This week on the show that brings you the science behind the news, we’re looking at news that China’s population has fallen for the second year running. Worrying news for China’s economy, but would a declining population be a good thing for the planet?
The Unexpected Elements team on three continents meet the musical frogs who are having to climb a mountain to keep their populations stable, and dig deep to explore the earth’s declining microbiome and the hope scientists have for the future.
As the Africa Cup of Nations continues, we’ll be wondering how you might date a footballer. Not in a romantic sense… we hear about some suspiciously mature youth players and how science can help when the age on a passport isn’t reliable.
Marnie will be wondering why Japanese men are shouting their love from a hilltop, and unpicking the recipe for a truly satisfying hug.
All that plus a postbag bursting with multilingual puns, and the reason Portuguese speakers have trouble with English doors.
Presented by Marnie Chesterton
Produced by Ben Motley, with Alex Mansfield, Dan Welsh, Katy Tomsett and Jack Lee
We have a guest expert today! Alejandro Ruiz, a graduate of MIT, joins us to discuss a topic that he refers to as "technology anti-solutions." It's a really useful and fascinating framework that explains a lot about today's world, including why Substack sucks, for example. Or Patreon. And even, the Paris Climate Accords. Also, Elon Musk is basically the king of tech anti-solutions. It's way too much for a single episode so we'll have to close it out in a Part 2! Check it out - Alejandro's experience in the tech industry, including his time at CERN, led him to creating the engineering co-operative Interstitial Technology, as well as The Luddite that he manages with the irreplaceable co-author/illustrator Julia Zimmerman and editor Dr. Christina Iglesias. Are you an expert in something and want to be on the show? Apply here! Please please pretty please support the show on patreon! You get ad free episodes, early episodes, and other bonus content!
For almost seven centuries, two powers dominated the region we now call the Middle East: Rome and Persia. From the west: The Roman Republic, later the Roman Empire, later the Byzantine Empire. From the East: The Parthian Empire, later replaced by the Sasanian Empire.
The two ancient superpowers spent centuries fighting for influence, paying each other off, encouraging proxy fights in their neighbors, and seizing opportunities while the other was distracted with internal strife. The relationship culminates in an almost-three-decade long war that so exhausts the two powers that they both end up getting overrun by the Arabs years later.
Adrian Goldsworthy gives a detailed account of this long history in his recent book Rome and Persia: The Seven Hundred Year Rivalry(Basic Books: 2023), starting from the (alleged) first contact in 92 BC through to the collapse of Persia in the seventh century. The two of us are going to try our best to talk about this long history in our interview today.
Adrian Goldsworthy is an award-winning historian of the classical world. He is the author of numerous books about ancient Rome, including Hadrian’s Wall (Basic Books: 2018), Caesar: Life of a Colossus (Yale University Press: 2008), How Rome Fell: Death of a Superpower (Yale University Press: 2010), Pax Romana: War, Peace and Conquest in the Roman World (Yale University Press: 2016), and Augustus: First Emperor of Rome (Yale University Press: 2014).
Eliud Kipchoge is unquestionably the greatest marathon runner in history. He’s won an Olympic Gold Medal, holds the world’s record, and has won 12 of the 13 marathons he has ever entered.
However, there was one accomplishment that had been out of reach for Kipchoge and every other marathoner: The 2-hour marathon.
On October 12, 2019, Kipchoge managed to break that barrier under some very special circumstances.
Learn more about when behind the breaking of the 2-hour marathon on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
We're telling you about the record turnout in New Hampshire and how things are looking so far in the next presidential primary race in Nikki Haley's home state.
Also, the U.S. gave a rare response after a UN shelter in Gaza was attacked.
Plus, a warning about a supplement that could mimic the effects of opioids, a familiar host for 'The Daily Show,' and the newest viral phenomenon that's come with consequences.
Control Body Odor anywhere with Lume Deodorant and get $5 off off your Starter Pack (that’s over 40% off) with promo code NEWSWORTHY at LumeDeodorant.com! #lumepod
New York City Mayor Eric Adams delivered his third State of the City address on Wednesday. Since just last spring, 170,000 migrants have arrived in New York City, tens of thousands of whom were sent by Texas Governor Greg Abbott. But in his speech, Mayor Adams fell short of providing any real plans to address the situation. We’re joined by Christine Quinn, former Speaker of the New York City Council and current head of shelter operator Win, to discuss what migrants need and what providers in the city are doing to meet the moment.
And in headlines: the United Auto Workers Union endorsed President Joe Biden, nine people were killed and more than 70 were injured after a UN shelter in Khan Younis was bombed, and Obamacare hit a record level of enrollment.
Show Notes:
Win NYC – https://winnyc.org/
Politico: “War cats: Ukraine enlists feline friends in fight against Russia” – http://tinyurl.com/ysytnmhp
What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcast
Follow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/
For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday
Bullet holes and toppled furniture bear witness to what happened in the home of one young couple living in Israel close to the border with Gaza on Oct. 7. Their home still partially stands, but they—and about 100 other members of their small community—are dead.
Walking through the streets of the small village, Joel Griffith says, “You could tell it once was a very beautiful place.”
Griffith, who is Jewish and serves as a research fellow in the Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation, recently returned from a trip to Israel. His mission was both to “support, but also bear witness to the evil” that took place in Israel on Oct. 7 when Hamas carried out a brutal terrorist attack that killed about 1,200 people.
Walking out of the home of the slain couple, Griffith says, he saw two “Jewish men playing guitar and singing, and gathered around them were others—soldiers, non-soldiers, Israelis, non-Israelis (such as myself), people who were religious, people who visibly weren't religious, but all gathered together singing.”
One of the songs they sang, according to Griffith, was “Am Yisrael Chai,” which translates to “The people of Israel live.”
Standing there singing in a “place where so many lives were lost” and with “gunfire” and the sounds of “artillery” in the background, “was a powerful moment,” he says.
Griffith joins “The Daily Signal Podcast” to discuss what he saw and heard in Israel three months after the Hamas terrorist attack.
Paris Marx is joined by Eric Silver to discuss Spotify’s big plan to dominate podcasting, why it’s now pulling back from those efforts, and the difference between highly produced and more independent podcasts.
Eric Silver is a podcast producer and head of development at Multitude.
Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Support the show on Patreon.
The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation and produced by Eric Wickham. Transcripts are by Brigitte Pawliw-Fry.
Also mentioned in this episode:
Paris will be in Christchurch on February 4 (details here) and Wellington on February 8 (details here). He’s hoping to get an Auckland date organized and is open to going to Australia.
Spotify pulled back on its podcasting ambitions last year, canceling big shows and laying off staff.
After buying Gimlet and Parcast, it merged them into Spotify Originals last year.
Ashley Carman posted a slide from a Spotify presentation presenting the RSS feed as “outdated tech” because it’s harder for them to harvest data from.
Apple’s car *might* arrive by 2028, and it won’t be self-driving — The biggest cost to this project isn’t time, money, or work… it’s opportunity.
Puma stock fell 10% yesterday because Argentina devalued their currency — We’ll show you how currency devaluations are great for 1 thing, horrible for everything else.
And Amazon Prime video is reportedly offering MrBeast $100M to do an exclusive show — If they get him, they’re not getting a creator. They’re getting a nation.
