In part two we look at the modern origin and continued organizing efforts against "critical race theory", vax/mask mandates, and anti-LGBT+ presence in schools.
It's one of the most requested stories for OA to cover – Steven Donziger won billions in judgment against Chevron in an Ecuadorian court in 2011. Then Chevron fought back. Now, 10 years after the original victory, Donziger has been handed loss after loss, been disbarred, and been found in criminal and civil contempt of court. His cause is deeply sympathetic to left wing audiences. But is it as simple as the big bad oil company beating up a poor lawyer? But first, some reaction to Tuesday's election results. And then some much requested analysis of the Rittenhouse Judge's latest actions. So much good info!
We discuss the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland. [0:51]
We also discuss the FDNY’s current “sick out” over vaccine mandates and how the stand-off reveals a tension for progressives who fight for union collective bargaining rights. [6;28]
We then turn to the aftermath of the Youngkin victory in the Virginia elections and discuss the problems with progressives blaming #WhiteWomen for the loss. [9:45]
We unpack the victory of Michelle Wu in Boston and Eric Adams in New York City. [14:36]
We then discuss the effectiveness of masks and how to make sense of shifting CDC guidance. [22:56]
Finally, we talk about the differences between socialism, communism, and democratic socialism [33:08]
What actually happened to Bitcoin tycoon Gerald Cotten, and why do some people believe he faked his death? Could there be a relationship between lucid dreaming and sleep paralysis? Ben closes out the world of ghost stories with one last collection of tales from around the world. All this and more in this week's Listener Mail.
Republicans have the best Election Night since Trump won in 2016, Democrats debate what went wrong in Virginia and what it means for the ’22 midterms, and Delegate Danica Roem joins to talk about how she managed to be one of the few progressives in Virginia to win re-election last night.
After weeks at a shelter where no staff members speak their languages, some Afghan refugee children have hurt themselves and others. After a ProPublica investigation, Illinois lawmakers demanded a probe into conditions.
Reset checks in with the ProPublica reporter about her investigation.
The CDC made it official on Tuesday: kids 5 - 11 are now eligible to receive Pfizer's COVID-19 pediatric vaccine. Within hours, some of the first shots were administered in Hartford, Connecticut.
Jenny Brundin of Colorado Public Radio spoke to parents and kids in Denver about getting a shot. While some are eager, others want to 'wait and see.'
Scientists in Switzerland have developed a system which uses solar energy to extract gases such as hydrogen and carbon dioxide from the air and turns them into fuels for transport. So far they have only made small quantities in experimental reactors, however they say with the right investment their alternatives to fossil fuels could be scaled up to provide a climate friendly way to power transport, particularly aviation and shipping. We speak to Aldo Steinfeld and Tony Patt from ETH Zurich and Johan Lilliestam from the University of Potsdam.
And what will rises in global temperature mean where you live? An interactive model developed by Bristol University’s Seb Steinig shows how an average global rise of say 1.5C affects different regions, with some potentially seeing much higher temperatures than others. Dan Lunt – one of the contributing authors to this year’s IPCC report discusses the implications.
We also look at racism in science, with problems caused by decisions on the naming of ancient bones more than 200 years ago. As more is known about human evolution, the way we classify the past seems to make less sense says Mirjana Roksandic.
And the issue of colonialism looms large in the international response to conservation. Its legacy has been discussed at COP26 and as Lauren Rudd, author of a new study on racism in conservation tells us, this hangover from colonial times is limiting the effectiveness of current conservation initiatives.
Image: President Biden and his wife travelling to the G20 summit in Rome and COP26 in Glasgow.
Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images.
The pandemic may have accelerated the trend of schools using digital tools to watch kids well beyond their activities during the school day. Neal McCluskey and Julian Sanchez detail why a reckoning with this kind of surveillance is overdue.
On today’s episode, NLW follows up on the burgeoning bitcoin-mayor competition between New York City’s Eric Adams and Miami’s Francis Suarez. The show’s main topic is an open letter sent by Congressional Blockchain Caucus co-chairs Rep. Tom Emmer and Rep. Darren Soto to Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler about the recent approvals of bitcoin futures-based exchange-traded funds. They argue it simply doesn’t make sense to approve a futures ETF but not a spot ETF that holds actual bitcoin. Surprise, surprise, the crypto community agrees.
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“The Breakdown” is written, produced by and features Nathaniel Whittemore aka NLW, with editing by Rob Mitchell, research by Scott Hill 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 “Dark Crazed Cap” by Isaac Joel. Image credit: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg/Getty Images, modified by CoinDesk.
