It's ancient, it's huge, and it's cited in all sorts of fringe theories, from stories of lost civilizations to ley lines and more. But what is Stonehenge, really? Find out in this classic episode.
The discovery of a mass grave at the site of a Canadian Residential School leads to calls for further investigation as the country comes to grips with the horrors of the past. The US calls for further inquiries into the origins of COVID-19. A death in Japan leads to speculation regarding the upcoming Olympics. All this and more in today's strange news.
It's true -- back in 1999, the CIA founded its own venture capital investment firm. Unlike other, similar businesses, In-Q-Tel doesn't really need to make a profit, and their portfolio isn't particularly diverse. But they do invest, and if you can get their attention, you can get the budget of your dreams. So what exactly is this thing, and why does it have some people worried?
A caller inspires the guys to look into explanations for a strange UFO sighting in south Georgia. Investigators use a photograph of a man holding cheese to capture and analyze fingerprints. A listener breaks down some of the reasons why sexual assault kits end up getting caught in the notorious, ongoing national backlog -- and the guys explore what would happen if that backlog was fixed. All this and more in this week's listener mail.
“It’s hard to citizen when you can’t pay the bills.” This season’s theme has revealed the economic causes of our deep division and has opened our eyes to how our democracy and economic well-being are incredibly interconnected. This week, Baratunde weaves together lessons from across this season, discovers surprising takeaways, and revisits stories that have more in common than we expected when we set out to make this season. Listen to a virtual conversation among our guests that will reveal new insights.
Show Notes + Links
Go to howtocitizen.com to sign up for show news, AND (coming soon!) to start your How to Citizen Practice. And become a paid subscriber to newsletter.baratunde.com for ad-free versions of the podcast.
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ACTIONS
PERSONALLY REFLECT
Reflect on the Season
Ask yourself, how did this season make you feel? How has it challenged you and what have you learned? And if you're comfortable sharing, we’d love to hear from you! Send an email to comments@howtocitizen.com or leave a voice memo with feedback in general, how does citizen.com/voicemail
BECOME INFORMED
Keep Learning
Understanding the economy and the structures behind it is essential to being able to participate as a citizen in our democracy. We hope we have made that case this season, but there’s always more to learn. Head over to www.bookshop.org/shop/howtocitizen for plenty of reading materials from the season including titles written and recommended by our guests. We particularly recommend Heather McGhee’s The Sum of Us and Jessica Gordon Nembhard’s Collective Courage.
PUBLICLY PARTICIPATE
Choose your own
We’ve asked you to do a lot this season, from joining the fight for a $15 minimum wage to supporting various bills to investing in non-extractive real estate. And sometimes, it’s hard to know where to start. All of the actions from this season will be available at howtocitizen.com, plus we are designing a choose your own adventure to help you get started on, or further deepen, your citizen practice. Sign up for our email newsletter to stay connected as the digital arm of the show launches later in Summer 2021- visit www.howtocitizen.com to sign up!
If you take any of these actions, share that with us - action@howtocitizen.com. Mention in the subject line. And share about your citizening on social media using #howtocitizen.
How To Citizen with Baratunde is a production of iHeartRadio Podcasts and Dustlight Productions. Our Executive Producers are Baratunde Thurston, Elizabeth Stewart, and Misha Euceph. Stephanie Cohnis our Senior Producer and Alie Kilts is our Producer. Kelly Prime is our Editor. Original Music by Andrew Eapen. Valentino Rivera is our Engineer. Sam Paulson is our Apprentice. This episode was produced and sound designed by Stephanie Cohn. Special thanks to Joelle Smith from iHeartRadio.
Conflict has decided the course of human civilization since the dawn of recorded history, and war has evolved in step with our species. Numerous countries spend billions every year either waging war or preparing for future conflicts. But what if there's more to the story? What if, at this point, war has become an economic necessity?
From the Opium Wars to prohibition and the modern drug trade, human civilization has been irreversibly influenced by wars over drugs. Has it worked? Could it ever? Find out in this classic episode.
It appears the government of China is testing a camera system that uses AI and facial recognition to reveal unspoken emotional states in the oppressed Uyghur population. After a creepy personal experience with social media, privacy expert Robert G. Reeve busts the myths about our phones hearing us -- and reveals, instead, what he sees as the much more disturbing reality of automated online stalking. All this and more in this week's strange news.
From the "Employees Only" doors of local businesses to vast swathes of ocean and secret labs in some of the world's most remote locations, planet Earth is filled with restricted areas. In today's episode, the guys explore the nature of restricted zones -- and the rumors about the Stuff They Don't Want You To Know going on inside.
Just how many people have spotted unusual, faerie-like creatures on the frontier? Why do some medical institutions still use electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)? What if some inanimate objects are not only self-aware, but resentful? All this and more in this week's listener mail.
