Intense heat waves in the Pacific Northwest are causing heavy power demands and rolling blackouts. Unprecedented rainfall in the Midwest has caused flooding, which politicians have blamed on a lack of spending on proper infrastructure.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi introduced a bill to establish a House committee that will investigate the January 6 Capitol riot. The committee will have 13 members, but it's not known whether Republicans will want to be part of it.
Plus Cleo Stiller fills in for Gideon. And in headlines: L.A. County advises masking indoors again, rare black hole and neutron star collisions are spotted, and the House votes to remove Confederate statues from the Capitol.
For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday.
What to know about a warning sent to condo residents in Florida just a couple of months before their building collapsed.
Also, as if the heatwave wasn't bad enough on its own, the western U.S. is now dealing with blackouts and wildfires.
Plus, a new tool that could help crack down on robocalls, a lower-cost way for diabetes patients to get their insulin, and a historic first for the Miss USA pageant.
As the media goes, so goes the nation, to borrow from the old adage.
The cultural influence of media—including movies, TV shows, and YouTube videos—is being felt with greater significance today than arguably any other time in history. James Fitzgerald founded ColdWater Media to promote the values so many Americans hold dear.
The political “left has done a really good job of building business models around indoctrinating our kids,” Fitzgerald says.
Fitzgerald uses film to explore some of the biggest issues and questions facing culture today, covering topics ranging from history and philosophy to education and economics. He joins "The Daily Signal Podcast" to discuss the mission of ColdWater Media and some of the company's latest projects, including a series sharing the history of all the American holidays.
Today's show also features an interview with John Papola, the CEO, creative director, and cofounder of the media company Emergent Order. Papola explains how he uses rap, humor, and storytelling to communicate American values through film.
We also cover these stories:
California Attorney General Rob Bonta says the state will no longer fund travel to Arkansas, Florida, Montana, North Dakota, or West Virginia, arguing that these states have taken harmful actions against the LGBT community.
Los Angeles County asks that people wear masks indoors and in public places due to the spreading of the delta variant of the coronavirus.
Lawmakers criticize U.S. athlete Gwen Berry for turning her back to the American flag during the singing of the National Anthem at the U.S. Olympic track and field trials.
Further notes toward a ruthless criticism of digital capitalism — we lay out how the inherent contradictions of the “gig economy” are starting to slip into crisis, the need to recognize and reject the propaganda that has been embedded in our everyday way of thinking and talking about these companies, and the creative accounting practices they use to cover up the absence of value and instances of death. 200 years ago, the Luddites smashed the gig mills used by capital to rob them of autonomy. They did not set out to create a more humane version of machinic dispossession. Today, the task before us all is to do the same.
Some stuff we reference:
• The Motherboard Guide to the Gig Economy | Edward Ongweso Jr: https://www.vice.com/en/article/pkbk88/the-motherboard-guide-to-the-gig-economy
• Digital Piecework | Veena Dubal: https://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/digital-piecework
• Uber CEO Works on App for a Day, Barely Makes Minimum Wage | Josh Marcus: https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/uber-ubereats-ceo-dara-khosrowshahi-b1873651.html
• Food delivery driver's death wasn't recognised by Uber Eats and his family are still fighting for the insurance | Patrick Begley: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-25/background-briefing-uber-eats-delivery-drivers-death/100239920
• The Taming of Tech Criticism | Evgeny Morozov: https://thebaffler.com/salvos/taming-tech-criticism
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Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (twitter.com/braunestahl)
The Supreme Court’s 2020-21 term is closing, and we are opening a window into the Court. We begin this multiple-episode series by looking closely at each Justice - specifically, their backgrounds and how their jurisprudence reflects influences from their past. Each Justice has their best and worst moments in Akhil’s eyes, and we discuss them. Also, Akhil has an important appearance coming up, so some background to that event is yours for the listening.
A recent study published in Nature found that 37 percent of heat-related deaths are due to climate change. Dr. Renee Salas is seeing this in the emergency room of Massachusetts General Hospital. She's treating more and more patients for heat-related illnesses like heat stroke and intensified allergies. Today, she gives us a view into her work at the intersection of human health and climate change; plus, she envisions a new health care system that takes climate change into account.
To read more on this, see our episode page for links.
Rob explores Cake’s hit single “The Distance” by discussing the Sacramento band’s quirky sensibilities, the role of sarcasm in their lyricism, and their eccentric production choices.
This episode was originally produced as a Music and Talk show available exclusively on Spotify. Find the full song on Spotify or wherever you get your music.
The Supreme Court's ruling against the NCAA regarding benefits paid to student athletes virtually guarantees that there will be future litigation on strikingly similar issues. The NCAA is hoping for time to change its rules. Ilya Shapiro comments.
