Month: January 2025

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This Machine Kills - 390. We All Live in the Firestorm

[Due to the relevance of this episode — and requests from listeners in LA — we decided to make this week the free episode.] We get into the crossover between the LA wildfires and the FIRE industry – finance, insurance, real estate. Where most people see a hellscape of risk and loss, the FIRE industry also sees a landscape of opportunity and profit. First are reports of landlords and investors never letting a good crisis go to waste as the latter jack up rents for people who need places to stay after losing everything, while the former snatch up burnt homes using the discounts code “devastation.” Second we then get into the simple narratives and material dynamics of how the insurance industry is dealing with the wildfire’s aftermath by leaning into their victim complex while also hiking rates, restricting policies, denying claims, and agitating for regulatory changes. ••• We All Live in the Firestorm: Infinite Crisis and the LA Wildfires https://thetechbubble.substack.com/p/we-all-live-in-the-firestorm-infinite ••• Real Estate Vultures Eye Middle-Class Enclave of Ravaged LA https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-01-15/fire-ravaged-altadena-attracts-real-estate-vultures-eyeing-deals ••• Experts say Los Angeles rental prices will ‘inevitably’ spike post-wildfires https://fortune.com/2025/01/11/los-angeles-rental-prices-will-inevitably-spike-post-wildfires-experts/ ••• The costly calamity in Los Angeles https://www.ft.com/content/1ada4ad5-d992-42a2-89d9-99063883f91d ••• L.A. Is Burning. Will Insurance Companies Take Advantage? https://newrepublic.com/article/190048/california-insurance-los-angeles-fires ••• We Will All Be Paying For L.A.’s Wildfires https://www.levernews.com/we-will-all-be-paying-for-l-a-s-wildfires/ Standing Plugs: ••• Order Jathan’s new book: https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520398078/the-mechanic-and-the-luddite ••• Subscribe to Ed’s substack: https://substack.com/@thetechbubble ••• Subscribe to TMK on patreon for premium episodes: https://www.patreon.com/thismachinekills Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (bsky.app/profile/jathansadowski.com) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (www.x.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (bsky.app/profile/jebr.bsky.social)
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The Gist - BEST OF THE GIST: Wildfire Edition

Each weekend on Best of The Gist, we revisit an archival segment from the past and replay something from the past week. 

 

This weekend, two selections from the near vault, inspired by the devastating fires in and around Los Angeles over the last week or more. First, Mike’s June 12, 2023, Spiel about the Canadian wildfires that many thought would change minds on climate change—even if we’re not certain they were entirely the result of climate change. 

 

Then, we revisit the intro to our Aug. 18, 2023, episode, in which Mike discusses Herman Andaya, Maui’s emergency chief, who decided not to sound sirens before the fires scorched Lahaina. It seems like an obvious mistake, but all the officials agreed that doing so would have contradicted policy—and perhaps even posed a danger. 

 

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Motley Fool Money - The Future of AI and The Nature of Consciousness

There are more potential moves on a Go board than there are atoms in the universe; the game is universally considered to be one of the most complex played by humans. And, yet, an AI computer program can play it perfectly. What does that mean for humanity?


Terry Sejnowski is the Frances Crick Chair at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, a Distinguished Professor at the University of San Diego, and author of the book “ChatGPT and The Future of AI.” Ricky Mulvey caught up with Sejnowski for a conversation about:

- How chatbots work.

- Mapping large neural models.

- What a self-aware parrot can teach us about human consciousness.


Premium Motley Fool members can catch replays from this week’s AI Summit here: https://www.fool.com/premium/4056/coverage/2025/01/15/ai-summit-replay


To become a premium Motley Fool member, go to www.fool.com/signup


Host: Ricky Mulvey

Guest: Terrence Sejnowski

Producer: Mary Long

Engineer: Rick Engdahl

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Up First from NPR - Ceasefire On Track, Pandemic Preparedness, Pepsi Sued

Israel's war cabinet gave final approval to a ceasefire deal with Hamas overnight. Five years after the first COVID-19 case in the U.S., there is concern about how well the nation in positioned for the next pandemic. The Federal Trade Commission says Pepsi gave unfair deals to a major retailer.

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Reset with Sasha-Ann Simons - Food Network’s Jeff Mauro Loves Chicago And Sandwiches

Chicago-native Jeff Mauro centers Chicago delicacies and culture as a Food Network celebrity chef. He hosted the Emmy-nominated show “Sandwich King” on The Food Network where he currently co-hosts “The Kitchen.” Reset learns more about Mauro and his passion for Chicago food and sandwiches and tastes offerings from his company Mauro Provisions. For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.
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The Daily Signal - Victor Davis Hanson: Joe Biden’s Disastrous Foreign Policy and False Claims

In this edition of “Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words,” Hanson critiques President Joe Biden’s claims about his own foreign policy in the waning days of his presidency.

“So why would you claim that you had done this outstanding achievement? And the war is not over. It’s the worst carnage in Europe since the Battle of Stalingrad—1.7 million dead, wounded or missing. It’s nothing to brag about. It’s a complete catastrophe.”

“He said that he was tough on China. He said China wasn’t our rival. He allowed a Chinese spy balloon to traverse the United States. For a week, he did nothing.”

“Trump didn’t have a war in Afghanistan because you lost it. And you humiliated us. And you destroyed deterrence…this was the single greatest disaster in foreign policy in a century, and yet, he had the audacity to go before the State Department and claim it was a great success.”

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