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For 15 years, the truck-bomb killing of a former prime minister went unpunished. But an even more devastating recent blast overshadowed a court’s ruling on the culprits. Chinese students hoping to study in America have been caught in the middle of the countries’ rising animus—not for the first time. And the origins of all the hair in Nigeria’s wildly popular wigs.
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Last week in Georgia’s 14th congressional district runoff, a Republican candidate who believes in the dangerous and baseless QAnon conspiracy theory came out on top. Marjorie Taylor Greene is now a shoo-in to win a seat in Congress. How did her candidacy get this far? And what does it mean for the Republican party?
Guest: Greg Bluestein, political reporter at the Atlanta Journal Constitution
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We unpick the A-level algoshambles, discover why 1.3 million Covid tests disappeared from the government's statistics last week, and for reasons that may become clear, we examine the chance of being hit by a bus. Plus, what does poker teach us about the role of randomness in our lives?
Rulers, Religion, and Riches: Why the West Got Rich and the Middle East Did Not (Cambridge UP, 2020) addresses one of the big questions in economics and economic history: why did the modern economy emerge in northwestern Europe at some point in the 17th or 18th century but not in the Middle East? After all, for centuries following the spread of Islam, the Middle East was far ahead of Europe – in both technological and economic terms.
Jared Rubin argues that the religion itself is not to blame; the importance of religious legitimacy in Middle Eastern politics was the primary factor. In much of the Muslim world, religious authorities were given an important seat at the political bargaining table, which they used to block important advancements such as the printing press and usury. In Europe, however, the Church played a weaker role in legitimizing rule, especially where Protestantism spread (indeed, the Reformation was successful due to the spread of printing, which was blocked in the Middle East). It was precisely in those Protestant nations, especially England and the Dutch Republic, where the modern economy was born.
In this interview, Jared shares with us his opinions on a wide range of topics – from the work of Jared Diamond and the theories of Max Weber, to his serendipitous journey in academia that led him to write his first book.
Joshua Tham is an undergraduate reading History at the London School of Economics and Political Science. His research interests include economic history, sociolinguistics, and the "linguistic turn" in historiography.
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The 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition was in many ways the crowning event of the nineteenth century United States. Held in Chicago, the metropolis of the West, and visited by tens of millions of people from around the world, it showcased America’s past, present, and future. And Indigenous people were there at center stage. In Unfair Labor?: American Indians and the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago (University of Nebraska Press, 2019), David R. B. Beck, professor of Native American Studies at the University of Montana, addresses the question framed in the title: was the work done by Native people at the exposition fair? Beck goes to great lengths in answering the question and indeed, argues that there was not one single answer. Hundreds of Indigenous people from across North and South America attended the event and gave artifacts to be showcased, and the range of compensation received varied widely. Beck’s study is an entry in the burgeoning field of Native labor history, as well as a new perspective on the much-studied 1893 Chicago fair. Unfair Labor? shows that the story of Indians at the 1893 Expo was complex, dynamic, and often deeply personal.
Stephen Hausmann is an Assistant Professor of US History at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota. He teaches courses on modern US history, environmental history, and Indigenous history and is currently working on his book manuscript, an environmental history of the Black Hills of South Dakota and Wyoming.
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Last night was the second night of the DNC, featuring beautiful shots of delegates across our gorgeous country, as well as speeches from AOC, activist Ady Barkan, and Dr. Jill Biden. We talk to Crooked’s own Jon Favreau about speech writing for the first digital DNC.
Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said yesterday that he would suspend cost-cutting changes at the USPS, but it’s unclear whether the postal service will reverse changes made this year that are leading to delays. House Democrats still plan to vote on legislation that would outlaw changes to the USPS and provide emergency funding.
And in headlines: the president of Mali announces his resignation, Uber and Lyft may suspend operations in California, and Trump pardons Susan B. Anthony.
The news to know for Wednesday, August 19th, 2020!
We'll tell you about:
Those stories and more in just 10 minutes!
Award-winning broadcast journalist and former TV news reporter Erica Mandy breaks it all down for you.
Head to www.theNewsWorthy.com to read more about any of the stories mentioned under the section titled 'Episodes' or see sources below...
This episode is brought to you by www.Rothys.com/newsworthy
And check out the Bossed Up podcast.
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Sources:
Postal Service Suspends Cuts: AP, WaPo, Axios, CNN
Coronavirus Outbreaks: Johns Hopkins, Reuters, WaPo, CNBC
Latest College Changes: AP, CNN, Poynter, Inside HigherEd
Senate Report on Russia Investigation: WaPo, Axios, NBC News, NY Times, WSJ, Full Report
DNC Day 2 Recap/Day 3 Preview: Politico, CNN, WSJ, WaPo, ABC News, CBS News
Trump RNC Speech Preview: WaPo, USA Today, FOX News
S&P 500 Closes at Record High: CNBC, WSJ, WaPo, AP
Oracle in Talks to buy TikTok: CNBC, The Guardian, Reuters, WSJ
Asteroid Makes Close Pass by Earth: Space.com, CBS News, Cnet
New Toast-Yay Girl Scout Cookie: USA Today, CNN, Forbes, Girl Scouts
Work Wednesday: Amazon to Add Thousands of Corporate/Tech Jobs: TechCrunch, CNBC, Amazon
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 #70. Our VERY SPECIAL guests today are Kevin Anderson and Daniel Magden. Follow them on all forms of social media @KBAndersonYo and @MagdenDaniel respectively. Music at the end is "No Cops" by our friend Jonny Moze!