The New York Times’s Jane Coaston joins Jon Favreau and Tommy Vietor to talk about the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, the Biden Administration’s scramble to contain the fallout, and how the latest culture war is the right-wing crusade against vaccine and mask requirements. Cook Political Report Editor-in-Chief Amy Walter also talks to Jon about what the new 2020 Census numbers mean for redistricting and the battle for the House in 2022.
The Taliban now control Afghanistan. How did the country's government fall so quickly — and why didn't the U.S. see it coming? NPR put those questions to the former commander of U.S. and allied forces in Afghanistan, General David Petraeus.
Afghanistan's future remains unclear, especially for its women and girls. One of them is Freshta Karim, a Kabul resident and founder of a mobile library project called Charmaghz, who spoke to Audie Cornish. Karim is one of many Afghans who NPR reached in Kabul during the final hours before its collapse into Taliban control. Those interviews aired on Morning Edition, and on special coverage produced by the staffs of Weekend Edition and All Things Considered.
In the immediate wake of U.S. departure from Afghanistan and the rapid collapse of the government there, the U.S. owes something to the people who helped sustain this ill-fated war. Alex Nowrasteh details some history and offers ideas for the future.
On this episode of “The Breakdown,” host NLW takes a step back from the nitty-gritty of markets and politics to examine current events from the global macro perspective, including:
The 50th anniversary of the “Nixon Shock” – aka the end of the gold standard
Afghanistan news and the fall of Kabul
This weekend marked the 50th anniversary of when President Richard Nixon decoupled the USD from the gold standard. That event in 1971, which upended the world of finance, contributed in a large way to the rise of cryptocurrencies.
The site “WTF Happened In 1971?” has chronicled the impacts of Nixon’s decision in the years since with extensive data covering wages, productivity and more. Can 50 years of financial transformations be traced back to one event?
In global news, the Afghan government’s struggle against the Taliban has reached a critical point as Taliban forces have taken Kabul, the capital. The news comes after the U.S. withdrew its troops after a 20-year war. This global event is bound to affect the financial system, but it also has ties to cryptocurrencies as they are a new, completely external tool to provide citizens in tumultuous regions agency over their money in a way that has never been possible before.
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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: Paula Bronstein/Stringer/Getty Images News, modified by CoinDesk.
Dovarius Peoples, Chief Information Officer at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers joins the show to discuss how he is helping his organization become more data-driven through cloud modernization. We also discuss the cybersecurity challenges he faces in the role as the Corps adopts zero trust, how he manages the information needs of such a diverse, multi-theater organization, and how IoT is supporting mission outcomes.
Philip Morris has recently called for a total ban on cigarettes in the United Kingdom -- leading critics to wonder about its true motivations. A conspiracy website offers ten thousand dollars to anyone who can change the editors' minds. Archaeologists discover a 2,000 year-old fast food joint in Pompeii, and plan to open a replica for tourists. All this and more in this week's Strange News.
The Afghan government has fallen to the Taliban, and only over the course of a single weekend. The Commentary podcast on the terrible implications of America’s humiliation in Central Asia.
The Taliban is in control of Afghanistan as Americans are evacuated from the country. There's grief and frustration in Haiti, where nearly 13 hundred people are dead after an earthquake ravaged the island nation. And the Florida Panhandle prepares for Tropical Storm Fred. Steve Kathan anchors the World News Roundup, and is joined by Cami McCormick at the Pentagon.
The Taliban are in control of Afghanistan as Americans are evacuated from the country. Grief and frustration in Haiti, where nearly 1,300 people are dead after an earthquake ravaged the island nation. The Florida Panhandle prepares for Tropical Storm Fred. Correspondents Cami McCormick and Steve Kathan have the CBS World News Roundup for Monday, August 16, 2021:
