Syrian President's grip on power wanes as another strategic city falls to Islamist rebels. Also: Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris is rededicated in front of world leaders and the conman in India who duped families into thinking he was their long lost son.
The Gist - BEST OF THE GIST: Award Winning Edition
Each weekend on Best Of The Gist, we listen back to an archival Gist segment from the past, then we replay something from the past week. This weekend, we’re listening back to Mike’s interview with UCLA professor and MacArthur Genius grant recipient Jason De Leon to discuss his book, Soldiers and Kings: Survival and Hope in the World of Human Smuggling. Since the interview aired, back in May of this year, Jason has gone on to add another distinction to his resume—he won the National Book Award for Non-Fiction. Then we listen to this past Monday’s Spiel, in which Mike challenges the idea that Kamala ran out of time to be President.
Produced by Joel Patterson
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Global News Podcast - Syria special
Syria's army says it's bolstering defences around the capital, Damascus, as rebels intent on overthrowing President Assad converge on the city.
Audio Poem of the Day - Snake
By Katie Peterson
Motley Fool Money - 2024 in Review: Energy
It’s not talked about too much, but energy stocks have sneakily been some of the best performers in the S&P this year.
Fool analyst Nick Sciple joins Ricky Mulvey for a conversation on the biggest energy stories of the past year. They also discuss:
- How the US has gotten more efficient at extracting oil from the ground.
- The challenges facing companies hoping to build small nuclear reactors.
- Flatlining investor interest in renewables.
Companies discussed: VST, OKLO, SMR, GEV, BWXT, FSLR
Host: Ricky Mulvey
Guest: Nick Sciple
Producer: Mary Long
Engineers: Rick Engdahl
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Up First from NPR - Insurgency in Syria; South Korea’s Political Chaos; Pope Creates 21
Syrian rebels continue their push south in an effort to take more territory as government forces fail to hold them back. Plus, there are calls for the South Korean president to resign after he tried to declare martial law. And, Pope Francis promotes 21 men as new cardinals.
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Global News Podcast - The Happy Pod: Meet Italy’s Tom Cruise and Blake Lively
We're at an Italian film festival with a difference, for actors who become the voice of Hollywood stars and achieve fame in their own right. Also: California's canine mayor; and why diplomacy can work better in a sauna.
CrowdScience - Why am I good at jigsaw puzzles?
For their fans, jigsaw puzzles are a satisfying challenge, a focus, a chance to put everything else aside for a moment and be creative. But for other people they’re a frustrating jumble of random shapes and colours, a pointless task which is best left in the box. CrowdScience listener Heather is definitely a fan. She loves doing jigsaw puzzles and she wants to know why some people are so good at them. What skills do you need to find a pattern amongst all those shapes and colours? How do our brains, eyes and hands assemble the fragments into the finished article? And why do we enjoy doing them anyway? Presenter Alex Lathbridge puts together the pieces to answer Heather’s question. He sits down to work on a jigsaw with Sarah Mills, the ten-times UK jigsaw puzzling champion (yes... competitive jigsaw puzzling really is a thing!) As he watches Sarah complete the puzzle at lightning speed he gets a few of her top tips. So what’s going on in our brains when we’re doing a jigsaw puzzle? How do we recognise and process colour and shape? Prof Mark Mattson from Johns Hopkins University in the USA has the answer. And it’s all to do with a little seahorse-shaped part of the brain called the hippocampus.
Alex also explores the effect of jigsaws on our brains with neuropsychologist Dr Patrick Fissler. He’s carried out research to investigate the benefits of jigsaw puzzles on our brains as we grow older.
Both listener Heather and ten-times-champion Sarah seem to be better at jigsaws than Alex is. So, based on that sample size of three, women are superior puzzlers compared to men! But has anybody actually cast the net wider to see if that’s really the case? Alex talks to Daniela Aguilar from the University of Lethbridge in Canada about her study to investigate exactly that – and she reveals the results. Heather’s also wondering if any other species enjoy puzzles. And it seems they do! Alex meets Dr Cody McCoy from the University of Chicago to find out about the optimistic, tool-using crows of New Caledonia. From crows to competitive puzzlers, it seems we all relish a challenge!
Presenter: Alex Lathbridge Producer: Jeremy Grange Editor: Cathy Edwards Studio Manager: Bob Nettles Production Co-ordinator: Ishmael Soriano
Reset with Sasha-Ann Simons - Look To The Stars With Chicago’s Soulful Duo The O’My’s
Their sound is effortless, magical and all their own. Chicago duo The O’My’s blends beautiful melodies and raspy, colorful vocals with elements of hip-hop, jazz, soul, blues and house. Their latest album, Trust The Stars, was several years in the making, channeling the group’s natural evolution with passion and grit.
Reset checks in with the men behind the music Nick Hennessey and Maceo Vidal-Haymes.
For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.
The Daily Signal - Political Earthquake: The Multiracial Populist Voters Reshaping the Republican Party
President-elect Donald Trump made stunning gains with black men, Hispanic voters, and younger Americans in the 2024 presidential election, challenging long-held political assumptions.
One person saw it coming more than a year ago. Patrick Ruffini, founding partner of Echelon Insights, published "Party of the People: Inside the Multiracial Populist Coalition Remaking the GOP" in November 2023. He spoke with The Daily Signal when the book published last year.
Listen to that episode: https://www.dailysignal.com/2023/11/07/how-a-working-class-coalition-is-remaking-the-republican-party/
Ruffini returned this week to share his insights on Trump's victory and how the Republican Party can build upon his electoral success. Listen to the full interview or read an edited transcript below.
Key highlights include:
- Dramatic shifts in voting patterns across diverse communities
- Why traditional Democratic strongholds are crumbling
- The emergence of a new multiracial populist coalition
- How economic issues and cultural dynamics are reshaping voter allegiances
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