When Simone Biles dropped out of her Olympic competitions this week, the whole world took notice. At 24 years old Biles is the most decorated gymnast ever, she's won 36 medals—27 of those are gold. And she said via Instagram that it can feel like she "has the weight of the world," on her shoulders at times.
When an athlete performs on a stage as hallowed and renowned as the Olympics, it's not surprising to see that this can have a negative psychological effect. University of Denver professor Mark Aoyagi explains that in many ways, elite competitions are inherently unhealthy.
The stress can be even more acute for Black athletes like Biles. Sociologist Harry Edwards wrote about this over 50 years ago and says these young Olympians are forced to deal with both the aspiration and fear of "Black excellence."
In participating regions, you'll also hear a local news segment that will help you make sense of what's going on in your community.
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Reset with Sasha-Ann Simons - Chicago Athletes At Tokyo Olympics Face Mental Health Strains, Blazing Heat, And COVID-19
From COVID-19 to the heat to athletes being open about the mental strain of performing at the highest level, the Tokyo Olympics have been anything but ordinary.
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Cato Daily Podcast - New Avenues in the War on Big Tech
Members of Congress continue to fight against large technology platforms, and many hope antitrust claims will give them sway that the First Amendment does not. Elizabeth Nolan Brown of Reason discusses the contours of this new fight.
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Science In Action - The earliest traces of animal life on earth.
Do rocks found in Canada show animal life 350 million years older than any found before? And, delving to the core of Mars, the guts of cats, and into the life of Steven Weinberg.
Prof Elizabeth Turner of Canada's Laurentian University reports in the journal Nature structures in some of the oldest sedimentary rocks that resemble the residue left by sponges such as the sort you might find in a bath. 350 million years older than the oldest such fossils yet identified, if they are left by such animals, they represent a complex life that existed some 90 million years before - it has been supposed - there was even enough oxygen to support such development. As she tells us, rather like previous geologists investigating the deep history of life, Elizabeth has been sitting on this idea since she was a young researcher.
Since 2019 NASA's InSight probe has been on the surface of Mars listening for seismic waves from below to try to form a picture of the planet's internal structure. Last week in the journal Science, three papers presented data and analysis and some surprises for planetary scientists trying to work out how a planet that began almost, but not quite, so similar to earth could have turned out so different today. Cambridge University's Dr Sanna Cottaar gives us her take on the exciting findings.
Most of our understanding of genetics – diseases and heritability – is derived from decades of deep studies into just a few model species besides humans. But Prof Lesley Lyons runs a lab at the University of Missouri focusing almost entirely on cats. She describes to Roland a proclamation she makes this week to her fellow scientists to do more work into cat genetics and how, because of the similarities between cats and human genomes, that will bring all sorts of benefits to human (and cat) health.
Earlier this week we heard of the death of physicist Steven Weinberg - one of the giants of 20th century particle physics and cosmology. Roland presents recordings and reminiscences of a remarkable scientist who provided so much insight into the first 3 minutes of our universe's existence...
Image: Field locations in Northwest Territories, Canada Credit: Elizabeth Turner, Laurentian University
Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Alex Mansfield
CoinDesk Podcast Network - BREAKDOWN: The Senate Shoves a Dangerous, Last-Minute $28B Crypto Provision Into the Infrastructure Bill
The bipartisan bill contains potential impacts to crypto intermediaries.
This episode is sponsored by NYDIG.
First, on the Brief:
- U.S. growth last quarter performing under economists’ expectations
- Robinhood's subdued IPO debut
- "Wild amounts" of capital going into crypto
In the main discussion, NLW addresses the specifics, reactions and potential impacts of a crypto provision within the Biden administration’s big infrastructure bill. A draft copy of the provision aims to raise $28 billion via a crypto tax, imposing new reporting requirements for a broad swath of crypto intermediaries.
Potentially, intermediaries from wallet developers to miners will be impacted by the provision. If this draft of the bill makes it to a vote, how will a tax scheme impact crypto development and adoption? Is this provision just a messy step in a positive U.S. government acceptance of crypto or a dangerous damping factor on progress?
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NYDIG, the institutional-grade platform for Bitcoin, is making it possible for thousands of banks who have trusted relationships with hundreds of millions of customers, to offer Bitcoin. Learn more at NYDIG.com/NLW.
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The Breakdown is written, produced by and features NLW, with editing by Rob Mitchell and additional production support by Eleanor Pahl. Adam B. Levine is our executive producer and our theme music is “Countdown” by Neon Beach. The music you heard today behind our sponsor is “Only in Time” by Abloom. Image credit: rarrarorro/iStock/Getty Images, modified by CoinDesk.
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Audio Poem of the Day - Lichen Glows in the Moonlight
by John Kinsella
The Daily Signal - Michael Knowles on How Political Correctness Has Upended American Culture
What is political correctness? When did it start of seep its way into mainstream culture? How is political correctness destroying American society? Michael Knowles, host of "The Michael Knowles Show" at The Daily Wire, joins me on The Daily Signal Podcast to discuss. We also chat about his new book, “Speechless.”
"This whole culture has been upended," Knowles says.
"Actually, notably, by the 70s feminists, who said the personal is the political. They made every single private interaction open to public scrutiny. Now you're seeing everything settle down again on the left's terms. So you're seeing a new set of standards. You're seeing a new kind of censorship. You're seeing a new kind of speech code. It just happens to be the inverse in many ways of the old standards that we had."
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Stuff They Don't Want You To Know - Listener Mail: Secret Scientists, Hidden Blackhawks, and the Mystery of Melungeons
Why did the US government have a secret group of scientists known as the Jasons? Why would someone hide Blackhawk helicopters in an abandoned Walmart? What exactly are Melungeons? All this and more in this week's listener mail.
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array(3) { [0]=> string(150) "https://www.omnycontent.com/d/programs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/2e824128-fbd5-4c9e-9a57-ae2f0056b0c4/image.jpg?t=1749831085&size=Large" [1]=> string(10) "image/jpeg" [2]=> int(0) }The Commentary Magazine Podcast - Is the Spending the Problem?
There is a bipartisan infrastructure deal, and it looks likely to pass. The smorgasbord of other progressive wish list items that was supposed to follow its passage, however, is more imperiled than ever. Couple this with a disappointing second-quarter GDP number, and you have to wonder if the government spending to which we’ve committed ourselves over the course of the pandemic is the problem. Source
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CBS News Roundup - World News Roundup: 07/29
President Biden set to announce a vaccine mandate for federal workers amid a nationwide push to get more people protected. More gold in the Olympic pool. The Senate moves ahead on infrastructure. CBS News Correspondent Steve Kathan has today's World News Roundup.
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