The story of Saba, the protagonist of Leo Vardiashvili's novel Hard by a Great Forest, is much like the author's own. A young boy flees the Soviet Republic of Georgia with his father and brother as the country is ravaged by a war. Decades later, when his father goes back to their homeland and promptly disappears, Saba must face his family's past – and immense loss – in an effort to find him. In today's episode, Vardiashvili tells NPR's Scott Simon about being separated from his own family, and the feeling of time-travel he felt when he finally made his way back to Georgia.
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How did mobile kitchens become popular with hipster gourmands? And just how much money can a popular truck make from a lunch shift? Zachary Crocket drops some napkins.
In early June, President Joe Biden severely restricted asylum requests from migrants attempting to cross the U.S.-Mexico border without authorization.
Two weeks later, the President struck a more welcoming tone, saying he'd protect hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants married to U.S. citizens.
Immigration has become a big issue, for both parties. Policy experts say Biden hopes that in a close election year, these executive actions will sway voters to his side.
But will that strategy pay off and how will it affect migrants?
NPR's Adrian Florido speaks with immigration correspondent Jasmine Garsd who is reporting from the San Diego border with Mexico.
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Michael J. Fox might not know it, but his character on “Family Ties” set the course for one Fool’s investing career.
Ron Gross is the Director of US Investing at The Motley Fool and a frequent guest on the show. In today’s episode, Ron talks with Mary Long about his early days on Wall Street, what he’s learned from crises, and the attributes he looks for when hiring new analysts.
Share stories of your own investing journey with us at podcasts@fool.com.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi secured a third term in office earlier this month, but voters denied him an outright parliamentary majority after an election cycle dominated by concerns over the economy, environmental degradation, and corruption. In this special episode, Ravi speaks with Kapil Komireddi, author of the recent New Yorker piece, 'My Father’s Fate and India’s,' about the repercussions of the election, the rise of Hindu nationalism, and what the future of democracy in India could look like.
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From his overwhelming embrace by evangelicals and other people of faith to his championing of policies and conservative judicial candidates long sought by right-wing Christians, Donald Trump’s candidacy, campaign, and presidency were empowered by believers of many stripes who employed different methods of rationalizing or Christianizing Trump and his administration. In Performing for the Don: Theatres of Faith in the Trump Era(Routledge, 2024), Hank Willenbrink examines this intersection of political power and religion through the lens of performance studies, in part via Trump’s own expressions but predominantly through mass media performances of his Christian supporters.
From Trump’s affiliation with his “court evangelicals” and televangelists to the 2018 film The Trump Prophecy and other prophetic/apostolic movements latching onto Trump’s ascension in service of dominionistic ends, and from his support among very conservative Catholics to the “cult” of Trump that has coalesced in conspiratorial online spaces advocating QAnon beliefs, the last decade has witnessed a mainstreaming of theology and ideology ripe for an interdisciplinary analysis of the performative aspects of Trump’s faith-based support. Dr. Willenbrink joined the New Books Network to discuss all these subjects as well as Christian nationalism in the present American political climate.
Hank Willenbrink (Ph.D. in Dramatic Art from the University of California, Santa Barbara) is Associate Professor in the Department of English and Theatre at The University of Scranton in Pennsylvania. A scholar and theatre artist, Hank has published on a range of topics like Hell Houses, the playwright Naomi Iizuka, the intersections of playwriting and nature writing, and the use of music in HBO’s Girls. With his wife, Dr. Yamile Silva, he co-edited an anthology of contemporary Spanish and Portuguese writing. Hank’s play, The Boat in the Tiger Suit, premiered in New York and is published by Original Works Publishing. He’s developed theatrical work internationally, including at Sala Beckett in Barcelona. Hank has also led several interdisciplinary, community-engaged projects that bring together students and community members of diverse backgrounds and disciplines to engage in deeper and more intentional ways through collectively created theatrical performance. Hank played in a number of questionable bands, co-founded the music blog We Listen for You, and hails from Toad Suck, Arkansas. He is currently continuing the research that he discusses on today’s podcast episode on his Substack: performingforthedon.substack.com.
Jon is joined by Carlos Odio and Stephanie Valencia, founders of Equis Research, the nation’s leading polling and research firm focused on the Latino electorate, to talk about what Democrats can do to win back the Latino voters who left the party for Trump in 2016 and 2020. Why are some of them leaning towards Trump? How did they react to Biden’s border actions? And what issues are they most focused on in 2024? Jon, Carlos, and Stephanie dive into the focus groups to answer these questions and Leo Murrieta, Director of Make the Road Nevada, joins to talk about his trip to the White House and offer his advice for the Biden campaign.
Take action with Vote Save America: Visit votesaveamerica.com/2024
Pre-order Democracy or Else: How to Save America in 10 Easy Steps at crooked.com/books or wherever books are sold. Out June 25th.