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In this episode, we welcome back Will McGugan, the creator of the wildly popular Rich library and founder of Textualize. We'll dive into Will's latest article on "Algorithms for High Performance Terminal Apps" and explore how he's quietly revolutionizing what's possible in the terminal, from smooth animations and dynamic widgets to full-on TUI (or should we say GUI?) frameworks. Whether you're looking to supercharge your command-line tools or just curious how Python can push the limits of text-based UIs, you'll love hearing how Will's taking a modern, web-inspired approach to old-school terminals.
For generations, American Catholics went faithfully to confession, admitting their sins to a priest and accepting through him God’s forgiveness. The sacrament served as a distinctive marker of Catholic identity, shaping parishioners’ views of their relationship to God, their neighbors, and the wider world. But starting in the 1970s, many abandoned confession altogether. Focusing on the experiences of both laypeople and priests, in For I Have Sinned: The Rise and Fall of Catholic Confession in America (Harvard University Press, 2025) Dr. James M. O’Toole reconstructs the history of confession’s steady rise—and dramatic fall—among American Catholics.
In the early United States, the Catholic Church grew rapidly—and with it, confession’s centrality. Although the sacrament was practiced unevenly for much of the nineteenth century, frequent confession became common by the early twentieth. Both priests and parishioners understood confession as a ritual crucial for the soul, while on a social level, it established Catholic distinctiveness within a largely Protestant country. Today, however, even faithful Catholics seldom confess. The reasons for this change, Dr. O’Toole reveals, include the emergence of psychology and other forms of counseling; the Church’s stance against contraception, which alienated many parishioners; and a growing sense of confession’s inability to confront social problems like structural racism, poverty, and sexism. Meanwhile, increasing recognition of sexual abuse within the Church further undermined trust in clergy as confessors.
Sensitively attuned to the historical importance of confession, For I Have Sinned also suggests that, if the sacrament no longer serves the needs of US Catholics, the Church and its members might find new ways to express their ideals in the twenty-first century.
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. You can find Miranda’s episodes on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts.
After a deep dive on the Trump administration’s horrifying misuse of the Alien Enemies Act to deport people from the US without due process, Kate and Leah preview upcoming SCOTUS cases about the Voting Rights Act and the Environmental Protection Agency. Along the way, they also touch on the Trump administration’s targeting of certain law firms and its continued attacks on DEI.
In just about two months, President Donald Trump has managed to thoroughly shake U.S. democratic structures to the core. From firing thousands of federal workers and plunging the U.S. into a trade war, to testing the limits of our three supposedly coequal branches of government, it's been a lot to process. And the constant chaos makes it hard to grasp what's actually happening, big picture: Are we watching a wannabe strongman fumble through enacting a policy agenda that will likely prove to be deeply unpopular, or are we actually watching the end of American Democracy as we've known it for roughly the last century. Ruth Ben-Ghiat, a professor at New York University and author of the book 'Strongmen,' explains what history can tell us about our current moment and what we can do about it.
And in headlines: Venezuela said it would start accepting deportation flights from the U.S. again, Palestinian health officials said the death toll in Gaza has topped 50,000, and the White House said Second Lady Usha Vance is heading to Greenland… just for fun… scout's honor.
We’ll explain how America’s crackdown is widening to include hundreds of thousands of immigrants who—until now—have been protected.
Also, how the Trump administration has started to influence private universities.
Plus, where wildfires are burning out of control, the reason one popular laundry detergent is being recalled, and theories as to why a big-budget movie flopped at the box office.
Those stories and even more news to know in about 10 minutes!
Join us every Mon-Fri for more daily news roundups!
With Tesla stock tanking and drivers trading them in... we’re proposing the Tesla Solution.
Why the Celtics sold for a record amount… even though they rent their arena.
Gucci, H&M, & Ralph Lauren all launched coffee chains… but it’s not about $12 lattes.
Plus, we wrote a financial rap song about the most important investment for kids…
$PPRUY $TSLA $RL
Want more business storytelling from us? Check out the latest episode of our new weekly deepdive show: The untold origin story of MTV 📺 “How Video Killed the Radio Star”
“The Best Idea Yet”: The untold origin stories of the products you’re obsessed with — From the McDonald’s Happy Meal to Birkenstock’s sandal to Nintendo’s Susper Mario Brothers to Sriracha. New 45-minute episodes drop weekly.
The story of TikTok in the U.S. is one that's had many chapters, to say the least.
First, then-President Donald Trump called for its ban in 2020. Then, President Joe Biden signed a bipartisan law in 2024 requiring the company in charge of the video-sharing platform to sell the app or face a ban. Then, the app went dark this January after failing to sell, only to come back hours later, thanking newly-inaugurated President Donald Trump for his support in keeping the app operational. The president extended the deadline for the sale until April.
Why is the government so uncomfortable with TikTok and Chinese parent company ByteDance? What's going to happen in April when the same deadline to sell arises once again?
We discuss what the future holds for TikTok with our friends at the Click Here podcast.
