On today’s episode, NLW looks at a grab bag of recent news:
El Salvador’s bitcoin announcement makes waves as politicians from six more Central and South American countries change their profiles to laser eyes
Donald Trump resurfaces to rip bitcoin again
No, the FBI didn’t break bitcoin
Why Tim Wu’s bitcoin holdings are intellectually consistent with his antitrust stance
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From the Opium Wars to prohibition and the modern drug trade, human civilization has been irreversibly influenced by wars over drugs. Has it worked? Could it ever? Find out in this classic episode.
Vice President Kamala Harris delivered a hilariously bad response to NBC’s Lester Holt when she was asked why she hadn’t visited the border yet amid her efforts to oversee the ongoing border crisis. The episode adds to the mounting evidence suggesting that Harris is not great at politics. Source
It’s just us three this week, talking recent news (and some hot goss).
First, we discuss the suppressed vigil for the 32nd anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre (6.4.1989) in Hong Kong. When thousands of police officers cordoned off the usual gathering place, Victoria Park, Hong Kong residents came up with creative ways to demonstrate, using cell phone flashlights and much else. (Remember: “Be water.”) We talk about contemporary meanings of Tiananmen in Asia and the rest of the world, the chilling effect of HK’s National Security Law, and the 1989 protesters’ demands not only for democracy but also a better life for Beijing’s working class (h/t Zhang Yueran). Bonus content: “A Day to Remember,” a short film on the suppression of public discussion about Tiananmen in China.
Second, we unpack the right-wing bogeyman of critical race theory, legislative attacks on free speech in schools, and awful stories out of Kansas, Montana, and Pennsylvania. What’s the right’s bigger strategy here? Has the U.S. left failed by ceding “free speech” to conservatives? How dangerous are these currents, and what is to be done? Plus: white tears in Tammy’s middle-school social studies class.
Friend of the pod, Jay, with Justice is Global, invites you to a free screening and discussion of “Call Her Ganda,” a documentary about Jennifer Laude, a Filipina trans woman who was murdered by a U.S. Marine—and the crew of activists who fight back.
The Zoom discussion will take place on June 10, with filmmaker PJ Raval, Filipino trans rights advocate Naomi Fontanos, and representatives of Malaya Movement and GABRIELA. (The film will be made available 24 hours beforehand.)
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If you’re into storytelling across media, join Jay, Andy, and Tammy (and other friends of the pod) on June 26 for the Page Turner conference at the incredible Asian American Writers’ Workshop. Register here, and use discount code: FRIENDOFAAWW!
Major websites coming back after being knocked off-line. Colonial Pipeline ransom retrieved. Heat dome grips much of the nation. CBS News Correspondent Steve Kathan has today's World News Roundup.
It's been quite the year for the Los Angeles Public Library — and the COVID-19 pandemic is only part of the story. Inauguration Day saw a reading by Amanda Gorman, who got her start with poetry readings via the L.A. Public Library's youth program. And teen punk group the Linda Lindas got worldwide fame after a concert at the library system's Cypress Park branch. Today, we talk to L.A. librarian Kevin Awakuni about how the city's public library has turned into an incubator for making libraries hip worldwide. We also get L.A. Times columnist Patt Morrison to explain how a city long dismissed as an intellectual wasteland learned to treasure its libraries in the wake of a devastating fire.
New Mexico ended civil forfeiture in 2015. What's happened in policing since then? Jennifer McDonald of the Institute for Justice crunched the numbers.
Human-sucking mud holes. Beautiful birdsongs. Early mornings. Eyeball gnats. Stunning vistas. The long-awaited episode with ornithologist Corina Newsome is finally here and we talk all about the day-to-day-realities of being a Wildlife Ecologist. She dishes about working in zoos, getting her masters, housing for grad students, nest checking, birding apps, camera traps, #BlackBirdersWeek, and more. She is hilarious, informative, and dedicated to her work in avian conservation and truly has the best laugh. Also: saxophones in the bushes and whether or not animals are laughing at her.
Piecemeal criminal-justice reforms following last year’s protests are coming up against hard numbers: violent crime is up. We ask what can, and should, be done. The man who led a coup in Mali last year has done it again; our correspondent considers how the tumult affects the wider, regional fight against jihadism. And the global spread of Japan’s beloved anime. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer
