The White House Thursday offered a blueprint for states to re-open. It starts with a decline in confirmed cases of COVID-19 and includes extensive testing that does not yet exist. Johns Hopkins epidemiologist Jennifer Nuzzo told NPR's Rachel Martin that the lack of testing means the outbreak is still largely unpredictable.
In the past four weeks, 22 million people have filed for unemployment, nearly wiping out all the job gains since the Great Recession.
A group of volunteer EMTs in New Jersey is on the front lines of the coronavirus outbreak.
Plus, after seven months in space, astronaut Jennifer Mier returns to a very different reality on Earth.
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Pod Save America - “Dems in Array.”
Democrats win a stunning upset in Wisconsin, Joe Biden wins the endorsements of Barack Obama, Bernie Sanders, and Elizabeth Warren, and Data for Progress polling guru Charlotte Swasey joins Jon and Dan to break down brand new polling that details which arguments about Trump’s handling of the coronavirus are most persuasive to voters.
Science In Action - Italy, getting Covid-19 under control
Italy is beginning its first tentative steps towards ending its lockdown. These are small steps, opening a few shops in areas where virus transmission has seen big falls. Part of the reason for this controlled strategy is that there are real concerns over a potential resurgence of the virus,
Around the world there are now hundreds of trials on drug treatments for Covid-19. Results so far are mixed, with antivirals developed for Ebola and HIV showing positive signs, but antimalarial drugs, championed by President Trump in particular have been shown to have dangerous potentially life threatening side effects.
A warning from history, more than 500 years ago suggests the western US in particular is entering an extreme drought, a ‘Megadrought’. When this last happened it led to war, depopulation and the spread of disease.
And its 10 years since the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Studies of fish in the region suggest they are still affected by oil from that spill and more recent lesser known pollution events.
(Photo: Italy, shops begin to open. Credit: European Photopress Agency)
Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Julian Siddle
CoinDesk Podcast Network - BREAKDOWN: Libra vs. DCEP? The Battle for the Future of Money Heats Up
This week saw the latest salvos in the battle for the future of money.
Libra announced that it would be moving away from a single currency that was backed by a basket of national currency to a model of numerous individual fiat-pegged currencies. While the original model was akin to a disruptive implementation of John Maynard Keynes original concept for a global basket currency (which he called a “bancor”), this model seems more to position Libra to help existing central banks digitize their currencies.
China meanwhile steamed forward with its digital currency and blockchain plans. Screenshots of an app from the Agricultural Bank of China show how the DCEP (Digital Currency Electronic Payment) is currently being tested, giving us insight into functionality, geographies and players involved.
China also announced the 71 members of its National Blockchain Council, as well as went live with their Blockchain Service Network. The BSN in particular has potential significance on a world scale as China tries to build and control a key piece of global digital infrastructure.
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You're Wrong About - Quarantine Book Club: “Michelle Remembers” (Week 3)
Sarah and Mike continue into the depths. With Dr. Pazder home from Mexico, he and Michelle continue their journey into her subconscious, and the stories continue to get weirder. This episode contains kitten sacrifice, and the first—but not the last—dead baby of the Satanic panic.
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Sarah's other show, Why Are Dads
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Cato Daily Podcast - Some Bad Ideas for Fighting COVID-19”
The Christmas tree that was the relief package that moved through Congress recently did manage to avoid some particularly bad ideas in its final form. Still, those ideas will be back, according to Diego Zuluaga.
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CoinDesk Podcast Network - AFRICA: Bitcoin Maximalism, Entrepreneurs and COVID-19 in Zimbabwe (Part 5 of a Six-Part Documentary Podcast Series)
In this episode, we'll join Anita Posch in Zimbabwe as she speaks with Tongayi Choto, a software developer, entrepreneur and a bitcoin maximalist. He founded Afriblocks, a Global Pan-African Freelance platform that connects professionals across the world. They talk about the problems young Zimbabweans are facing and Tongayi's approach to make lives better. Later, Anita answers listener questions about the current use of bitcoin, other methods of payment in Zimbabwe and more.
Topics:
- Africa: high potential, but not enough opportunities
- Pan-African Freelance network
- Payments in cryptocurrencies
- The use of smart contracts for releasing funds
- Scams like MMM, Onecoin, bitclub
- The Volatility of bitcoin being a huge problem for poor people
- The impact of the Lightning Network in Africa
- Internet bundles
Listener Questions:
- What is preventing widespread usage of bitcoin? Tech? Awareness? Laws? Working, cheap alternatives (Ecocash)? Fees?
- Are there bitcoin OGs in the community and if so are they still actively supporting the newcomers?
- Not sure if M-Pesa is available in Zimbabwe/Botswana. But if so, why would anybody use Bitcoin instead of already available digital payment solutions such as M-Pesa?
- Did you hear anything about http://beforward.jp and Bitcoin?
- I am interested how well people understand, if their own governments money is good money for them (in terms of purchasing power, inflation etc). What share of people in your impression are asking themselves this question in these countries?
- Are Zimbabweans living overseas using bitcoin for remittances? If so, how does this channel work? How do bitcoin remittances compare to alternatives like Western Union?
A note from Anita:
This podcast special and my trip to Africa would not have been possible without my sponsors and supporters. I want to thank my sponsors first: Thank you: LocalBitcoins.com a person-to-person bitcoin trading site, Peter McCormack and the whatbitcoindid podcast, Coinfinity and the Card Wallet, SHIFT Cryptosecurity, manufacturer of the hardware wallet BitBox02 and many thanks to several unknown private donors, who sent me Satoshis over the Lightning Network.
This special is edited by CoinDesk’s Podcasts Editor Adam B. Levine and published first on the CoinDesk Podcast Network. Thank you very much for supporting the Bitcoin in Africa series with your work. Thanks goes also out to stakwork.com - stakwork is a great project that brings bitcoin into the world through earning.
One can do microjobs on stakwork, earning Satoshis and cash them out without even having an understanding about the lightning network or bitcoin. I think we need more projects like that to spread the usage of bitcoin around the world. Thank you also to GoTenna, for donating several GoTenna devices to set up a mesh network in Zimbabwe and to Team Satoshi, the decentralized sports team for supporting my work. This special is also brought to you by the Let's Talk Bitcoin Network.
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CBS News Roundup - World News Roundup: 04/16
White House set to reveal guidelines for reopening the economy. Nurses suspended for refusing to work without protection. Small businesses at the back of a long line. CBS News Correspondent Steve Kathan has today's World News Roundup.
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The Intelligence from The Economist - This sequestered isle: Britain’s covid-19 response
The prime minister is still convalescing; Parliament is still finding ways to meet virtually. Meanwhile questions are growing about how the government has handled the pandemic. In China authorities are promoting unproven traditional remedies to treat covid-19—treatments they would love to export. And the role that animals play in making wildfires worse, and in preventing them. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/radiooffer
Bay Curious - Did We Put the ‘Bay’ In Bay Windows?
There are so many bay windows in San Francisco, Oakland, and other cities around the Bay Area it would be easy to assume they were invented here. But were they? Listener Ayran Michaels wants to know: Why are they so prominent here?
Additional Reading:
Reported by Christopher Beale. Bay Curious is made by Olivia Allen-Price, Katrina Schwartz, Katie McMurran and Rob Speight. Additional support from Erika Aguilar, Jessica Placzek, Paul Lancour, Kyana Moghadam, Suzie Racho, Carly Severn, Bianca Hernandez, Ethan Lindsey and Don Clyde.