A disgruntled Tesla owner blows up his car rather than paying thousands of dollars for a new battery. In an equally explosive development, technology allows a paralyzed man to post a tweet... simply by thinking about it. All this and more in this week's Strange News.
All of this week's episodes of It Could Happen Here put together in one large file.
Join us on 2/17 for a live digital experience of Behind the Bastards (plus Q&A) featuring Robert Evans, Propaganda, & Sophie Lichterman. If you can't make it, the show will be available for replay until 2/24!
Nostradamus. Edgar Cayce. Baba Vanga. Have any of history's alleged psychics successfully predicted the future? Join Ben, Matt and Noel as look at humanity's efforts to predict the future, from ancient oracles to the bleeding edge of science.
What exactly is China doing on the African continent? How can we best interpret near-death experiences? Why did one listener happen to come across a ghostly episode of Stuff They Don't Want You To Know on the radio? All this and more in this week's listener mail.
Baratunde asks how can we citizen with tech when we disconnect millions from technology and from society as a whole by incarcerating them? He closes the season in conversation with two people who’ve served time for felony convictions and are now working in tech to expand opportunities for all: Shaka Senghor, author and head of DEI for TripActions, and Teresa Hodge, president of Mission: Launch and co-founder of R3 Score which changes how employers use background checks.
Guest: Shaka Senghor
Bio: Bestselling author and speaker; Head of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at TripActions
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ACTIONS
- PERSONALLY REFLECT
Are we that bad?
The United States has five percent of the world’s population and 25 percent of the world’s prison population. Ask yourself the question Teresa wants us all to ask: are we that bad?
- BECOME INFORMED
Who is leading the spaces you spend time in?
Take stock of the companies whose products and services you use the most and the non-profits you may be supporting. Now go take a look at their boards and senior leadership. Do they reflect the experiences of the communities they serve?
The Last Mile is an incredibly effective organization that prepares incarcerated individuals for successful reentry through business and technology training. Support their work through donation, volunteering, or better yet, hire their graduates!
Redeemed Sole, an organization Shaka founded, highlights a number of organizations helping people avoid or return from incarceration. Find an initiative there, and donate, amplify, or join in some way.
Find out if your workplace, school, or even landlord uses traditional criminal background checks to determine someone’s suitability. If they do, encourage them to join Teresa’s Bank on 100 Million initiative, and take the pledge yourself.
Big Pharma gets a bad name in the press, and the actions of multinational pharmaceutical companies are often the subject of various conspiracies – but are any of the allegations true? Learn more about theories behind political corruption, tainted medicine and more.