the memory palace - Episode 121: Ken Allen

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Music

  • Pure (Ride the World) by (the extraordinary) Brendan Eder Ensemble
  • Violette... from Philippe Sarde's score to Violette et Francois
  • Merry-go-Round and People on Sunday by Domenique Dumont
  • Dane by Nils Frahm
  • Two different versions of Debussy's Passepied, the piano one is performed by Seong-Jin Cho, the synth one by Isao Tomita
  • Love from Matthew Herbert
  • Memorial Park from Bernard Herrmann's score to Obsession.
  • Phantom Signals by Tvarvargen

Notes

The Daily Signal - Scott Rasmussen’s 2024 Election Breakdown: Polling Surprises and Swing State Showdowns

Scott Rasmussen shares his insights on the latest polling data and discusses the political landscape as the presidential race enters the critical month of September. 

With only small margins separating Donald Trump and Kamala Harris in swing states, the presidential race remains highly competitive with no clear leader emerging yet. Several of those swing states—Arizona, Nevada, North Carolina, and Georgia—are up for grabs, while the prize of Pennsylvania appears likely to determine the outcome of the election. 

Rasmussen also examines Harris' rise as the Democrat nominee after Joe Biden's withdrawal, analyzing her policy positions and the public's reaction to her candidacy. Harris’ policy proposals, such as unrealized capital gains tax and price controls, are generally unpopular. Rasmussen notes that voters still have strong opinions about Trump, and despite his policy advantages, some remain hesitant to vote for him. 

The conversation also touches on broader political themes, such as how voters perceive "progressive Democrats" vs. "MAGA Republicans." While neither term is particularly popular, progressive Democrats fare better unless specific issues like border security or parental involvement in education are emphasized.  

Rasmussen emphasizes the importance of candidates focusing on issues rather than personalities, using Trump's 2016 campaign as an example where issue-based discourse proved effective. 

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NPR's Book of the Day - ‘Eruption’ is a collaboration between Michael Crichton and James Patterson

Jurassic Park creator Michael Crichton spent years working on a manuscript about a volcano on the verge of a disastrous eruption in Hawaii. After he died in 2008, his wife Sherri found his boxes and boxes of research and decided the novel needed to be finished – so she hit up James Patterson. In today's episode, she and Patterson speak with NPR's Ari Shapiro about how they got Eruption across the finish line more than a decade after her husband's death, and how they managed to pass off the pen throughout the course of the novel.

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Risky Business with Nate Silver and Maria Konnikova - Calculating Risks in a Creative Life, with Brian Koppelman

Maria sits down with the great Brian Koppelman (Rounders, Billions, The Bear) to learn about how he navigates risk in Hollywood and beyond. They discuss his methods of determining when a risk is worth taking, how to offset risk with hard work, and the time he bet big on Billions.

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Pod Save America - Doug Emhoff Is Ready to Win (Fantasy Football)

Doug Emhoff stops by the Crooked studio! The Second Gentleman talks with Jon, Lovett, and Tommy about why Kamala Harris is such "a badass," masculinity and winning over young men, and his role fighting the rise of antisemitism. Plus: the hug with Tim Walz that his friends are still giving him shit about, Kamala's kitchen skills, and why he still makes time for fantasy football.

For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.

Planet Money - Bingo! (Presidential debate edition)

Campaigns can be a jargony slog. And this year, we are seeing a lot of economic terms being thrown around, many of which... aren't entirely straightforward.

In this episode, we try to make the mess of words that accompany a presidential campaign into something a little less exhausting: A game of bingo.

Follow along as we dig into five terms that we expect to hear in the upcoming presidential debate, along with some others we hope to hear.

You can play along, too, at npr.org/bingo. Play online or print cards to play with friends on debate night!

This episode was hosted by Nick Fountain and Erika Beras. It was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler with help from Emma Peaslee. It was edited by Meg Cramer. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Cena Loffredo. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

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Consider This from NPR - ‘Bring them home.’ Hostages’ families cry.

It was a night of mourning on Tuesday, when Doug Emhoff, second gentlemen and the first Jewish spouse to a US president or Vice president, spoke at the Adas Israel Congregation in Washington DC.

Emhoff was one of more than a thousand people attending a prayer vigil dedicated to six hostages recently killed by Hamas. Their bodies were recovered over the weekend.

The deaths of the six hostages comes as it's been more than 300 days since Hamas took more than 240 people hostage after it attacked Israel on October 7th. As the days in captivity drag on, many have been killed, and their families live in agony.

One of those family members is LeElle Slifer, who's cousin Carmel Gat was one of the six hostages killed. She shares what her cousin meant to her and what her family wants from the Israeli government.

For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

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The Gist - Kamala Nails The Soundbite

Unlike anogenital distance researchers on NPR, at the DNC, Kamala Harris accepted her party's nomination with polished, practiced style. Also on the show, author Adam Kirsch joins us to discuss his new book, On Settler Colonialism: Ideology, Violence, and Justice. Plus, a peace deal not taken.


Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara

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Reset with Sasha-Ann Simons - Mary Mitchell Reflects On 34 Years With The Chicago Sun-Times

Mary Mitchell, former columnist and director of culture and community engagement retired in 2019 but returned to the Sun-Times a year later. This time around, she says she’s leaving “for real.” Reset sits down with Mitchell to reflect on her career and what she’s learned about herself and Chicago in the process. For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.