Scientists at Oxford University have developed at Covid-19 vaccine that’s safe and effective in monkeys. Now, they’re moving into wide-scale human trials, and are hoping to test thousands of people by the end of May. In the US, the small business loan program had an imperfect relaunch.
Plus, we’re joined by Crooked’s own Jon Favreau for a politics update. We talk about the next relief bill, what Trump’s daily press conferences are doing for his re-election prospects, and more.
And in headlines: Florida puts voting rights on trial, Belgium calls on its citizens to eat frites, and the Pentagon releases footage of UFOs.
We’re talking about new federal guidance for how to reopen schools and churches, there’s an update about a promising vaccine that might be ready as soon as this fall, and one state is scrapping its primary election completely.
Plus, what to know about drone deliveries, Airbnb’s new policies, and a mile-wide asteroid flying toward Earth...
Those stories and more in less than 10 minutes!
Head to www.TheNewsWorthy.com under the section titled 'Episodes' to read more about any of the stories mentioned or see sources below...
In 2005, then-Sen. Bill Frist had a message for Americans: a pandemic was coming, likely out of Asia, and due to increasing global travel, it would likely affect the United States. Now Frist, a doctor himself, is looking at how and when America can safely reopen. One example of a locale doing it right, in his view? Nashville, Tennessee. Frist, a member of the National Coronavirus Recovery Commission, joins the podcast to talk about his 2005 prediction, what Nashville is doing, and more.
We also cover these stories:
President Trump tweets "why should the people and taxpayers of America be bailing out poorly run states ... ?"
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says that the next coronavirus relief bill will include a provision for vote by mail.
Attorney General William Barr announces a new effort to ensure Americans' "civil liberties" aren't attacked during the pandemic.
nnovators who don’t always conform to social or legal norms are using new technological capabilities to circumvent traditional regulatory systems. Adam Thierer is author of Evasive Entrepreneurs and the Future of Governance.
Today's episode... was supposed to have two bookend segments and legal analysis, but we wound up having so much fun talking to Devin Stone, the Legal Eagle himself about nontraditional careers in the law, Tiger King and Better Call Saul, and so much more!
After that, it's time for the answer to the first Thomas and Devin Take The Bar Exam in which it was literally Hammer Time for two friends watching football. Did Thomas and Devin get it right or wrong? Listen and find out!
The current pandemic has and will continue to mutate the social landscape of the world, but amid the lost lives and spoiled economies in its wake has come a new appreciation of what science and scientists contribute.
“You don’t have to go back many months,” says Hetan Shah, the chief executive of the British Academy, “for a period when politicians were relatively dismissive of experts – and then suddenly we’ve seen a shift now to where they’ve moved very close to scientists.
“And generally that’s a very good thing.”
In this Social Science Bites podcast, Shah details how science, and social science in particular, has come to be deployed, how it’s been a force for good throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and how it can help policymakers understand and shape a better tomorrow.
Arguably, even before coronavirus the British Academy, a national body of humanities and social science scholars, has served in similar roles. In addition to its well-known body of fellows, the academy funds new research and serves as a forum to discuss humanities’ and social science’s role and impact beyond academe. Shah took the reins of the academy in February, having headed the Royal Statistical Association for the eight years previous.
Given that his time at the academy roughly mirrors COVID’s arrival on the world stage, he’s had to hit the ground running. “It’s also been very interesting to see the government using the term, ‘We are following the science.’”
This has been a prime opportunity for social science to show its importance for the public, but also a chance for the public to consider what science is and isn’t.
“There isn’t a single monolithic thing called ‘The Science,’” Shah explains, adding, “I think governments have recognized that the pandemic is not just a medical phenomenon but a social and economic one.”
But even within the subcommunities of science there’s no single ‘Answer’ to any given challenge. “It does feel to me the public has seemed to cope quite well and understood the level of uncertainty of the science. It’s an argument for treating the public as grown-ups.
“We are making decisions at speed. That data are limited and being gathered as we speak. This is how science happens. There may well be settled science on these matters [someday] – but that might take really quite a lot of time.
“This is why none of us envy our decisionmakers. They’re having to make decisions on imperfect knowledge.”
Even without those capital-A answers, established social science has been deployed to good effect already, Shah says.
“Anthropologists who wouldn’t have been surprised at all by the panic buying of toilet paper. They have known for a long, long time, rooted in the work of people like Mary Douglas, the cultural and symbolic importance of things like cleanliness and security in times of crises. “
As other examples he offers the campaigns detailing how best to wash your hands, the crafting of the United Kingdom’s economic package along needs rather than party lines, and how to enforce social distancing. It was social science that shows that rather than shaming – in essence, promoting -- the few people who are breaking rules, compliance increases if you praise those who are keeping the rules. And social science also helps address wicked problems that predate COVID but which now have new facets, such as the unequal impact the disease has on ethnic minority communities.
There’s even a lesson in how science gets applied, he suggests. Like those anthropologists … “[A]nthropology seems like it’s for other people -- ‘Other people have strange customs; we’re normal in the West and what we do is normal’ – but I think the key is to bring an anthropological lens to our own behavior. What are the practices that we have and how can we change them?”
Arenas like critical thinking and psychology are also brought to bear tellingly on the home front: “Our leaders share our biases,” he tells Edmonds, before detailing a number of logical traps policymakers and the populace currently share.
The podcast closes out with a look to the future, both through specific initiatives Shah is part of, and in general. “I think there will be all sorts of fascinating data about how the pandemic has affected us,” including, he made clear higher education and academic research itself. Shah, meanwhile, is acting chair of the Ada Lovelace Institute, which while looking at technical solutions to COVID also draws on social science insights, i.e. in digital contact tracing, it was revealed that those most vulnerable to COVID were also least likely to have a smart phone.
And the British Academy itself, he noted, has a group of scholars assembled who will provide a rapid response to government inquiries and needs, as well as looking at some of the other implications of the future “that the government doesn’t have the bandwidth for.”
Amanda Holmes reads Sylvia Plath’s poem, “The Courage Of Shutting-Up.” Have a suggestion for a poem by a (dead) writer? 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.
We're joined by Palma and Ben Mora of Seeking Derangements to read Letters to Cuomo, discuss NY State's cancellation of its Democratic primary, discuss Zeke Emanual's advice to kill yourself, and learn about an old friends' out-of-the-box strategy for defeating COVID.
Check out Seeking Derangements here:
https://soundcloud.com/seeking-derangements and here
https://www.patreon.com/seekingderangements
In the interview, Slate’s Henry Grabar is here to discuss Covid-19 and spending time outdoors. He and Mike talk about contact tracing, normalizing mask culture, and why we should all be going back outside.
In the spiel, advertisers soothe in these uncertain times.