If you have any school-aged children in your life, you know that lockdown and active shooter drills have become a routine part of their school experience. These drills now take place in 95 percent of American schools.
What you’re about to hear is a collaboration between Slate and The Trace, a nonprofit newsroom covering gun violence in the United States. It’s an audio project featuring firsthand accounts from kids of all ages about what it’s like to go through these drills. We hear a lot about school shootings, but we’re only starting to have a larger conversation about how they affect even those kids who may never go through one.
Preparing for an active shooter is becoming a disturbingly normal part of the school experience. And while companies are developing new methods for how to keep students and teachers safe, it’s unclear if they’re becoming more effective.
Camille Schrier, a 24-year-old pharmacy student, competed in the Miss Virginia pageant over the summer with a "talent" that caught our attention. It put her love of science center stage. On today's episode, we tell you how she won her state crown. This Thursday, Camille may have a chance to show off that talent again under a much bigger spotlight, Miss America 2020. Follow host Maddie Sofia on Twitter @maddie_sofia. Email the show at shortwave@npr.org.
Today House Democrats are expected to formally vote to impeach Donald Trump. He now joins Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton on the Mt. Rushmore of impeached presidents.
Two mass graves have been found in Tulsa, Oklahoma, which are believed to hold the remains of African-American victims of the 1921 Tulsa Massacre. We discuss this heinous act of racial violence with a WaPo reporter who’s covered it extensively, DeNeen Brown.
And in headlines: DeRulo’s cat lump, 100 billion Mormon dollars, and the debate gets a date.
Monica Crowley, Treasury Department assistant secretary of public affairs, joins the podcast to talk about the "incredible economic boom" that followed the tax reform passed in 2017. Jessica Ditto, deputy communications director at the White House, joins for an interview as well, discussing tax cuts and the future of trade.
Okay, well, lets see if I can convey some information to you through this absurd thing we call sentience, using this even more absurd thing called language. I'll never know if any of this is getting through, or even if there is a through to get to. If you're a zombie (and there's no reason to assume you're not) this should still work out just as well as if you're conscious. So you'll respond with happiness to hear we're covering Peter Watt's Blindsight, a treasure trove of topics in the world of philosophy of mind. Seriously, this may be the single best sci-fi on the topic of phenomenal consciousness. We start off with a discussion of philosophical zombie, of which you may or may not be one.
WARNING: AFTER DARK CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THE END OF THE BOOK AT THE VERY END OF THE SEGMENT. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED
Recent appearances: Thomas was just on Cog Dis talking trash about me. You should go listen and then talk trash about everyone involved to defend my honor.
CONTENT PREVIEW: Blindsight and the Value of Sentience
Need holiday gift ideas? GET BOOKS. This episode is like an audiobook… but also a mixtape? It's got a little bit of everything, from cozy cabin tales to dark caves to our own reflections, how your atoms will be recycled, New Year’s resolutions, cat training, dog rescues, battling past demons, aging, the apocalypse, crime TV and even Egyptian boobytraps. Alie has wanted to deliver excerpts from ologists’ books for over a year but she let them pile up for an even bigger compilation. Consider this like a refresher of some episodes you’ve loved, a teaser for ones you haven’t yet heard, and a sneak preview of books written by the pod’s beloved guests. To get your hands on some of these titles, go to alieward.com/ologies/bookworm for info and links.
In the interview, Mike talks to economist Branko Milanovic about the various forms of capitalism that exist in the world today, the role of higher education signaling in American society, and the ways to reduce the negative effects of inequality. His new book is Capitalism, Alone: The Future of the System That Rules the World.
In the spiel, the case for Mike Bloomberg.
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