Focus on Africa - Liberians await presidential election results

Liberians voted in elections on Tuesday, with President George Weah seeking a second term. Observers said polling was peaceful, despite some violence during the campaign. Mr Weah is the favourite to win, with former Vice-President Joseph Boakai considered his main challenger. Did the president deliver in his first term?

Are reparations the best way of rectifying the injustices of the past? After Ghana’s president Nana Akufo-Addo calls for Western countries which profited from the transatlantic slave trade to pay reparations to African countries, we hear from an opponent of the proposal.

And South Africa's latest census reveals the population rose by over 10 million, to 62 million people, in just over a decade. But how significant is this data?

CoinDesk Podcast Network - MARKETS DAILY: Crypto Update | Crypto Markets Slump and a Potential Bitcoin Innovation

Noelle Acheson, the mind behind the Crypto Is Macro Now newsletter, explores U.S. inflation reports, an intriguing bitcoin innovation called BitVM and more.

Today's episode is sponsored by CME Group.

Today’s Stories:

EU Markets Regulator Warns of DeFi’s ‘Serious Risks’ 

Decentralised Finance in the EU: Developments and risks 

Bitcoin Might Get Ethereum-Style Smart Contracts Under ‘BitVM’ Plan 

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Disclaimer:

This communication is not directed to investors located in any particular jurisdiction and is not

intended to be accessed by recipients based in jurisdictions in which distribution is not

permitted. The information herein should not be considered investment advice or the results of

actual market experience. Past results are not necessarily indicative of future performance.

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or options are appropriate to your financial situation.

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This episode was hosted by Noelle Acheson. “Markets Daily” is executive produced by Jared Schwartz and produced and edited by Eleanor Pahl. All original music by Doc Blust and Colin Mealey.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Inside Europe - Inside Europe – 12 October 2023

How Russia is using the Israel-Hamas conflict for its own ends, no show for Syria in The Hague as the country is tried for war crimes, and we meet the international volunteers keeping vital aid to Ukraine stocked up. Also: two German states shift to the right, Paris cleans up a major bedbug infestation, and conservatives threaten to halt major reforms in the Catholic Church.

Reset with Sasha-Ann Simons - Mass Exodus From Illinois? New Report Debunks The Myth

The population of Illinois is becoming more educated, more foreign-born and higher paid, according to a report conducted by the Illinois Economic Policy Institute and the Project for Middle Class Renewal at the University of Illinois. Reset turns to a co-author of the report to learn more about the state’s shifting demographics and the fact that, contrary to popular belief, the state’s population is not on a steep decline. To hear more conversations like this one, check out our full archive at wbez.org/reset.

Village SquareCast - Robert Putnam & Shaylyn Romney Garrett | Join or Die: Why you should join a club — and why the fate of America depends on it

“Our national myths often exaggerate the role of the individual heroes and understate the importance of collective effort. —Robert Putnam

This is when you meet a living legend and get the benefit of his thinking on the topic he’s been brilliantly, prophetically right about for more than three decades: the deterioration of our connectedness with each other across almost every demographic and every aspect of our lives—our loss of social capital.  And yet here we are, painfully and tragically paying the price for our failure to put our shoulders to this wheel when it was (almost eerily) knowable when Dr. Robert Putnam first articulated the societal trend in his iconic book “Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of America Community” (we’ve just re-read it, and we’re still not sure he’s not secretly a time-traveler).  Joined by Shaylyn Romney Garrett, his co-author on “The Upswing: How America Came Together A Century Ago and How We Can Do It Again,” they’re beseeching us to do it now (and we’re doing just that, until the end of 2024). Bonus: they’re showing us that what we need to do is actually fun, fills our souls—and might just save our country.

Learn more about Dr. Putnam and Shaylyn Romney Garrett in the full program description online here. Pick up a copy of The Upswing and Bowling Alone (you'll thank us) at our partner bookseller Midtown (wherever you live).

Please also take a moment to watch the trailer of "Join or Die: A film about why you should join a club - and why the fate of America depends on it," produced and directed by Rebecca Davis and Pete Davis. 

Note that in the discussion Dr. Putnam references a chart in the discussion - you can find the two-slide chart here (the first is the imaginary picture we have in our minds about how race in America changed and is not correct; the second is correct).

 

The Village Square is a proud member of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what's broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.

Funding for this podcast was provided through a grant from Florida Humanities with funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of Florida Humanities or the National Endowment for the Humanities.

The Intelligence from The Economist - Mass destruction: Israel prepares for a ground invasion

The Defence Force is preparing to follow up its air strikes on Gaza with troops. An incursion will be bloody, and perhaps even more so if Hezbollah becomes embroiled in the conflict. Australians will vote this weekend on whether to enshrine an indigenous Voice to Parliament into its constitution (11:36).

And, why Birkenstock’s 249-year-old shoes are still trendy (19:27).


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Code Story: Insights from Startup Tech Leaders - S8 Bonus: Massoud Alibakhsh, Omadeus

Massoud Alibakhsh was born in Iran, but grew up in the states. He has always been curious about machines, computers, robots - and as such, studied electrical engineering and computer science. He built his career on hardware and software, and witnessed all the tech changes throughout the past decades - from mainframes to GUI's to pcs to distributed systems to the cloud. Outside of tech, he used to be a competitive soccer player, but after he hurt his knees, he switched to swimming daily. He swears by intermittent fasting, but makes sure to carry walnuts and dates on him when he travels.

Massoud held a strong desire to find a solution to the complex communication problem between people and systems. He decided to approach this with deep AI integration, smart objects, and an object messaging model. And in doing so, he put AI in project management, and discovered the next development paradigm.

This is the creation story of Omadeus.

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Bay Curious - A Spooky Mansion & The Notorious Lone Tree

This is the second episode in our month-long BOO Curious series! Today we've got a double feature. First, we look at how 19th century estate in Oakland became the undisputed star of spooky films dating back to the 1970s. Then, we head a little south to Hayward, where the centuries-old Legend of the Lone Tree inspires intrigue with its story of love, betrayal ... and gruesome murder.

Additional Reading:


Your support makes KQED podcasts possible. You can show your love by going to https://kqed.org/donate/podcasts


These stories were reported by Rachael Myrow and Pauline Bartolone. Bay Curious is made by Olivia Allen-Price, Amanda Font, Christopher Beale and Brendan Willard. Additional support from Pauline Bartolone, Cesar Saldana, Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Jasmine Garnett, Carly Severn, Jenny Pritchett, Holly Kernan and the whole KQED family.