African Tech Roundup - BONUS: Why would anyone launch a car insurance startup in a pandemic? ft. Christiaan Steyn

Christiaan Steyn is the head of a new South African insuretech startup called MiWay Blink. In the first episode of this two-part conversation, Christiaan reflects on how the COVID pandemic has delivered growth challenges and opportunities for insurance startups and incumbents alike. MiWay Blink was launched in Johannesburg, South Africa, during the thick of the COVID pandemic. In this instalment, Christiaan offers context-setting insights about the progress of Africa's insurance industry from his South African vantage point. Christiaan also factors in on the size of Africa's insurance market opportunity and estimates how much of that market remains untapped. Editorial Disclaimer: MiWay Blink is the presenting sponsor of this two-part podcast conversation. African Tech Roundup maintains complete editorial oversight, and opinions expressed by the podcast host, Andile Masuku, do not necessarily reflect the views of the presenting sponsor, MiWay Blink. SUPPORT US: Support African Tech Roundup's independent media-making efforts by becoming a Patreon (https://www.africantechroundup.com/patreon/).

The Stack Overflow Podcast - A database built for a firehose

HarperDB is a startup that focuses on highly scalable databases that handle real-time data. 

Harper is built on Node.js and Express with a little help from Fastify

They know where they excel and where they don't. High data throughput like  gaming and vision, great! High data resolution and transactional software like financial applications, not so great. It's speed over accuracy. 

Instead of a Lifeboat badge today, we shared a relevant question: Q: How to create HarperDB table with lambda.

NPR's Book of the Day - What Maggie Nelson Means When She Talks About Freedom

Since her childhood in 1970s San Francisco, critic and poet Maggie Nelson has been mulling the concept of freedom — particularly how we define, practice and experience it. She sat down with NPR's Ari Shapiro to talk about four areas in life — art, sex, addiction and climate change — and how we talk about freedom in regard to our collective wellbeing and individual rights.

Short Wave - Cockroaches are cool!

Cockroaches - do they get a bad rap? Producer Thomas Lu teams up with self-proclaimed lesbian cockroach defender Perry Beasley-Hall to convince producer/guest host Rebecca Ramirez that indeed they are under-rated. These critters could number up to 10,000 species, but only about 30 are pesky to humans and some are beautiful! And complicated! And maybe even clean.

What insect do you think gets a bad rap? Write us at ShortWave@NPR.org. You can follow Thomas on Twitter @ThomasUyLu and Rebecca @RebeccalRamirez.

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It Could Happen Here - The Problem of Deradicalization

Robert talks about deradicalizing far right extremists, a much more difficult problem than many self-appointed experts want to admit, with actual expert Alex Newhouse.


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Opening Arguments - OA533: Roe is Doomed. Contraceptives Could Be Next

Today is part 1 of a much needed but quite dire deep-dive. The case is Griswold v. Connecticut, which may be familiar even to the layperson. It's what gives us the right to buy contraceptives and not have shopkeepers ask us if we're married. How could that possibly be overturned, you might ask? Well, legally speaking, it is justified in the exact same way as Roe. Listen to learn more.

Reset with Sasha-Ann Simons - ‘Reckoning’ Highlights Japanese American Redress Movement In Chicago

Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, 120,000 people of Japanese descent were forcibly removed from their homes, uprooted from the lives they built and stripped of their civil rights. The aftermath of Japanese American incarceration led to a national movement for reparations. Reset learns about a new multimedia experience about the Japanese American redress movement in Chicago and the lessons their story holds for communities seeking justice and healing today.

Getting Hammered - Trailer

It's not easy keeping up with the news—especially when you're a parent. Mary Katharine Ham and Vic Matus know that well. And while they can't get your kids to school on time (and without ketchup in their hair—ask Mary Katharine about that one), they can break down the news you need to know. Put the kids to bed, pour yourself a drink, and join us twice weekly for Getting Hammered.