On The Gist, after all of that, not a single senator changed his or her vote to back (or stop) Kavanaugh.
In the interview, Jill Lepore’s new book focuses in part on the marginalized groups forgotten by other American histories. It also denounces the polling industry born in the ’30s, which turned politics into business even as it ignored black Americans, slowing their march for civil rights. Lepore’s book is These Truths: A History of the United States.
In the Spiel, don’t forget that the political pendulum always swings back.
This week BBC Radio 4?s All in the Mind programme announced the results of The Loneliness Experiment. It was a large survey conducted by the programme in collaboration with the Wellcome Collection. The largest survey into the issue of loneliness to date, said All in the Mind, while the accompanying BBC press release reported that ?The survey results indicate that 16-24 year olds experience loneliness more often and more intensely than any other age group. 40% of respondents aged 16-24 reported feeling lonely often or very often, while only 29% of people aged 65-74 and 27% of people aged over 75 said the same.? In the editors' notes, the press release cautions that ?This was a self-selecting sample, so people experiencing loneliness might have been more attracted to take part, inflating reported levels of loneliness.? But much of the reporting by other BBC outlets and the wider media was not so restrained. Tim Harford speaks to Deirdre Toher from the University of the West of England about why the survey's results need careful interpretation.
Listeners have been asking us to explain the schools funding row. When headteachers marched in protest at school spending last week, the Minister for School Standards, Nick Gibb, went on BBC Radio 4's Today programme to say "We are spending record amounts on our school funding. We are the third highest spender on education in the OECD?. BBC Education correspondent Sean Coughlan explains how he discovered that the OECD figure includes university tuition fees paid by students.
Is it true that "Polish Pilots Shot down 60% of German Aircraft on Battle of Britain Day"? Lizzie McNeill fact-checks this claim found on the side of a van.
New figures reveal that same-sex divorce rates are higher among women than among men. Tim Harford discusses why this may be with Marina Ashdade, economist at the Vancouver School of Economics and author of ?Dirty Money?, a book about the economics of sex and love.
Plus, what makes a listener loyal? A nine-year debate rages on.
Presenter: Tim Harford
Producer: Ruth Alexander
Image: A single fan sits in the stands before a college football game
Credit: Photo by Kevin Abele/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
In our first episode of City of the Future, our new bi-weekly podcast, we explore how mass timber could transform our cities — by making wooden skyscrapers possible. We talk to the world’s leading expert on tall wooden buildings, Michael Green, and Sidewalk’s Director of Buildings Innovation, Karim Khalifa.
This episode was produced by Kara Oehler. Our hosts are Eric Jaffe and Vanessa Quirk. Mix by Sharif Youssef. Our music is by Adaam James Levine-Areddy (check out his band at amsterdamlost.com). Our art is by Tim Kau. Special thanks to all who made this episode possible: Michael Green, Karim Khalifa, Claire Mullen, Eric Baczuk, Benjamen Walker, and Andrew Callaway.
The U.S. could perform better at protecting the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures. For a live recording of the Cato Daily Podcast at Cato Club 200 event in Middleburg, Virginia, Matthew Feeney and Julian Sanchez explain how courts think about those rights in the digital age.
Amanda Holmes reads Stevie Smith’s best-known poem, “Not Waving but Drowning.” Have a suggestion for a poem? Email us: podcast@theamericanscholar.org. If we select your entry, you’ll win a copy of a poetry collection edited by David Lehman.
This episode was produced by Stephanie Bastek and features the song “Canvasback” by Chad Crouch.
Tom Arnold believes incriminating tapes of Donald Trump are out there, and he wants to find them. In his new series for Viceland, The Hunt for the Trump Tapes, he’s looking for anything from more Access Hollywood obscenities to the infamous pee tape. But would publishing any of these actually change anything about politics today?
In the Spiel, the rhetoric of “sitting Trump” versus “standing Trump.”
Every Tuesday at noon, San Francisco tests the Outdoor Warning System. A siren and announcement ring out for 15 seconds. The system got its start in the 1940s.
Reported by Julie Caine. Bay Curious is made by Olivia Allen-Price, Jessica Placzek, Paul Lancour, Ryan Levi and Suzie Racho. Additional support from Chris Hoff, Julie Caine, Ethan Lindsey, Katie McMurran and David Weir. 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.
American mass transit systems face challenges from demographics, how people work, and ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft. Randal O'Toole discusses what agencies should do to respond.
The President mocks and lies about Dr. Christine Blasey Ford at a political rally, Republicans energize their base by attacking #MeToo, and Trump is exposed as a tax cheat by the New York Times. Then Democratic candidate Katie Hill talks to Dan and Alyssa Mastromonaco about her race to become the next Congresswoman for California’s 25th district.
