The Intercept’s Mehdi Hasan joins to discuss the state of the presidential campaign now that we’re less than 100 days out, how COVID reached deep into the White House and forced major changes to Trump’s campaign, the latest with COVID relief in Congress, how Trump’s message went from calling Biden soft on China to member of Antifa, and how the media can learn from the mistakes of 2016. Then Jon F. interviews Mother Jones' Ari Berman about voting during the pandemic.
This morning in Savannah, Georgia, the first volunteer was injected in a phase-three vaccine trial administered by Moderna and the National Institutes of Health. Dr Anthony Fauci hopes that up to 15,000 volunteers will be in place by the end of the week. (Tens of thousands more will be needed for additional vaccine trials.)
6 months in,2 reporters look at how the pandemic has changed life in Illinois, and the manager of a long-term care facility describes what he’s done to keep his residents safe, and their families informed.
Special purpose acquisition companies have been around since the 1990s, but have seen a significant uptick in popularity in recent years. Companies like Virgin Galactic, Draft Kings and Nikola have changed SPAC’s reputation from a tool for second- and third-tier private equity shops to win fees to a legitimate alternative to initial public offerings. In 2020, SPACs have made up roughly 40% of the IPO market.
Recently, chatter around SPACs reached a fever pitch with the listing of Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square Tontine Holdings - the largest-ever SPAC.
In this episode, NLW breaks down:
What a SPAC is
Standard SPAC terms
Why the traditional IPO process has generated growing discontent, especially from Silicon Valley
The benefits of SPACs for companies and investors
The downsides of SPACs for companies and investors
A number of reasons explaining why SPAC popularity is surging now
How Robinhood retail traders are creating an important bridge buyer for SPACs
Why Ackman’s Tontine Holdings SPAC could change how we think about SPACs in the future
What would happen if a world leader were to totally disappear? As in, the leader of a major country was to just vanish into thin air, without a trace?
Such a thing actually happened 50 years ago when a nation’s prime minister disappeared and his body was never found.
As swarms of flying ants overtake the UK, radar in multiple cities is overwhelmed, mistaking the waves of flying insects for rain. Anti-mask sentiment is not unique to 2020. In New Jersey, an assassin posing as a FedEx driver shot the husband and son of Jude Esther Salas -- in a case that only grows stranger the further down the rabbit hole you go. Tune in for this weekly round up of some of the world's weirdest news -- and the Stuff They Don't Want You To Know.
Republicans rollout their latest coronavirus relief bill. Another tense night of protests. Hurricane Douglas lashes Hawaii. CBS News Correspondent Steve Kathan has today's World News Roundup.
Scientists are looking to South-East Asia to find how the virus got its start in humans. Knowing that could head off future pandemics. It is often hard to blame climate change unequivocally for weather events, but there is no other explanation for this year’s searing Arctic temperatures. And why well-to-do Africans are shopping around for more permissive passports. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer
Mike tells Sarah about the most common forms of violence in America and how they differ (twist!) from what gets shown on TV. Digressions include Perry Mason, “It’s A Wonderful Life” and fruit-toting strategies. Mike appears not to understand the meaning of the term “order of magnitude.”
This episode contains descriptions of police violence; the last 15 minutes are just a huge bummer generally.
