Henry, King of England, Ireland, and Wales, Eighth of his name and head of the House of Tudor, was one of the most significant monarchs in British history. One of the things which made his reign so significant was the controversy surrounding his wives. His marriages completely changed the course of England and of Christianity in Europe. Learn more about the wives of Henry VIII, all six of them, and how they met their fates, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
What if virtual worlds become indistinguishable from the real one? In 1999 the science fiction film, The Matrix, depicted a dystopian future in which people are unknowingly trapped inside a simulated reality, run by intelligent machines. As the fourth film, The Matrix Resurrections, is about to be released, the writer Naomi Alderman considers the influence this movie franchise has had in the last two decades, and how far virtual reality has become part of everyday life.
The philosopher, David J Chalmers, proposes that the Matrix scenario could be the future, but that rather than trapped, humanity can lead a meaningful life in virtual reality. Chalmers is one of the leading thinkers on consciousness. In his latest book, Reality+ he provocatively argues that VR is not escapism. And that we may even be living in a computer simulation already – and if that is true, it’s not so bad.
Philippa Garety is Professor of Clinical Psychology at Kings College London and has been at the forefront of treatments for problems associated with psychosis, including hearing voices and hallucinations. She is currently working on innovative treatments using digital technology, including avatars and virtual reality, to alleviate suffering. In a clinical setting VR can be managed as a safe environment for patients who struggle in the real world, as a place they can confront and understand their delusions.
Producer: Katy Hickman
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures
Caption: (L-r) CARRIE-ANNE MOSS as Trinity and KEANU REEVES as Neo/Thomas Anderson in Warner Bros. Pictures, Village Roadshow Pictures and Venus Castina Productions’ “THE MATRIX RESURRECTIONS,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release.
In the Shadow of the Ivory Tower: How Universities are Plundering our Cities (Bold Type Books, 2021) by Dr. Davarian Baldwin examines the political economy of the American university over the twentieth and twentieth-first centuries. He brings a Black Studies lens to interrogate the ways that universities hide behind the notion of administering public goods to protect their tax-exempt status while generating astronomical profits off of the backs of working-class people, graduate student teachers and researchers, and underpaid and contingent faculty. We discuss the securitization and development implications of growing university wealth and how it engenders forms of radicalized plunder, racist policing, gentrification, and exploitation by the 1%. With a focus on this and more, we talk about what it means to live in the shadow of ivory tower.
Amanda Joyce Hall is a Ph.D. Candidate in History and African American Studies at Yale University. She is writing an international history on the global movement against South African apartheid during the 1970s and 1980s. She tweets from @amandajoycehall.
At least 100 people have died after tornadoes ripped through at least six states on Friday night. Search and rescue efforts continued throughout the weekend in Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee.
On Friday, the Supreme Court ruled that health providers could sue to block a law like Texas’s abortion ban, which allows private citizens to file a lawsuit against anyone who assists those seeking an abortion. But the options on who they can sue are extremely limited.
A group of baristas voted to unionize at a Buffalo-area Starbucks, making it the first company-owned store in the nation to do so. Starbucks employee and union organizer Casey Moore tells us what’s next as workers begin to negotiate a contract.
And in headlines: British scientists released the first real-world study of how Covid vaccines hold up against omicron, beloved Mexican singer Vicente Fernandez passed away, and a New Zealand man was accused of running a vaccination scheme after receiving 10 Covid shots in a single day.
Show Notes:
Huffington Post: “Starbucks Workers Just Unionized. Now The Real Fight Begins” – https://bit.ly/3GxXMQY
For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday
What you need to know about an unprecedented tornado outbreak across six states.
Also, new data about the new omicron variant of Covid-19 in the U.S. now that dozens of Americans have gotten it.
Plus, what some are calling the worst internet hack in history, who won college football's most prestigious honor, and how you can see one of the best meteor showers of the year.
"The American people need to know the level of incompetence, the lack of rigor, the lack of critical thinking. I was stunned at what I saw," Atlas says of his time at the White House. "We had bureaucrats in charge of the policy and that policy was the restrictions and lockdowns. And it failed."
Atlas blames three public health officials: Dr. Deborah Birx, White House coronavirus response coordinator; Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; and Dr. Robert Redfield, former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
He joins "The Daily Signal Podcast" to talk about his time on Trump's task force, President Joe Biden's failures, and a new academy he founded at Hillsdale College. Watch the full interview or read an abridged transcript at DailySignal.com.
Banning books in schools is on the rise. Around the country, parents are lobbying to banish from libraries and curriculums any work they deem to be “graphic” or “offensive,” often sweeping up books centered on queer or POC experiences in the process. Some authors say that’s no coincidence - nor is it surprising that this is happening just as the publishing industry is remaking itself to tell more diverse stories. The question is, what’s the best way to respond to the outrage?
Guest: Ashley Hope Pérez, author of three YA novels, including Out of Darkness, and professor of literature at Ohio State University.
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Author Dave Eggars has written a new book, The Every, satirizing technology and it's ever-expanding hold on us. While publishing and distributing the book, which also happens to be about a tech giant overextending its reach, he tried to keep it out of the hands of one of today's tech giants. It proved to be a difficult task, Eggars told NPR's Audie Cornish, "...[it's] like taking not just the back roads but taking the dirt roads off the back roads off the highway."
Headaches, nausea, dizziness, and confusion are among the most common symptoms of a concussion. But researchers say a blow to the head can also make it hard to understand speech in a noisy room. Emily Kwong chats with science correspondent Jon Hamilton about concussions and how understanding its effects on our perception of sound might help improve treatment.
