Dan Barry’s New York Times article about Ralph DeMasi, “The Holdup: A Mobster, a Family and the Crime That Won’t Let Them Go.”

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Posted on

The Gist - You Can’t Say That, Mr. Senator

In 2008, Al Franken was elected to the United States Senate. Since then, he’s become a well-respected member of the upper chamber. But he hasn’t lost his keen eye for satire. After the Supreme Court’s decision on same-sex marriage, “I wanted to release a thing saying, ‘Mr. Franken is very happy, but he thinks Justice Scalia’s dissent was very gay,’ ” he tells guest host Zoe Chace. “My team told me I couldn’t do that.” Franken is the author of a new book, Al Franken: Giant of the Senate.

Today’s Spiel, an ode to the underappreciated, soon-to-be-extinct White House press briefing.

Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at Slate.com/gistplus.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Posted on

More or Less: Behind the Stats - Election Special: Tax, borders and climate

On this final programme of the series we try to give some context to some of the issues that are being discussed during the current election campaign.

Who pays tax?

What proportion of adults are paying income tax? How much are they paying? Where does the highest burden lay? We take a look. Also, we look at the different political parties? tax policies. This includes corporation tax, but what about National Insurance?

How do you cut migration?

The Conservative manifesto again includes the aim to lower net migration to tens of thousands. How has this aim fared in the last six years? And what could the Conservatives do in future years to achieve their goal? We also take a look at what impact that might have on the economy.

Taking the nations? temperature

Summer has arrived ? but we cast our minds to the chilly months ahead and think about the Winter Fuel Payment. The Conservatives are proposing to change this to a means-tested system ? everywhere except Scotland. Is this because Scotland is colder than the rest of the UK? BBC Weather Man Phil Avery has the answer.

Free School Meals

It?s been a popular topic in party manifestos - free school meals. Jamie Oliver thinks school dinners are essential for fighting obesity ? but is there really a case to be made for the health benefits of a school lunch? Emily Tanner from the National Centre for Social Research puts the case for and against Universal Free School Meals ? while munching a pie and a packed lunch.

Posted on

The Gist - The Path of Most Resistance

In April, Donald Trump authorized rocket strikes on a military target in Syria. Most Democrats agreed with it. But when Trump makes a decision, does that make it inherently wrong? New Republic editor and Twitter star Jeet Heer offers a critique of the first few months of Democratic resistance. He wrote about it in the magazine last month.   

Today’s Spiel comes from the archives: For President Trump, you’re nobody until you’re somebody. And then, you’re not just anybody—you’re everybody.

Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at Slate.com/gistplus.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices