A U.S. blockade of Venezuelan oil tankers may sound disruptive, but global oil is plentiful, and Gulf Coast refiners remain tied to Venezuela’s heavy crude after decades of investment. If sanctions are lifted and Venezuelan oil flows again, it could benefit refiners and drivers alike. Also in this episode: why bank deposits are growing, how the Gap staged a successful turnaround, and where trade workers are experimenting with AI.
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We go through a number of moral panics about technology — vaping in schools,porn consumption online, social media use by teens — that are boiling over right now. In each of these cases, real problems have been identified and real policies have been implemented, while their real causes and concerns have been ignored. Instead, the critique of technology is used as a trojan horse for ramping up regressive forms of social paternalism and moral conservatism, which set strict boundaries and burdens on users, rather than producers.
••• Vaping Is ‘Everywhere’ in Schools—Sparking a Bathroom Surveillance Boom https://www.wired.com/story/vaping-surveillance-school-bathrooms/
••• Half of the US Now Requires You to Upload Your ID or Scan Your Face to Watch Porn https://www.404media.co/missouri-age-verification-law-porn-id-check-vpns/
••• Why Tech Moral Panic Matters https://www.hdavidsessions.com/p/why-tech-moral-panic-matters
••• Australia's social media ban for under-16s starts today. Here is what you should know https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-12-10/australias-social-media-ban-for-under-16s-starts-today/106119800
Standing Plugs:
••• Order Jathan’s 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)
The Trump administration is ramping up pressure on Venezuela and its leader. What is the ultimate goal?
President Trump says he’s imposing a ban on all ‘sanctioned’ oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela.
Venezuela’s government is calling this an ‘outrageous threat’ intended to rob the country of its oil wealth. For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at considerthis@npr.org.
This episode was produced by Tyler Bartlam, with audio engineering from Ted Mebane.
It was edited by Courtney Dorning and Christopher Intagliata.
P.M. Edition for Dec. 17. Some frustrated Republicans have bucked leadership and sided with House Democrats to force a vote on extending expiring healthcare subsidies. WSJ Congressional reporter Siobhan Hughes explains how next year’s midterms are factoring into that decision. Plus, the Oscars are going digital and heading to a new home: YouTube. And WSJ entertainment reporter Joe Flint tells us what options Paramount has left in its pursuit of Warner after the media company rejects its hostile bid. Julie Chang hosts. Sign up for the WSJ's free What's News newsletter.
The head of the World Health Organisation has called for the immediate and unconditional release of health workers who are believed to be detained in south- western Sudan. The Sudanese Doctors Network fears about 19,000 people could be held by Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Nyala, South Darfur. We hear from a journalist there about the situation.
Also in the programme: The Secret trial of a Chinese General who defied orders to crush the pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square; and Hollywood star Timothée Chalamet on his latest film.
(Photograph: Darfuri children in Tine refugee camp. Credit: Reuters)
The US economy is hooked on easy money and artificially low interest rates. Huge credit expansions are not “stimulating” the economy; they are destroying it.
The Trump administration is facing growing pushback after the U.S. Department of Education excluded nursing from its internal list of “professional degree” programs—an administrative definition that determines how much federal student loan funding graduate students can access under a new loan-cap framework.array(3) {
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In less than a month, more than 20 million Americans will face surging healthcare costs as tax credits through the Affordable Care Act are set to expire if Congress doesn't act. Premium hikes will top 90% in many rural areas. Even those NOT receiving tax credits will feel it. Americans covered by employer healthcare plans, are expected to see the largest increase in premiums 15 years.array(3) {
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Plus: Medline debuted with the largest IPO in four years. And Warner Bros. Discovery slides after it rejects Paramount’s hostile bid. Katherine Sullivan 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.
Electric vehicles were supposed to disrupt the auto industry, but sales are down, subsidies are going away, and Ford is pivoting away from EVs and taking $19.5 billion in charges to shift to hybrids. What strategy is the right one long-term?
Travis Hoium, Lou Whiteman, and Rachel Warren discuss:
- Ford’s $19.5 billion EV writedown
- Does Detriot have the right strategy?
- What’s next for Rivian and Tesla
Companies discussed: Ford (F), Rivian (RIVN), Tesla (TSLA), General Motors (GM), Lucid (LCID).
Host: Travis Hoium
Guests: Lou Whiteman, Rachel Warren
Engineer: Dan Boyd
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