Month: November 2024

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Honestly with Bari Weiss - Trump and the Art of the Bullshitter

Bullshit is an American tradition. Think the theatrics of P.T. Barnum, miracle products sold ad nauseam on television in the 1980s and, of course, politicians. Who can forget President Bill Clinton saying “It depends upon what the meaning of the word is is” during his grand jury testimony in the Monica Lewinsky scandal?


And then there’s Donald Trump. He presents as a man with no fact-checking filter, someone happily buying his own convenient bullshit. That’s not quite the same thing as lying. 


That isn’t to say Trump doesn’t lie. He’s a politician, after all. But he exists outside the binary of truth and lies. It’s the netherworld of flimflam, hyperbole, sales pitches, and ad copy delivered with all the quiet dignity of a wet T-shirt contest. Donald Trump is a very modern artist, weaving a barrage of anecdotes, fake and real statistics, gossip, and memes into a nebulous and suggestive species of patter. 


Democrats have tried to paint Trump as an American Hitler, a Russian agent, a man consumed with evil and hatred. But what they fail to understand is that Trump’s casual relationship to the truth is an echo of past politicians. He is hardly the first bullshitter to ascend to the White House; he’s just the best ever to do it. He paints a picture of a reality he would like us to see, not as it really is. 


In this respect, Trump is the crack cocaine variant of many of his predecessors. Ronald Reagan was a folksy, sentimental bullshitter, a president as a Hallmark greeting card. Bill Clinton was a slick bullshitter, perfect for spinning stories at the dawn of the cable news era.


Today, Eli Lake explores the soft spot that Americans have for bullshitters like Trump, and their disdain for liars like Richard Nixon. He argues that if you want to understand why Trump may be on the verge of winning the White House again, you have to reckon with our country’s relationship to the pungent brown stuff. It pervades everything from our economy to our culture. Bullshit is dangerous when it comes to science. But in politics, bullshit is sadly essential. 


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NBN Book of the Day - Jonathan A. Allan, “Uncut: A Cultural Analysis of the Foreskin” (U Regina Press, 2024)

The “uncut” penis is viewed by some as attractive or erotic, and by others as ugly or undesirable. Secular parents of male infants worry about whether or not the foreskin should be removed so their little boy can grow up to “look like dad” or to avoid imagined bullying in the locker room. Medical experts and public health organisations argue back and forth about whether circumcision is medically necessary, while “intactivists” advocate that removing an infant’s foreskin without their consent is mutilation.

Uncut: A Cultural Analysis of the Foreskin (University of Regina Press, 2024) by Dr. Jonathan Allen takes an interdisciplinary approach to understanding the foreskin and its contentious position in contemporary Anglo-American culture. From language to art, from religion to medicine and public health, Uncut is a provocative book that asks us to ask ourselves what we know and don’t know about this seemingly small piece of skin.

Drawing on all these threads, Dr.. Allan leads us through the history and cultural construction of the foreskin—from Michelangelo’s David to parenting manuals, from nineteenth-century panic over masturbation to foreskin restoration—to ultimately ask: what is the future of the foreskin?


This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose new book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars.

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Everything Everywhere Daily - Questions and Answers: Volume 24

Right now in the Northern Hemisphere, the days are getting shorter, and things are getting colder. 

In the southern hemisphere, the opposite is happening. 

Regardless of whether you are in the North or the South, there is one thing for certain…in November, there shall be questions, and there shall be answers. 

Stay tuned for Questions and Answers volume 25 on this episode of Everything Everywher Daily.


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What A Day - The Far-Right War for Trump’s 2025 Agenda

If Trump wins the presidential election, Project 2025 gives us an inkling of what his next term might look like. But due to a power struggle within the far-right, there could be another plan that’s just as threatening. On this week’s “How We Got Here,” Max and Erin hear from New York Times reporter Ken Bensinger about the America First Policy Institute and its political goals with a second Trump term.

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The NewsWorthy - Special Edition: ‘10% Happier’ With Less Election Stress? Dan Harris is Here.

You probably know Election Day is this Tuesday – and it’s stressing people out. A recent survey found 70% of Americans are feeling election-related anxiety, with even more worried about the country’s future.

But what can you do to manage that stress?

Today, we’re joined by Dan Harris, former ABC News anchor, who famously experienced a live, on-air panic attack that sent him on a journey into meditation and mindfulness. Dan’s here to share practical, actionable steps to help ease election-related anxiety — and offer tips for living a calmer, more balanced life.

Maybe his advice will make you feel 10% Happier (also the name of his popular podcast and best-selling book).

 

Join us again for our 10-minute daily news roundups every Mon-Fri! 

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Amicus With Dahlia Lithwick | Law, justice, and the courts - The Great Big Pre-Election Freedom and Democracy Show

This week’s show is unapologetically long, deep, and hopeful. Dahlia Lithwick is joined by Yale history professor Timothy Snyder to talk about his new book, On Freedom, and to have the audacity to re-imagine freedom on the precipice of an election that could turn the United States hard right into tyranny. Next, Dahlia is joined by Rick Hasen, Director of the Safeguarding Democracy Project at UCLA Law School, for a gut-check about how the election might go, legally speaking, and a reminder that “too early to call” is a pro-democracy posture on election night—even as the former guy almost certainly claims victory before the clock strikes midnight—regardless of the actual results. 


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CBS News Roundup - 11/02/24 | Weekend Roundup

On the "CBS News Weekend Roundup", host Allison Keyes gets an update from CBS's Correspondents Nancy Cordes, Kris Van Cleave and Nicole Sganga about the campaign and ballot issues less than a week before the election. CBS's James Brown looks at when it is time to take the keys from elderly friends and family. In the "Kaleidoscope with Allison Keyes" segment, a discussion about the possibility of election violence.

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More or Less: Behind the Stats - What can economics learn from sport?

The great theories of economics seem to have great explanatory power, but the actual world is often far too complicated and messy to fully test them out.

Professor Ignacio Palacios-Huerta, an economist at the London School of Economics has an answer ? sport. In the contained setting of competitive sport, he says, the rules are clear and you know who is doing what. This means, with some analysis, you can see vibrant illustrations of well-known economic theories playing out before your eyes.

Ignacio talks to Tim Harford about some of his favourite economic theories, demonstrated in action in sporting competition.

Presenter: Tim Harford Producer: Natasha Fernandes Series producer: Tom Colls Production co-ordinator: Katie Morrison Sound mix: John Scott Editor: Richard Vadon

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It Could Happen Here - The Darién Gap: Where Dreams Die

In this series, James describes his journey into the Darién Gap, one of the most remote and dangerous migration routes on earth. We hear from migrants from around the world about the dangers of the journey, their fears that forced them to take it, and their dreams for America.

It Could Happen Here Weekly 154

Sources can be found in the descriptions of each individual episode.

  1. The Green Hell: Migration Through the Darién Gap

  2. We Are All Brothers: How the Emberá Community of Bajo Chiquito Welcomes Migrants in the Darién Gap
  3. They Don’t Care About Us: What Migrants Leave Behind
  4. As If We Had Been Imprisoned: The Migrant Reception Center
  5. What Can You Do? Mutual Aid Along the Migrant Journey

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