Scholar of Israel's occupation, genocide, and apartheid, and former coordinator for the BDS weapons embargo campaign Shir Hever returns to Bad Faith to offer insights into the politics on the ground in Israel, the interplay between the Iran war and Netanyahu's political ambitions, the implications of polls showing overwhelming majorities of Israeli's support Israel's genocide and even expulsion of Arab Israelis from the country, and the status of BDS campaigns around the world.
Plus: Russian president Vladimir Putin says a meeting with President Trump could be held in the United Arab Emirates. And the Bank of England has lowered its key interest rate for the fifth time in a year. Alex Ossola hosts.
An artificial-intelligence tool assisted in the making of this episode by creating summaries that were based on Wall Street Journal reporting and reviewed and adapted by an editor.
The Memory Palace is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX. Radiotopia is a collective of independently owned and operated podcasts that’s a part of PRX, a not-for-profit public media company. If you’d like to directly support this show, you can make a donation at Radiotopia.fm/donate.
Plus: President Trump imposes roughly 100% tariffs on chips coming to the U.S. The EU says its exports of chips to the U.S. will face a 15% tariff ceiling. SoftBank posts quarterly profit. Ariana Aspuru hosts.
San Antonio Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones joins TPR's The Source to discuss Project Marvel and the possibility of hitting pause on the negotiations for a new downtown home for the Spurs and the development of a sports and entertainment district.array(3) {
[0]=>
string(20) "https://www.tpr.org/"
[1]=>
string(0) ""
[2]=>
string(1) "0"
}
Wednesday morning Alana Goodman of the Washington Free Beacon reported that a gentleman named Pin Ni, who is a US-based executive with luxury electric car maker KARMA Automotive gave $50,000 over two contributions to the gubernatorial campaign of former CIA officer Abigail Spanberger. Ni, more troubling, listed as a member of the Chinese Communist Party.
US Election law prohibits campaign contributions from foreign nationals, and the Chinese government insists that you renounce your Citizenship in order to qualify for US dual citizenship. So, one or the other must be true. For Spanberger, a big contribution from an Electric Vehicle manufacturer that would certainly have an interest in making sure that the Virginia Clean Economy Act doesn’t get change or go away is problematic. Doubly ironic given the amount of angst that was expressed by the Democratic party leadership in 2021 about Glenn Youngkin’s extensive business ties having been CEO of the Carlyse Group before being elected Governor. However, that isn’t nearly the crime that accepting a political donation from a foreign national would be.
The Beacon story says that Ni sits on the board of directors for the Wanxiang Group, which he founded in 1994. The company’s 2025 annual report says that Ni had "been recognized" as an "Outstanding Communist Party Member of the Group" 15 times. Spanberger needs to address this but without any debates scheduled, Earle-Sears may not get a direct chance so it’s up to the Virginia press corps.
Before the story came out the Daily Signal spoke with Republican Party of Virginia Chair, State Senator Mark Peake about President Trump’s statements regarding endorsing Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears in her race against Spanberger and her unwillingness to debate and that is the podcast you are about to listen to. After seeing the story, he told us; “It doesn’t surprise me that Chinese communists want Spanberger to win. I am sure they have reviewed her voting record in Congress and prefer her to a true, conservative patriot like Winsome Sears.”
K prompts an exploration of the theory that lead exposure created a crime wave -- and possibly explains how this may have created a rash of serial killers. Easy E shares first hand experience as a nurse who can smell not only death, but dozens of other conditions. Flea wonders what aliens see when they observe Earth. Steve-From-Ohio hips the guys to the bizarre story of the 1961 Eagle River Alien Encounter. We won't spoil this strange tale other than to say: space pancakes. All this and more in this week's listener mail segment.
The semi-announcement of a Trump-Putin meeting coming as the deadline for punishing sanctions against Russia approaches raises the question of whether the president will go through with those sanctions or delay them. And the tariffs begin, with unknown consequences—but then, the consequences have thus far been surprising. And are we understanding the Democratic bad poll numbers right? Give a listen.
You can use buy now, pay later for almost anything — a couch, new clothes, groceries. FICO now says it will unveil a new version of its credit score this fall, which would include BNPL. But at least two of the big companies that offer these microloans want to know more before sharing data with credit bureaus. Also today: presidential calls for leadership changes at Intel, data on job-finding, and a tariff-squeezed building contractor.
Sweeping new tariffs on more than 90 countries around the world - which US president Donald Trump has advocated for - have come into effect.
Producers of staple goods such as Brazilian coffee say the tariffs will have a big impact on their industry.
Also in the programme: The Kremlin says presidents Trump and Putin will meet in the coming days to talk about Ukraine; and we'll get a rare glimpse into a besieged city, el Fasher in Sudan, where people are starving and terrified.
(Photo shows shipping containers in Frankfurt, Germany on 7 August 2025. Credit: Hannes P Albert/EPA)
