Month: June 2022

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Unexpected Elements - Should we worry about the latest Omicron subvariants?

Should we worry about the most recent Omicron subvariants, BA 4 and BA5? They are the subtypes of the Covid-19 virus now dominant in southern Africa and spreading elsewhere. New research suggests that they are better at evading our antibody defences than other forms of the virus. Columbia University virologist David Ho explains the findings and what they means for us. Also, reducing air pollution makes agricultural crops grow better, how large wildfires warm the upper atmosphere, and the dolphins in the Red Sea which use secretions from corals and sponges as preventative medicines.

This week’s CrowdScience is dedicated to bodily fluids – and why humans spend so much time spraying them all over the place. From snot and vomit to sweat and sneezes, listeners have been positively drenching our inbox with queries. Now presenter Marnie Chesterton and a panel of unsqueamish expert guests prepare themselves to wade through…

One listener has found that as he ages, bright light seems to make him sneeze more and more – with his current record sitting at 14 sneezes in a row. He’d like to know if light has the same effect on other people and why?

Sticking with nasal fluids, another listener wants to know why she’s always reaching for a tissue to blow her endlessly dripping nose and yet her family seem to produce hardly any snot at all. Could it be because she moved from a hotter climate to a colder one?

CrowdScience reveals the answers to these and other sticky questions… if you can find the stomach to listen.

Image Description: Coronavirus COVID-19 virus Credit: Getty Images

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The Gist - BEST OF THE GIST: Student Debt And Johnny Depp

In this installment of Best Of The Gist, we listen back to Mike’s October 21, 2016 interview with Adam Davidson on the topic of a student loan bailout. Adam explains why eliminating college debt falls short of solving the country’s inequality crisis. Then we listen back to Mike’s take on Wednesday’s verdict in the Amber Heard versus Johnny Depp lawsuit.

Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara

Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com

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Consider This from NPR - As School Shootings Claim More Victims, Young Activists Want to Be Heard

The mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, TX has parents and students worried about safety at school. Data gathered by the Washington Post estimates that more than 300,000 students have experienced shootings at school since the 1999 school shooting in Columbine, Colorado. But experts say the impact of school shootings is far more extensive, and even children who don't come into direct contact with violence can be traumatized.

We speak with Hannah Rubin, a 16-year-old activist with March for Our Lives, a youth-led movement pushing for gun control measures.

In participating regions, you'll also hear a local news segment to help you make sense of what's going on in your community.

Email us at considerthis@npr.org.

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This Machine Kills - Patreon Preview – 165. Phillip K. Dick Move

We go from talking about how AI/ML research is dominated by the resources, interests, and tradeoffs of “top labs.” Then discuss how our algorithmic agents become active participants in human culture but in ways that can be unexpected and unknowable. Together these conditions are producing a world that is far more weird, bizarre and unsettling than anybody intended. Less George Orwell, more Phillip K. Dick. Some stuff we reference: ••• I don't really trust papers out of "Top Labs" anymore | https://www.reddit.com/r/MachineLearning/comments/uyratt/d_i_dont_really_trust_papers_out_of_top_labs/ ••• The Steep Cost of Capture | Meredith Whittaker https://interactions.acm.org/archive/view/november-december-2021/the-steep-cost-of-capture ••• AI Inventing Its Own Culture, Passing It On to Humans, Sociologists Find | Edward Ongweso Jr | https://www.vice.com/en/article/pkp7y7/human-culture-to-increasingly-come-from-unexplainable-ai-sociologists-find Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! patreon.com/thismachinekills Grab fresh new TMK gear: bonfire.com/store/this-machine-kills-podcast/ Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (twitter.com/braunestahl)
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Lex Fridman Podcast - #291 – Jonathan Haidt: The Case Against Social Media

Jonathan Haidt is a social psychologist at NYU and author of The Coddling of the American Mind, The Righteous Mind, and The Happiness Hypothesis. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors:
– Uncruise: https://uncruise.com/pages/lex
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– Blinkist: https://blinkist.com/lex and use code LEX to get 25% off premium
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EPISODE LINKS:
Jonathan’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/JonHaidt
Jonathan’s Website: https://jonathanhaidt.com
Documents & Articles:
1. Social Media and Political Dysfunction: A Collaborative Review: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vVAtMCQnz8WVxtSNQev_e1cGmY9rnY96ecYuAj6C548/edit
2. Teen Mental Health Testimony: https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Haidt%20Testimony.pdf
3. The Atlantic article: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2022/05/social-media-democracy-trust-babel/629369/
Books:
1. The Coddling of the American Mind (book): https://amzn.to/3MW4HqL
2. The Righteous Mind (book): https://amzn.to/3to0tkj
3. The Happiness Hypothesis (book): https://amzn.to/3Mb1xP2

PODCAST INFO:
Podcast website: https://lexfridman.com/podcast
Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2lwqZIr
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2nEwCF8
RSS: https://lexfridman.com/feed/podcast/
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YouTube Clips: https://youtube.com/lexclips

SUPPORT & CONNECT:
– Check out the sponsors above, it’s the best way to support this podcast
– Support on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/lexfridman
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– Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lexfridman
– LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lexfridman
– Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lexfridman
– Medium: https://medium.com/@lexfridman

OUTLINE:
Here’s the timestamps for the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time.
(00:00) – Introduction
(07:57) – Social media and mental health
(21:45) – Mark Zuckerberg
(31:23) – Children’s use of social media
(42:08) – Social media and democracy
(58:14) – Elon Musk and Twitter
(1:14:45) – Anonymity on social media
(1:20:44) – Misinformation
(1:27:38) – Social media benefits
(1:30:22) – Political division on social media
(1:36:54) – Future of social media
(1:42:46) – Advice for young people

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Motley Fool Money - Weed Economics 101

Price elasticity, supply & demand curves....what better way to learn about economic fundamentals than through weed? (C'mon, isn't it more interesting when there’s an illegal market involved?)

Robin Goldstein and Daniel Sumner are economists at UC Davis and co-authors of “Can Legal Weed Win?”, a book about how the economics of legal, and illegal weed intersect. Ricky Mulvey talks with them about: - How federal legalization could help or hurt weed investors - Economic lessons from pot laws in Oklahoma and California - One surprising way that weed is like bacon

Additional resource: https://www.fool.com/investing/stock-market/market-sectors/healthcare/marijuana-stocks/

Host: Ricky Mulvey Guests: Robin Goldstein, Daniel Sumner Engineer: Dan Boyd

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World Book Club - Jennifer Egan: A Visit from the Goon Squad

Jennifer Egan answers audience questions about her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel A Visit from the Goon Squad. It is a dazzling, exciting book, which plays with form and storytelling traditions. Goon Squad is made up of connected short stories circling around musician and record executive Bennie Salazar, and Sasha, the passionate, troubled young woman he employs. It explores their pasts and catapults them into the future using a rich variety of voices and narrative styles. This special edition of World Book Club, presented by Katherine Lanpher, was recorded at Brooklyn Central Library.

(Photo: Jennifer Egan. Credit: Pieter M. Van Hattem)