Month: June 2018

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Start the Week - Deserts and the Nuclear Age

One-third of the earth's surface is classified as desert. The writer William Atkins has travelled to eight of the world's hottest, driest places. He tells Andrew Marr about these forbidding, inhuman landscapes.

The Arabian Desert lies mostly in Saudi Arabia but crosses borders from Egypt to Qatar, UAE to Oman. The economic analyst Jane Kinninmont looks at how this shared landscape affects regional politics and culture.

In the 1950s deserts were the preferred places for Britain and America to test their nuclear bombs in secret. The science journalist Fred Pearce explores the human ingenuity - and human error - that has fuelled the atomic age.

Producer: Katy Hickman.

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The NewsWorthy - Border Battle, World Cup Upset & Facebook Eye-Opener – Monday, June 18th, 2018

All the news to know for Monday, June 18th, 2018!

Today, we're talking about the immigration controversy as the fight over separated families at the border gets more intense.

Plus: a World Cup upset, Facebook's eye-opener and a record-breaker at the box office.

All that and much more in less than 10 minutes.

Award-winning broadcast journalist and former TV news reporter Erica Mandy breaks it all down for you. 

For links to all the stories referenced in today's episode, visit https://www.theNewsWorthy.com and click Episodes.

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The Allusionist - 80. Warm Front

Today will be fine. But wait: fine as in ‘OK’, fine as in ‘really rather good’, or fine as in ‘no precipitation’? When you’re a TV weather forecaster, you have to deal with the mismatch of your specialist vocabulary with that of the meteorological laypeople watching – as well as cover all the weather across a whole country, translate conditions into something the viewer can identify with, and warn people about cyclones without making them too panicked. Or not panicked enough to take sensible cyclone precautions. Nate Byrne, who presents the weather for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s News Breakfast, breezes in to shower us with meteorological knowledge.

Find out more about this episode at http://theallusionist.org/warm-front.

See the Allusionist on stages in Australia and New Zealand in June and July 2018: live show listings are at http://theallusionist.org/events. Northern hemisphere-dwellers: check back soon, because more gigs are about to be added!

The Allusionist’s online home is http://theallusionist.org. Stay in touch at http://twitter.com/allusionistshow and http://facebook.com/allusionistshow.

Support the show: http://patreon.com/allusionist

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You're Wrong About - The Jonestown Massacre

Special guest Rachel Monroe tells Mike and Sarah what's really behind the phrase “drinking the Kool-Aid.” Digressions include David Koresh, East Germany and how flower children were the first millennials. Mike inadvertently reveals his prejudice against extroverts. 

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Where to find us:
Sarah's other show, Why Are Dads
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The Gist - The Heisenberg Presidency

On The Gist, why he lies: a new theory.

“I’ve hit rock bottom. I’m writing for a cartoon.” Such were the thoughts of Mike Reiss when he joined the writers’ room for The Simpsons in 1989. Thirty years later, he’s worked on all but two seasons of the show, and says it’s had one real impact: making television smarter and faster. Reiss’ book, co-written with Mathew Klickstein, is Springfield Confidential: Jokes, Secrets, and Outright Lies From a Lifetime Writing for The Simpsons.  

In the Spiel, stop us if you’ve heard this one before: President Donald Trump creates a problem, sometimes makes the problem a little less bad, and then takes a load of credit. 

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CrowdScience - What Shapes Our Musical Taste?

What sounds heavenly to one person might sound like boring noise to another - but why are our musical preferences so different? Is it all down to what we hear growing up, or are other factors at play?

CrowdScience listener and music lover Jocelyne from Canada wants to know why she has a different song for every mood, and why she likes different music from her friends and family. Meanwhile in Italy, composer Elisabetta Brusa asks us whether the rules of harmony align with the laws of science, and should therefore not be broken.

We talk to both musicians and neuroscientists to explore the truth about harmony and discord. We find out how age, personality and experience all affect whether we find certain songs pleasing or offensive, and learn why the search for the true universals of music pleasure is a race against time.

Presenter: Marnie Chesterton Producer: Cathy Edwards

(Image: A couple laying in the grass listening to music on headphones. Credit: Getty Images)

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Motley Fool Money - Comcast vs. Disney

AT&T completes its acquisition of Time Warner. Comcast increases its offer for 21st Century Fox’s assets, setting the stage for a battle with Disney. Etsy shares soar on a hike in fees. And IHOP flips pancakes for burgers. Jason Moser, Jeff Fischer and Aaron Bush tackle those stories and take stock in the future of video games. Plus, Motley Fool media and entertainment analyst Tim Beyers weighs in on the future of Apple, Disney, Netflix, and YouTube.

Thanks to Blooom for supporting Motley Fool Money.  Get a month free with www.blooom401k.com/fooland use the promo code “Fool”.  Thanks also to Casper! Save $50 on a mattress at http://www.casper.com/fool and use the promo code “Fool”.

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