New GDP data show the economy shrank at a 4.8% annual rate in January, February and March. That’s the worst quarterly decline since the 2008 recession, and unfortunately, the current quarter is probably going to be worse.
There’s an experimental drug called Remdesivir that the FDA is reportedly planning to approve for emergency use in treating symptoms of Covid-19. It’s not a cure, but some early trial data show that it reduces the length of the disease for some patients.
And in headlines: a 1-mile asteroid picks the wrong time to scare Earth, NCAA to allow athletes to make money, and "Trolls World Tour" brings equal parts pain and pleasure.
What to know today about the first drug that could get federal approval as a COVID-19 treatment, how the government is hoping to find solutions with a Shark Tank-like program, and the way dogs are working to sniff out the disease.
Plus, whose salary will go from $40 million to zero, a new record for social media and when to catch a Parks and Rec comeback.
Those stories and more in less than 10 minutes!
Then, hang out after the news for the Thing to Know Thursday bonus interview, where a virologist answers unique questions about COVID-19.
Head to www.theNewsWorthy.com/shownotes to read more about any of the stories mentioned in this episode or see the sources below.
Three L.A. comedians are quarantined in a podcast studio during a global pandemic. There is literally nothing to be done EXCEPT make content. These are "The Corona Diaries" and this is Episode #23.
"There’s a lot of reasons that motivated these millennials to change their votes over the course of time," says Jakubowski. "It didn’t happen in one single event. It didn’t happen because of one podcast or one show or one friend. It was conversations. It was things that they read. It was life events that ultimately culminated in a deep change."
We also cover these stories:
A new study has revealed that the drug Remdesivir might be very effective against COVID-19.
Secretary of State Mike Pomepo is continuing calls for the United States to be able to access the Wuhan labs as the country continues to investigate the origins of the coronavirus.
Sen. Ted Cruz is introducing legislation aimed at “cutting off Hollywood studios from assistance they receive from the Department of Defense if those studios censor their films for screening in China."
In the last episode of poetry month, we read a short poem from Marie Ponsot.
A true wit, Ponsot liked to write in challenging forms like the villanelle and the sestina. She found form more of a help than a hindrance and once said, “they are not restrictive. They pull things out of you. They help you remember.”
In the interview, Nate Duncan and Ben Taylor of the Covid Daily News podcast talk to Mike about how two basketball analysts started covering the latest developments in this crisis, and the parallels to be drawn between basketball and Covid-19 data. Nate Duncan is the host of the Dunc’d On Basketball NBA podcast, and Ben Taylor is the host of Thinking Basketball.
In the spiel, NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio is frequently giving offense.
Harry Cliff is a particle physicist at the University of Cambridge working on the Large Hadron Collider beauty experiment that specializes in searching for hints of new particles and forces by studying a type of particle called the “beauty quark”, or “b quark”. In this way, he is part of the group of physicists who are searching answers to some of the biggest questions in modern physics. He is also an exceptional communicator of science with some of the clearest and most captivating explanations of basic concepts in particle physics I’ve ever heard.
This conversation is part of the Artificial Intelligence podcast. If you would like to get more information about this podcast go to https://lexfridman.com/ai or connect with @lexfridman on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Medium, or YouTube where you can watch the video versions of these conversations. If you enjoy the podcast, please rate it 5 stars on Apple Podcasts, follow on Spotify, or support it on Patreon.
Here’s the outline of the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time.
OUTLINE:
00:00 – Introduction
03:51 – LHC and particle physics
13:55 – History of particle physics
38:59 – Higgs particle
57:55 – Unknowns yet to be discovered
59:48 – Beauty quarks
1:07:38 – Matter and antimatter
1:10:22 – Human side of the Large Hadron Collider
1:17:27 – Future of large particle colliders
1:24:09 – Data science with particle physics
1:27:17 – Science communication
1:33:36 – Most beautiful idea in physics
Results from a trial involving more than a thousand hospital patients showed the drug Remdesivir could speed up recovery from COVID-19 and possibly also reduce deaths.
Wednesday morning's first quarter gross domestic product report shows that the economy shrank last quarter at a rate not seen since the fall of 2008.
New findings suggest a link between COVID-19 and life-threatening blood clots that cause strokes in all age groups.
Republican Gov. Charlie Baker of Massachusetts talks about how his state is trying to lead the charge in contact tracing, and how leadership during a pandemic is uniquely challenging.
Plus, in New Orleans, Brass-a-Holics bandleader Winston "Trombone" Turner wanted to honor the deceased of COVID-19 like they would have been ordinarily — with music. So, he picked up his horn and called a few friends to record a performance of "I'll Fly Away," a celebratory song played at almost every traditional New Orleans funeral.
Life Interrupted is a new weekly series from Curious City about daily life in Chicago during the pandemic. In today's episode, Lucy Keating first learned to sew on her grandmother’s Singer sewing machine. Today, she’s reviving her skills to make masks for COVID-19.
