Hamas hands over more bodies of deceased hostages as tensions rise in Gaza over the next phase of the ceasefire deal. The government shutdown stretches into its third week with no negotiations underway, as pressure builds on both parties to break the stalemate. And the Supreme Court takes up a major case on Louisiana’s congressional map that could weaken the Voting Rights Act nationwide.
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Today’s episode of Up First was edited by Miguel Macias, Jason Breslow, Anna Yukhananov, Mohamad ElBardicy and Martha Ann Overland.
It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Nia Dumas and Christopher Thomas
We get engineering support from Carleigh Strange. And our technical director is Stacey Abbott.
As Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners are reunited with their families, Israel waits for the return of more hostage remains. The Trump administration prepares to offer Argentina $20 billion in bailout funds. And family members are furious after Philadelphia’s medical examiner declares their daughter died by suicide – with more than 20 stab wounds.
On September 2, 31 BC, one of the most important battles in history took place off the coast of Greece.
The forces of Octavian, the posthumously adopted son of Julius Caesar, squared off against the forces of Mark Antony, the former right-hand man of Julius Caesar.
After having been partners in ruling Rome for years, the two developed irreconcilable differences that had to be resolved on the battlefield.
The outcome of the battle influenced the course of the Roman Empire for centuries.
Learn more about the Battle of Actium, what caused it, and how it affected history on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
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Eliezer Yudkowsky is as afraid as you could possibly be. He makes his case.
Yudkowsky is a pioneer of A.I. safety research, who started warning about the existential risks of the technology decades ago, – influencing a lot of leading figures in the field. But over the last couple of years, talk of an A.I. apocalypse has become a little passé. Many of the people Yudkowsky influenced have gone on to work for A.I. companies, and those companies are racing ahead to build the superintelligent systems Yudkowsky thought humans should never create. But Yudkowsky is still out there sounding the alarm. He has a new book out, co-written with Nate Soares, “If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies,” trying to warn the world before it’s too late.
So what does Yudkowsky see that most of us don’t? What makes him so certain? And why does he think he hasn’t been able to persuade more people?
This episode of “The Ezra Klein Show” was produced by Rollin Hu. Fact-checking by Michelle Harris. Our senior engineer is Jeff Geld, with additional mixing by Aman Sahota. Our executive producer is Claire Gordon. The show’s production team also includes Marie Cascione, Annie Galvin, Kristin Lin, Jack McCordick, Marina King and Jan Kobal. Original music by Pat McCusker. Audience strategy by Kristina Samulewski and Shannon Busta. The director of New York Times Opinion Audio is Annie-Rose Strasser. Special thanks to Helen Toner and Jeffrey Ladish.
After cancelling much of America’s international development funding, President Donald Trump is now using that money to boost friends, allies against China and buy goods and influence. Ukraine is striking Russia’s fuel infrastructure deep inside the country. And why JD Wetherspoon is not just a British bargain boozer.
It’s Vapid Response Wednesday, and Thomas, Lydia, and Matt are back to take apart more bad-faith nonsense from some of the worst people in public life. First up: The Atlantic's Caitlyn Flanagan on why it is totally fine that her good friend Bari Weiss is taking over one of the most prestigious news organizations in the United States after running a glorified blog which has been liberated from any reasonable idea of journalistic standards. MAGA law professor Johnathan Turley then completely fails to explain why capital-A “Antifa”--a set of tactics and ideas which he has previously acknowledged in writing is not actually a “group” and should not be treated as one--is actually a group which should be treated as one. Finally, Newsweek-ruiner Josh Hammer makes his second appearance on Vapid Response Wednesday as he responds to some weird nonsense from Candace Owens.
Tim Harford investigates some of the numbers in the news. This week:
The Conservative party conference has been told that millions of people are getting free cars from the government because they have ADHD and anxiety. Is that right?
The chair of the Labour party says that only 3% of farmers will be affected by proposed changes to inheritance tax. Is that true?
The charity Movember claim that two in five men die too young. What does that really mean?
And Tim’s mid-life crisis has manifested itself in a marathon run. We ask a scientist if data can help him finish faster.
If you’ve seen a number in the news you think we should take a look at, let us know: moreorless@bbc.co.uk
Presenter: Tim Harford
Reporter: Nathan Gower
Producer: Lizzy McNeill
Series producer: Tom Colls
Production co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele
Sound mix: Gareth Jones
Editor: Richard Vadon
Does good democratic government require intelligent, moral, and productive citizens? Can our political institutions educate the kind of citizens we wish or need to have? With recent arguments "against democracy" and fears about the rise of populism, there is growing scepticism about whether liberalism and democracy can continue to survive together. Some even question whether democracy is worth saving.
In Democracy Tamed: French Liberalism and the Politics of Suffrage (Oxford UP, 2024), Gianna Englert argues that the dilemmas facing liberal democracy are not unique to our present moment, but have existed since the birth of liberal political thought in nineteenth-century France. Combining political theory and intellectual history, Englert shows how nineteenth-century French liberals championed the idea of "political capacity" as an alternative to democratic political rights and argued that voting rights should be limited to capable citizens who would preserve free, stable institutions against revolutionary passions and democratic demands. Liberals also redefined democracy itself, from its ancient meaning as political rule by the people to something that, counterintuitively, demanded the guidance of a capable few rather than the rule of all. Understandably, scholarly treatments of political capacity have criticized the idea as exclusionary and potentially dangerous. Englert argues instead that political capacity was a flexible standard that developed alongside a changing society and economy, allowing liberals to embrace democracy without abandoning their first principles. She reveals a forgotten, uncharted path of liberalism in France that remained open to political democracy while aiming to foster citizen capacity. Overall, Democracy Tamed tells the story of how the earliest liberals deployed their notion of the "new democracy" to resist universal suffrage. But it also reveals how later liberals would appropriate their predecessors' antidemocratic arguments to safeguard liberal democracies as we have come to know them.
Gianna Englert is Associate Professor of Humanities in The Hamilton School for Classical and Civic Education at the University of Florida.
Morteza Hajizadeh is a Ph.D. graduate in English from the University of Auckland in New Zealand. His research interests are Cultural Studies; Critical Theory; Environmental History; Medieval (Intellectual) History; Gothic Studies; 18th and 19th Century British Literature.
