On The Gist, it turns out your ethnicity is really easy to guess.
AnneMarie Sgarlata got rid of her TV months ago, but she still heard about President Trump’s pardon of Dwight and Steven Hammond this week—and she wasn’t happy. Sgarlata was among the lawyers who originally prosecuted the Hammonds for burning federal land and putting the lives of firefighters, hunters, and a teenage boy at risk.
In the Spiel, what America’s political parties can learn from cereal brand mascots.
Anand Jagatia heads to the rainbow nation of South Africa, to answer listener Lucy’s deceptively simple question. He follows the path of early human migration to understand the relationship between light skin and latitude, and find out how the world become more multi-coloured as people ventured further away from the equator. And he learns how our genes have helped us adapt to less sunny environments, hearing from the remote KhoeSan tribe in the Kalahari desert, who took part in a massive study aimed at giving scientists a better understanding of pigmentation.
Producer: Marijke Peters
Presenter: Anand Jagatia
(Image: Four diverse women’s arms holding each others wrists in a circle. Credit: Getty Images)
The President is now considering levying additional tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars of Chinese goods, amping up trade-related antagonism. Dan Ikenson discusses the likely fallout for workers, consumers, and downstream producers in the United States.
The President is now considering levying additional tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars of Chinese goods, amping up trade-related antagonism. Dan Ikenson discusses the likely fallout for workers, consumers, and downstream producers in the United States.
Today's Rapid Response Friday does not take a victory lap about our successful prediction that Brett Kavanaugh would be Donald Trump's next nominee to the Supreme Court (but seriously, we called that right, y'all.) Instead, Andrew and Thomas break down some of the current stories surrounding Kavanaugh to separate fact from fiction and try and articulate the best mainstream case against confirming Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. In the pre-show, we give a shout-out to everyone who made the Opening Arguments Wiki possible -- go check it out! It's amazing! After that, Andrew Was Wrong returns with a clarification from Episode 187 where Andrew misspoke. And also, the guys have a slight laugh at Andrew's inability to pronounce locations of things. The main segment tackles a bunch of current stories surrounding Judge Kavanaugh, including: (1) the allegation that Judge Kavanaugh has concluded that sitting Presidents can't be indicted; (2) the Yale open letter opposing his nomination; (3) a truly stupid article in The Hill arguing for a lawsuit to block Kavanaugh; (4) the potential conflict of interest with Kennedy's retirement; and (5) the notion of "packing the Court" in 2020. Phew! Next, Andrew gives us an eight-second sneak peek at a court's refusal to permit the Trump administration to modify the Flores settlement and why that's good news. Finally, we end with an all new Thomas Takes The Bar Exam #83 involving spousal privilege. If you'd like to play along, just retweet our episode on Twitter or share it on Facebook along with your guess and the #TTTBE hashtag. We'll release the answer on next Tuesday's episode along with our favorite entry! Recent Appearances Andrew was just a guest co-host on Episode 75 of the Skepticrat podcast; go check it out! Also, Andrew will be discussing Judge Kavanaugh with conservative talk show host Chuck Morse. If you'd like to have either of us as a guest on your show, drop us an email at openarguments@gmail.com. Show Notes & Links
Finally, NEVER ENDING FAME AND FORTUNE goes to:Paul Duggan, Zach Aletheia, Eric Brewer, Teresa Gomez, Andrew Hamilton, Robin Hofmann, and Beverly Karpinski-Theunis for creating the OA Wiki!
On The Gist, the biases of Peter Strzok and the need to connect accusations with actual evidence.
President Trump’s first appointment to the Supreme Court, Neil Gorsuch, benefited from anonymous donations worth millions. To Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, this “dark money” has created a frightening loop: Deemed lawful by the Supreme Court in 2010, it gives special interests a lock not just on elected officials, but on the courts themselves.
In the Spiel, Trump might not know the difference between Wisconsin and Minnesota.
Take a journey with the Bay Area's drinking water -- from mountain to tap.
Reported by Sarah Craig. Bay Curious is made by Olivia Allen-Price, Jessica Placzek, Paul Lancour, Ryan Levi and Suzie Racho. Additional support from Julia McEvoy, Ethan Lindsey, Howard Gelman. Holly Kernan is Vice President for News. Theme music by Pat Mesiti-Miller. Ask us a question or sign up for our newsletter at BayCurious.org. Follow Olivia Allen-Price on Twitter @oallenprice.
Democrats target Brett Kavanaugh’s views on presidential power, Trump blows up the NATO summit, and House Republicans defend Rep. Jim Jordan against accusations that he turned a blind eye towards sexual abuse allegations. Then Senator Dick Durbin joins Jon and Dan to talk about the Kavanaugh nomination and immigration.
Brett Kavanaugh has extensive experience in federal executive branch matters, either as an investigator or staffer. What does his record show about how he might rule on executive power and federal surveillance if he is elevated to the Supreme Court? Gene Healy comments.
