The New York Times recently published an Op-Ed by Tom Cotton advocating a severe crackdown on the protests. The piece sparked a giant backlash and even a bit of a civil war within the Times. The Opinion editor officially stepped down. Joining us today is Professor Bryan Van Norden, who has written about why not all opinions deserve to be heard. Much of the justification people use tends to derive from Mill's On Liberty, but does that essay really justify platforming fascism?
In the interview, Ben Smith from the New York Times is here to discuss the recent ousting of editor James Bennet over an op-ed by Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas. They talk about the cultural divides it highlighted, what it means for the Times, and the future of opinion on the internet. Smith’s latest piece is “Inside the Revolts Erupting in America’s big Newsrooms.”
The numbers aren't really changing. 20,000 new cases a day, and more than 800 dead. Experts warn that by fall, in America, the death count could rise to 200,000.
Some members of the National Guard who were sent to Washington D.C. during the protests over the death of George Floyd have tested positive for the coronavirus. Dr. Anthony Fauci is concerned — but not surprised.
Many nursing homes banned all visitors and nonessential workers from their facilities to stop the spread of COVID-19. Some advocates and families say they want that ban to end.
A big unanswered question is whether it will be safe for public K-12 schools to reopen safely in the fall. The U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions held a hearing on the topic Wednesday.
Plus, the Mall of America reopened after nearly three months.
When and how did America’s police forces move from “serve and protect” to “us versus them”? We discuss the militarization of the police in the U.S. That comes right after a conversation with an activist who explains why she wants to see CPD defunded.
Dave Berke from Echelon Front joins the show to share his experience with the OODA loop, the science and art of this process, and how this applies in marketing, sales, and leadership. We also discuss his time at TOP GUN, what he did to become a USMC aviator, and how pilots are dealing with the potential data paralysis that can come from innovation.
Episode eighty-six of A History of Rock Music in Five Hundred Songs looks at “LSD-25” by the Gamblers, the first rock song ever to namecheck acid, and a song by a band so obscure no photos exist of them. (The photo here is of the touring lineup of the Hollywood Argyles. Derry Weaver, the Gamblers’ lead guitarist, is top left). Patreon backers also have a fifteen-minute bonus episode, on “Papa Oom Mow Mow” by the Rivingtons.
The most ologists in one Ologies. And maybe my favorite episode ever. #BlackBirdersWeek was such a force that we wanted to keep the energy going by spotlighting not one, but 30 ologists. You’re about to meet 30 new science heroes who are @BlackAFinSTEM and chatting about electric fish snouts, urban birds, falcons, lizards, crocodiles, economics, carnivores, sea turtles, porcupine noses, butt breathing, Ivory Towers, microaggressions, and how being an ally is a learning process we can all get better at. Walk side by side through life as a Black academic and hear their tips to best support them as well as guidance to Black students. Follow and fawn over your 30 glorious new nerd friends.
Follow all of the wonderful people you just heard on Twitter, on this list:
Most people today look at social platforms like any other private company, but what if we saw them as alternative jurisdictions with a new set of property rights?
A record week for peer-to-peer exchanges in the developing world
A digital dollar gets discussed in Congress
Previewing the Federal Reserve’s FOMC guidance
Our main topic: A brainstorm on digital property rights
Here’s a radical idea. What if by virtue of the fact that you had put so much time and effort into building a following on social media and filling that following with content you had legal claim to and distinct property rights around your corner of social media platforms?
It’s wild in the context of today’s terms of service, but has significant legal precedent in the world of physical land.
In this new type of deep-dive 20-minute episode we’re calling a “Breakdown Brainstorm,” Castle Island Ventures investor Nic Carter looks at:
The two schools of thought around digital property rights
The historical precedent for squatter’s rights
What the specific example of the USA’s Westward Expansion can teach us
Why this type of approach can be highly economically generative, according to economists like De Soto
How John Locke’s theories provide a moral basis for the argument
Why today’s platforms are akin to anti-democratic feudal lords
How bitcoin provides a model and a mechanism for digital rights enforced on the protocol level rather than by a state or other external actor
The punishment dealt by the coronavirus was bad enough, but many journalists and other creators have been doubly sandbagged by a California law that limits their ability to work on a freelance basis. The Cato Institute has filed a brief in the case of American Society of Journalists and Authors v. Becerra. Trevor Burrus, one of the author's of Cato's brief, describes what's at issue.
You've probably heard of the Atlantis before, but have you heard the legends of another lost city, somewhere out in the endless sands of the Arabian Peninsula's Rub' al Khali (or "Empty Quarter")? Tales of this city, known as Ubar or Iram of the Pillars, surface in countries throughout the region. The city is even mentioned in the Quran. And, like Atlantis, over the centuries numerous people have tried to find it -- but there's one important difference between Iram and Atlantis... it appears someone actually found Iram. Tune in to learn more.
