Have germs or humans done the most to shape the world’s history? Did Homo Sapiens get the better of the Neanderthals because of superior brainpower or because of better resistance to some infectious disease? And are germs part of the story behind the fall of Rome and rise of Islam? Owen Bennett Jones talks germs with Jonathan Kennedy of London University. Kennedy is the author of Pathogenesis: A History of the World in Eight Plagues (Crown Publishing, 2023).
Owen Bennett-Jones is a freelance journalist and writer. A former BBC correspondent and presenter he has been a resident foreign correspondent in Bucharest, Geneva, Islamabad, Hanoi and Beirut. He is recently wrote a history of the Bhutto dynasty which was published by Yale University Press.
What if Hawai'i wasn't the 50th state? In Pacific Confluence: Fighting Over the Nation in Nineteenth-Century Hawai'i(U California Press, 2022), UCSD assistant professor Christen Sasaki argues that the years 1893-1898 marked a pivotal and understudied moment in Hawai'ian history. After the coup led by white oligarchs which overthrew Queen Liliuokalani and the Hawai'ian monarchy, the island chain became the center of international focus and competition, particularly between the empires of Japan and the United States, both of which vied for hegemony and control over Hawai'i's bountiful plantations. Questions about whiteness and race, labor, and immigration are at the center of this history, which recasts the story of Hawai'ian annexation as not an inevitable march of American expansion, but instead as a moment of contingency, which shows just how many possible branches any given historical moment can have.
Dr. Stephen R. Hausmann is an assistant professor of history at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota.
Liz and Andrew take a look at a letter sent by Donald Trump's lawyers to House Republicans and bring back expert National Security Lawyer Kel McClanahan to help answer all their questions about Trump's dubious assertions about how the National Archives should have handled the Mar-a-Lago documents.
A tidal wave of federal money is set to flow into communities across the country as programs like the American Rescue Plan Act, the Inflation Reduction Act, and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act disperse funding. Andy speaks with Marguerite Casey Foundation president Dr. Carmen Rojas about how to make sure that money goes into the right hands. They also discuss the brightsides of COVID, how to make the government work for us, and why liberal movements must include poor white people.
Find vaccines, masks, testing, treatments, and other resources in your community: https://www.covid.gov/
Order Andy’s book, “Preventable: The Inside Story of How Leadership Failures, Politics, and Selfishness Doomed the U.S. Coronavirus Response”: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250770165
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Writer E. Jean Carroll, who is suing Donald Trump for allegedly raping her in 1996, faced hours of cross examination Thursday – leading to a heated exchange with Trump’s lawyer, who questioned her memory and actions surrounding the alleged attack.
The Biden administration has announced plans to open migrant centers throughout Latin America in an effort to slow down the influx of migrants heading to the U.S. The announcement comes as Title 42, which border officials have used to turn away asylum-seekers on public health grounds, is set to expire on May 11th.
And in headlines: former Vice President Mike Pence testified before the federal grand jury investigating Donald Trump’s alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, legislators in Kansas voted to enact a sweeping anti-transgender bathroom bill, and a new Twitter alternative is preparing to launch.
Crooked Coffee is officially here. Our first blend, What A Morning, is available in medium and dark roasts. Wake up with your own bag at crooked.com/coffee
We'll tell you new details about the suspect in a major national security leak and why former Vice President Mike Pence was required to testify against his old boss.
Also, a diabetes drug tested for weight loss could become one of the best-selling drugs of all time.
Plus, the impact of the latest severe storms, how Jerry Springer is being remembered, and a new way to listen to podcasts.
Former Virginia AG and deputy head of the Department of Homeland Security breaks down important new project. If Project 2025 had existed in 2016, former President Donald Trump would have achieved more faster, a leader in the former administration says.
Twitter’s “blue check” verification went from something you applied for, to something you could pay for, to something you had to pay for…to something that many celebrities wouldn’t even accept for free. Master of horror Stephen King told us he wouldn’t pay for a blue check, but he’s not going to fight it either—he just doesn’t really understand what’s going on. Does anyone at Twitter understand?
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