This week's Progress Report covers a range of topics, including the banning of wild animals in circuses, the reduction of air pollution in China, and the ban on ghost guns in Oregon. The conversation also touches on the future of zoos and the potential for changes in gun laws. Despite the polarizing nature of the gun control debate, there seems to be a consensus on moderate measures to control guns.
What Could Go Right? is produced by The Progress Network and The Podglomerate.
For transcripts, to join the newsletter, and for more information, visit: theprogressnetwork.org
Privyet, fellow citizens! We begin with a quick look at recent events following Jack Smith’s new superseding indictment in Trump’s January 6th case in DC. Why are Trump’s lawyers saying that Clarence Thomas “directed” them to file a motion to dismiss? And does DC federal judge Tanya Chutkan even care that this defendant who happens to be charged with four counts of trying to overturn an election is running for President at all?
Then in our main story: In an indictment filed this week, the Department of Justice has charged two Russian state media operatives with funding an officially unnamed production company which is allegedly (but also definitely) Tenet Media, the home of mediocre anti-woke crusaders like Dave Rubin, Tim Pool, and Lauren Southern (among others). Thomas takes us through some of the most entertaining facts alleged in the indictment, including an extremely real investor who is definitely in Paris and not Moscow, the Tucker Carlson Russian propaganda video which was a little too much even for Tenet’s producers, and why anyone (including Tim Pool) could have ever believed that Tim Pool could have possibly been worth $100,000 an episode. Matt then breaks down some of the history of the Foreign Agents Registration Act and how this indictment sets a new standard for its enforcement in the 21st century--and what (and who) might be next.
A surprise guilty plea from Hunter Biden in his tax case. Grief and mourning a day after a deadly school shooting in Georgia. Vice President Harris preparing for next week's debate...as former president Trump campaigns...and his lawyers are back in court. CBS News Correspondent Jennifer Keiper with tonight's World News Roundup.
Israel's critics describe it as a colonizer, settler colonizers, in fact. We examine the rational and irrational reasoning behind this as we talk with Adam Kirsch author of On Settler Colonialism: Ideology, Violence, and Justice. Plus, Tim Pool, amplified by Vladamir Putin and goofball election prognosticatorAllan Lichtman, is at it again, with assistance from the entire media.
Project 2025 - you've probably heard about it. It's a roadmap from the conservative Heritage Foundation for the next Republican president.
It's also been a major talking point for Democrats on the campaign trail. Donald Trump, meanwhile, has tried to disavow it and distance himself.
That's because the plan has attracted negative attention over the ultra conservative policies it endorses like overhauling and eliminating some government agencies, firing thousands of civil servants and a mass deportation campaign.
Project 2025 was created to help the next Republican President execute an extreme conservative agenda. Now it's also become an attack line for Democrats.
For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.
Project 2025 - you've probably heard about it. It's a roadmap from the conservative Heritage Foundation for the next Republican president.
It's also been a major talking point for Democrats on the campaign trail. Donald Trump, meanwhile, has tried to disavow it and distance himself.
That's because the plan has attracted negative attention over the ultra conservative policies it endorses like overhauling and eliminating some government agencies, firing thousands of civil servants and a mass deportation campaign.
Project 2025 was created to help the next Republican President execute an extreme conservative agenda. Now it's also become an attack line for Democrats.
For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.
How did a spirit that “tastes like bandaids” and has been the butt of many jokes survive generations and go from a lone bottle collecting dust in the back of bars to so closely linked with Chicago that bartenders and enthusiasts alike tattoo it on their bodies? Well, it has to do with a plucky businessman named George Brode and his secretary Pat Gabelick.
Reset learns the history as laid out in a new book from a veteran food writer Josh Noel, author of Malört: The Redemption of a Revered and Reviled Spirit.
For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.
Recently, singer/rapper/entrepreneur Pitbull agreed to pay $6 million to Florida International University for the naming rights to its football stadium ... an unusual move for both parties: a musician paying for their name on a stadium, and for a college to name their stadium after a musician.
How does this move benefit the college? How does this move benefit Mr. Worldwide?
In today's episode, what Pitbull and FIU's deal tell us about the fast-changing economics of college sports.
A Chinese survey of diseased animals farmed for their fur – such as mink, foxes and raccoon dogs - has revealed high levels of concerning viruses, including coronaviruses and flu viruses, many of which appear to jump easily from species to species. John Pettersson of Uppsala University discusses the threat to us humans.
We learnt early on in the Covid-19 pandemic how important the genetic details of the virus were in tracking the spread and spotting new variants. The vaccines were designed from gene sequences shared electronically long before any biological samples became available. Virologist Emma Hodcroft has teamed up with researchers around the world to develop a new virus database, Pathoplexus, to speed up the sharing of gene sequences.
Mpox outbreaks are causing concerns in Central and West Africa - particularly in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. A smallpox vaccine has started arriving, giving some protection against mpox. But there’s good news this week in an experimental vaccine developed especially for mpox by Moderna – one of the companies that brought us the mRNA vaccines against Covid-19. Galit Alter, vice president of immunology research at Moderna, tells us animal tests show that it appears to be highly effective.
And we discuss embryonic eavesdropping with Francisco Ruiz-Raya of Glasgow University. In the yellow-legged-gull, baby bird embryos that have chattier parents tend to come out chattier themselves – and likely receive better care because of their enhanced communication.
Presenter: Roland Pease
Producer: Jonathan Blackwell
Production co-ordinator: Andrew Rhys Lewis
(Image: A mink in a mink farm in the hands of a man. Credit: Neznam/Getty Images)
