Amanda Holmes reads Margaret Walker’s poem “For My People.” Have a suggestion for a poem by a (dead) writer? Email us: podcast@theamericanscholar.org. If we select your entry, you’ll win a copy of a poetry collection edited by David Lehman.
This episode was produced by Stephanie Bastek and features the song “Canvasback” by Chad Crouch.
We’ve got more midterms wrap up as Dems clinch the senate, Kari Lake goes down in Arizona, and Blake Masters’ school shooter campaign ads resurface. Then, we round up the first few weeks of Elon’s Twitter takeover and the FTX collapse, two more massive frauds of the billionaire class apparently destined for self-destruction. Finally, a eulogy for one of the Grand Broads of conservative media.
An FTX insider on what it felt like to watch the destruction and unfolding betrayal.
As NLW said on each day’s show, “in addition to them being a sponsor of the show, I also work with FTX.” On today’s show, NLW gives an insider’s view of the timeline, from the beginnings of trouble as the crypto community turned on Sam Bankman-Fried for his role in shaping industry regulations to the chaotic week that saw FTX go from high flyer to bankrupt. Along the way, [NLW] shares how he and other FTX employees felt as they realized that they, along with the rest of the crypto industry, had been duped, lied to and defrauded.
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“The Breakdown” is written, produced by and features Nathaniel Whittemore aka NLW, with editing by Rob Mitchell and Eleanor Pahl, and research by Scott Hill. Jared Schwartz is our executive producer and our theme music is “Countdown” by Neon Beach. Music behind our sponsors today is “War” by Enoch Yang. Image credit: Danny Nelson/CoinDesk, modified by CoinDesk. Join the discussion at discord.gg/VrKRrfKCz8.
Binance is setting up an industry recovery fund to help rebuild the space amid FTX contagion fear. Tron founder Justin Sun says Tron, Huobi Global and Poloniex will support Binance in its initiative. Meanwhile, Bloomberg reports that Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the FTX fallout "shows the weaknesses of this entire sector."
This episode has been edited by Doc Blust. Our executive producer is Jared Schwartz. Our theme song is “Neon Beach.”
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We dig into Chapter 3 – Theory and Practice – and look at how, in the 1960s and 1970s, theories of finance like random-walk hypothesis and efficient market hypothesis, started leaking out of the university and having real world effects in professional financial practice. Combined with market restructuring caused by the rapid growth of institutional investors in the American economy, these financial theories directly influence the creation of things like index funds, which go on to set financial markets on a totally new pathway.
Here’s a free pdf of the book: https://uberty.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/MacKenzie-An-Engine-Not-a-Camera.pdf
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Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (www.twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (www.twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (www.twitter.com/braunestahl)
Princess Martha Louise of Norway is engaged to an American shaman, and the Norwegians have been proving very close-minded about the love between a royal and a healer who believes he descends from a reptilian species and that his $222 amulet can ward of Covid-19. Also, are historic emissions the best way to express which countries bear responsibility for climate change? Plus, Dr. Eugenia Cheng is a mathematician, educator, author (How To Bake Pi, Beyond Infinity, x + y: A Mathematician’s Manifesto For Rethinking Gender), public speaker, columnist, concert pianist, and artist. She joins to talk about her new book, The Joy of Abstraction: An Exploration of Math, Category Theory, and Life.
Industries like tech and business are difficult to get into if you don’t have the access to opportunities that will teach you the things you need to know. One of the finalists of the Pritzker Traubert Foundation’s $10 million dollar Chicago Prize wants to bring those opportunities to Greater Grand Crossing. Reset talks to finalists Rhonda Hopps, executive director for the Comer Education Campus, Greg Mooney, board chair for the Comer Education Campus, and Vondale Singleton, founder of C.H.A.M.P.S. Male Mentoring Program, to hear their pitch to increase access not only in their community, but to neighboring communities.
Twitter has long been a crucial place for socializing and sharing information, especially among marginalized communities, but the chaos unleashed by Elon Musk’s takeover has many worried that their beloved forum is dissolving before their eyes. Reset breaks down what’s next for Twitter’s chronic illness community with Brianne Benness, host of the podcast No End In Sight and creator of #NEISVoid, and for Black Twitter with Keith Reed, contributing writer at The Root and co-host of the podcast Run Tell This.
Major technology companies like Meta, Twitter and Salesforce all announced layoffs over the last several weeks. But smaller start-ups, including some here in Chicago, are also making cuts. Reset speaks with an expert on venture capital, Craig Wortmann, and a local tech journalist for Crain’s Chicago Business, John Pletz, to find out what this latest wave of layoffs means for Chicago and for the economy. We also hear from Danielle Abril, Washington Post reporter, about tips for surviving a layoff.