Month: August 2023

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The Daily Signal - ‘Punch in the Gut,’ Afghanistan Veteran Says About Seeing Taliban Takeover

Aug. 15 marked two years since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan after a nearly two-decade war. 

For James Hasson, co-author of “Kabul: The Untold Story of Biden’s Fiasco and the American Warriors Who Fought to the End” and an Afghanistan veteran, seeing the Taliban takeover “was a punch in the gut.” 

“And I know for at least all the other Afghan veterans that I’ve spoken to, it was a similar punch in the gut for them, as well,” says Hasson, who rose to the rank of Army captain. “And especially then seeing the [Biden] administration repeatedly say that, ‘The Taliban were now our partners,’ that they were being ‘businesslike and professional,’ when of course this is the same Taliban that we just spent 20 years fighting.”

“I lost people I know over there, or people I know passed away over there,” Hasson adds. “And a lot of other people in my circumstances who served there had the same kind of experience, and it’s a very difficult thing to reconcile. And writing this book was an absolute honor, but it was difficult also to do, in part just to see that be absolutely whitewashed.”

Hasson, together with co-author Jerry Dunleavy, an investigator for the House Foreign Affairs Committee, joins today’s episode of “The Daily Signal Podcast” to discuss their book, the No. 1 takeaway they want people to have after reading their book, and the 13 U.S. service members who were killed on Aug. 26, 2021, at the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan.


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Slate Books - Slate Money: “Anansi’s Gold” by Yepoka Yeebo

Felix Salmon, Emily Peck, and Elizabeth Spiers speak with Yepoka Yeebo, author of Anansi’s Gold: The Man Who Looted the West, Outfoxed Washington, and Swindled the World. Yeebo explains how John Ackah Bley-Miezah convinced people that he held the keys to a large fortune. All they needed to do was help him access it. 

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What Next | Daily News and Analysis - Why Tuition’s So Damn High

Over the last 20 years, the average college student at a public university has seen prices go up 64 percent, as schools spend more and more on amenities to attract students and raise their own rankings. 


Guest: Melissa Korn, higher education reporter at the Wall Street Journal.


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Strict Scrutiny - The Aesthetic Enjoyment of Other People’s Uteruses

Easha Anand of Stanford's Supreme Court Litigation Clinic joins Kate, Melissa, and Leah to lay out what SCOTUS has been up to in the world of criminal law. But first, Kate and Leah analyze the Fifth Circuit's opinion in the mifepristone case, and what it means for people seeking abortions across the country.

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NPR's Book of the Day - ‘War and Punishment’ chronicles the history of Russian oppression of Ukraine

Journalist Mikhail Zygar says a lot of Russian historians were actually propagandists – they worked for people in power and wrote recorded events the way politicians and elites wanted. In his new book, War and Punishment, he breaks down the historical myths he says are part of the Russian psyche, one he says Putin uses to defend the invasion of Ukraine. Zygar tells NPR's Leila Fadel that he doesn't think everyone believes the propaganda, but that it's essential to uncover the truth about the Russian empire to understand how we got to today's war, and where it might go next.
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Short Wave - Fixing Our Failing Electric Grid… On A Budget

It's no secret that our electric grid is a flaming hot mess — and in order to reduce emissions, the U.S. needs to get a lot more renewables onto the grid. But there's a problem: Our electric grid is too old and outdated to handle this new technology. In fact, many of the copper wires on transmission lines are using technology from as far back as the early 1900s!

Because of this, thousands of wind and solar projects are waiting for years to get online. The Inflation Reduction Act is incentivizing a big transition to things like electric cars, heat pumps and other devices, which means we'll need even more electricity that will further push the limits of existing infrastructure.

Now more than ever, we need this new power. With this in mind, some tech companies are finding solutions to make the existing grid work better.

Aaron Scott talks with NPR's climate solutions reporter Julia Simon about these solutions and how they might be a whole lot quicker — and cheaper — than you'd think.

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Opening Arguments - OA796: Will Trump’s Big Mouth Land Him In The Big House? (feat. Chris Regan)

Liz and Andrew discuss developments in the Fulton County, Georgia indictment with respect to Mark Meadows before welcoming guest Chris Regan to discuss the "two systems of justice" in our country: one for every other criminal defendant, and one for Donald Trump.

The interview ends with a discussion of West Virginia politics and the future of Joe Manchin that you don't want to miss!

Notes Meadows motion to dismiss on supremacy clause https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.gand.319225/gov.uscourts.gand.319225.16.1.pdf

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Consider This from NPR - Cities Voted For Progressive Prosecutors. Republican State Leaders Are Pushing Back.

The last few elections have brought a wave of self-styled progressive prosecutors into office. They've won elections by campaigning on issues like bail reform and alternatives to incarceration for non-violent offenders. Now, Republican-controlled state legislatures and governors are taking steps to curtail their power, or strip them of it altogether.

We talk to Monique Worrell, who was elected state attorney for Florida's ninth judicial circuit, which includes the city of Orlando, in 2020. This month, Republican Governor and presidential candidate Ron DeSantis suspended her and installed a replacement. He said her office had refused "to faithfully enforce the laws of Florida," in its charging decisions. Worrell called her suspension an attack on democracy.

And we talk to Carissa Byrne Hessick, director of the Prosecutors and Politics Project at the University of North Carolina, explains how these sorts of battles are playing out across the country.

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

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