Hunter S. Thompson was never a hippie, but his writing nonetheless helped define the counterculture and the San Francisco scene of the 1960s and early 1970s. In Savage Journey: Hunter S. Thompson and the Weird Road to Gonzo (U California Press, 2022), literary scholar and California historian Peter Richardson examines Thompson less as a cultural figure than as a member of a literary movement. Richardson explores the roots of Thompson's "gonzo journalism" writing style and explains his influences and his influence as a figure in American letters. In doing so, he reveals a portrait of Thompson that extends beyond his Depp-and-Doonesbury shaded cartoonish caricature and shows the writer to be a savvy media critic and adept social commentator. Thompson's literature cuts through the decades of mythology and reveals the id of the west coast counterculture, warts and all, all while being pretty entertaining and, at times, prescient of our own political and cultural moment.
Dr. Stephen R. Hausmann is an assistant professor of history at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota and is the Assistant Director of the American Society for Environmental History.
The dictionary defines a coincidence as “A sequence of events that, although accidental, seems to have been planned or arranged.”
We have probably all experienced coincidences of some type or another. However, there are coincidences, and then there are coincidences. There are cases that are so mind-bogglingly improbable that it would seem that they were fabricated.
Yet, they are indeed true.
Learn more about some of the world’s most incredible coincidences on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
We're talking about a new bipartisan compromise that addresses military pay, drug trials, a digital spying program, and more.
Also, more antisemitic terror plots may have been prevented, and there could be a growing rift between the U.S. and Israel over the war in Gaza.
Plus, one wild animal interrupted one of the busiest commuter routes in the country; two popular online retailers are going head-to-head in court, and Pennsylvania lawmakers are officially in their Taylor Swift era. We'll explain.
And use my link go.mycopilot.com/NEWSWORTHY to get a 14-day FREE trial AND 20% off your first month of personalized fitness if you sign up before February 1st!
Liz and Andrew continue to cover a bunch of stories with the connected theme of how to push back against Donald Trump's efforts to use anything and everything to postpone his criminal trials.
Also, there's rare good news regarding the Supreme Court and its refusal to grant certiorari in Tingley v. Ferguson, meaning that Washington state's law prohibiting conversion therapy stays in place.
All that and much, much more, including a breakdown of the last day of Rudy's defamation lawsuit!
The Biden administration is pressuring Israel to scale back its war by the end of the year. And earlier this week, President Joe Biden warned that Israel’s “indiscriminate bombing” of Gaza was whittling away international support. But it seems like the language shift hasn’t yet caused a meaningful development in the area.
European Union leaders decided on Thursday to open EU membership negotiations with Ukraine. This has been a longtime goal of Ukrainian President Volodmyr Zelensky and is a boost at a time when he’s trying to bolster his country’s support from allies both in Europe and in America.
And in headlines: the House passed a $886 billion defense policy bill, New York Republicans have figured out who should replace George Santos in his old job, and we crown WAD’s first-ever Person of the Year.
Show Notes:
This is the last WAD of 2023. We’ll return with new episodes on Wednesday, January 3rd.
A team of conservation biologists from Italy recently found that current emoji options are sorely lacking when it comes to life outside of vertebrates in the animal kingdom. Sure, there are multiple dog and cat options to choose from. But when it comes to fungi, for example, the choices are limited ... to one. The study was published this week in the journal iScience argues that our emoji lexicon is in dire need of some biodiversity – which could have a real impact on the way people communicate about conservation.
History and civics education in America is languishing. A troubling number of Americans can't even pass a U.S. citizenship test.
Pioneer Institute's recent poll findings on the topic are "pretty sobering,” explains Chris Sinacola, the organization's director of communications and media relations.
In Pioneer's poll, Massachusetts residents were asked questions drawn from the citizenship test.
The questions were about “things that new citizens, or aspiring U.S. citizens, need to know and they need to get 60% to pass,” Sinacola says, adding that “the average score among our citizens was 63%."
"So you can say, 'Yay, we passed, we can all remain citizens,'” he says, but it is a bit of an “indictment” when some Americans don’t know how long a U.S. senator's term is or even how many members the Senate has.
“It's a bit of a warning sign,” Sinacola says.
Sinacola joins “The Daily Signal Podcast” to discuss America’s social studies crisis and how to correct the the course.
We got the Annual Report from “Klaus Industries” (yeah, Santa’s company), so we jumped into the business — Santa’s got a strong supply chain, diverse market of 2 billion customers, and an $11 trillion opportunity.
The stock market began the year with Recession-worries, but it’s ending with all-time highs — We’re looking at the one force driving Wall Street to record highs for the holidays.
And do you know about Dating Wrapped? — The #1 trend on TikTok is analyzing your year in dating, and it reminds us of a quote from Socrates.
Fast-fashion titan Shein is preparing for its initial public offering, even as questions of sustainability and labor practices linger.
Guest: Jordyn Holman, business reporter covering the retail industry and consumerism for The New York Times
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