With the shutdown over, it's time to ask the question: What do Democrats actually want? We can't quite figure it out but we try. Also, Epstein. Give a listen.
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Lost Debate - The Age of Extraction
Ravi sits down with Tim Wu, author of The Age of Extraction, to unpack how America’s biggest tech empires rose—and why they might be due for a breakup. From Teddy Roosevelt’s railroad wars to Amazon’s pay-to-play marketplace, Wu traces how antitrust battles have shaped innovation for more than a century. He explains how Amazon’s tactics—copycat products, buried listings, and punishing sellers—mirror the monopolies of the past, and what the FTC is trying to change. The episode ends on AI, asking whether Big Tech’s wild spending is fueling progress—or just building smarter walls around its power.
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Tim Wu’s The Age of Extraction
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Listen to Where the Schools Went: https://thebranchmedia.org/show/where-the-schools-went/
The Daily - ‘He Knew’: What Epstein Said About Trump in New Emails
Thousands of pages of newly released emails between Jeffrey Epstein and his associates have put the convicted sex offender’s relationship with President Trump back in the spotlight.
David Enrich and Michael Gold, who have been covering the story, explain what the new documents tell us and discuss whether they could prompt the release of the rest of the Epstein files.
Guest:
- David Enrich, a deputy investigations editor for The New York Times.
- Michael Gold, a congressional correspondent for The New York Times.
Background reading:
- Mr. Trump said the Democrats were bringing up the Epstein “hoax” to deflect from the government shutdown.
- House Republicans asserted that the emails revealed little information.
Photo: Doug Mills/The New York Times
For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.
Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.
First Things Podcast - Is the UK a Nation of Immigrants? (ft. Louise Perry)
In this episode, Louise Perry joins Rusty Reno on The Editor’s Desk to talk about her recent essay, “Indigenous London,” from the November 2025 issue of the magazine.
Tech Won't Save Us - Saudi Arabia is Using Games to Improve Its Image w/ Nathan Grayson
Paris Marx is joined by Nathan Grayson to discuss how Saudi Arabia is buying its way into the sports, comedy, and video game industries in order to broaden its investment portfolio and launder its international reputation.
Nathan Grayson is a cofounder of Aftermath and the author of Stream Big: The Triumphs and Turmoils of Twitch and the Stars Behind the Screen.
Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Support the show on Patreon.
The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Kyla Hewson.
Also mentioned in this episode:
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Aftermath launched a refreshed website. Check it out!
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Nathan wrote about the problems with the Saudi-EA deal.
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GeoGuessr users made their maps unplayable in protest against the game’s announced participation in the Esports World Cup.
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Here’s a more comprehensive list of Saudi Arabia’s game investments.
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And here’s a history of Saudi Arabia’s investments in sports.
1A - The Financial Burden Of Caregiving
In-home elder care costs are rising more than three times faster than inflation.
AARP estimates that caregivers in the U.S. spend an average of $7,242 out of pocket each year.
Cuts to federal spending have gutted programs that support them. And amidst the longest government shutdown in history, what little help was left is quickly drying up.
Why is the cost of care going up? What can be done to combat those costs?
Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.
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NPR Privacy Policy
AARP estimates that caregivers in the U.S. spend an average of $7,242 out of pocket each year.
Cuts to federal spending have gutted programs that support them. And amidst the longest government shutdown in history, what little help was left is quickly drying up.
Why is the cost of care going up? What can be done to combat those costs?
Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
NPR Privacy Policy
The Gist - John J. Lennon — “I’m Owning My Sh*t on the Page”
John J. Lennon, currently incarcerated at Sing Sing Correctional Facility, discusses The Tragedy of True Crime: Four Guilty Men and the Stories That Define Us, arguing that true crime's fixation on innocence obscures the harder stories of guilt, punishment, and change. He describes refusing to be branded "Inside Evil" on Chris Cuomo's show—and how that exploitation pushed him toward critiquing the genre from within. Lennon explains why he writes himself beneath the other men he profiles—even as he's "owning [his] sh*t on the page" so he can have a life when he gets out. Also: an analysis of the odd-bedfellows coalition pushing to force a House vote on releasing the Epstein case files.
Produced by Corey Wara
Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com
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The Source - Holy Guacamole! How avocados became an $18 billion industry
How did the Avocado become the toast of the nation? The humble tropical fruit is now common in supermarkets, but even in the 1980s many Americans had never seen an avocado, much less tasted one. How did this once obscure alligator pear come to occupy a central spot in American culture?
The Bulwark Podcast - Mikie Sherrill and Michael Fanone: Full-Time Criming and Corruption
New Jersey’s governor-elect credits her big win last week to an affordability message—and ignoring the pundits. But Sherrill also tied rising costs and declining economic opportunity to Trump’s laser-like focus on the worldwide extortion racket he’s running out of the Oval Office. Plus, former D.C. cop Michael Fanone says the current FBI won’t follow up on the threats against him and his family, the Justice Department doesn’t seem too concerned about pedophilia, and “snowflake” border patrol boss Greg Bovino has small-man complex.
Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill and Michael Fanone join Tim Miller.
show notes
Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill and Michael Fanone join Tim Miller.
show notes
- Tim's 'Bulwark Take' with Julie K. Brown
- Sarah and Andrew on the Epstein emails
- Tim and Dave Wasserman on Dems racking up redistricting wins
- Fanone's YouTube channel
- Will Sommer's reporting on The Blaze's pipe-bomb story
- Will on Kash's private jet problem
- Get $35 off your first box of wild-caught, sustainable seafood—delivered right to your door. Go to: https://www.wildalaskan.com/BULWARK.
Federalist Radio Hour - ’You’re Wrong’ With Mollie Hemingway And David Harsanyi, Ep. 175: The Longest Shutdown Ever
Join Washington Examiner Senior Writer David Harsanyi and Federalist Editor-In-Chief Mollie Hemingway as they discuss the imminent end of the longest government shutdown, analyze what Republicans are doing about voters' discontent with the economy, debate H1-B visas and mass immigration, and explain the reaction to the BBC's deceptive editing of President Donald Trump. Mollie and David also review The Ten Commandments, Wick Is Pain, and Pluribus.
If you care about combating the corrupt media that continue to inflict devastating damage, please give a gift to help The Federalist do the real journalism America needs.
If you care about combating the corrupt media that continue to inflict devastating damage, please give a gift to help The Federalist do the real journalism America needs.