Category: 3-SometimeCommentary

Hurricane Melissa is on track to make a direct hit on Jamaica today, with rains and winds already lashing the island.

Melissa is a category five storm, with winds clocked at up to 175 miles per hour. It’s the strongest storm on the planet this year and one of the most devastating on record.

Authorities in Jamaica and Cuba have issued evacuation orders for tens of thousands of people.

For years, scientists have been telling us that climate change will make hurricanes more dangerous.

What does this mean for the people of Jamaica? And what does a climate-change fueled future of hurricanes look like?

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As wildfire seasons grow longer and deadlier, states are increasingly relying on private companies to provide thousands of firefighters to the front lines.

Hannah Dreier, who has been covering the story, explains how lax rules and regulatory loopholes have left many of these firefighters sick, in debt and on their own.

Guest: Hannah Dreier, a New York Times reporter who writes in-depth stories about national issues.

Background reading: 

• Wildfire fighters, unmasked in toxic smoke, are getting sick and dying.
• Read the story about Joel Eisiminger. Just before turning 25, he was diagnosed with a cancer that usually strikes people more than twice his age.

Photo: Loren Elliott for The New York Times

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A former Senate staffer recently told our friend, reporter Dexter Filkins: “The last socialist systems in the world are in Cuba and the Pentagon.” My guest tonight is trying to do something about that. And good luck to anyone trying to get in his way.

When people think of defense tech titans, they might not think of my guest tonight, Palmer Luckey. He looks more like Jimmy Buffett than George S. Patton. But don’t let his looks deceive you.

At the age of 19, Palmer founded the VR company Oculus. Two years later, it was acquired by Facebook for more than two billion dollars. Then, when he was 24—while his peers were making dating apps and platforms to share thirst traps—he founded Anduril Industries, having had no experience whatsoever in the world of defense.

Now it’s a $30.5 billion company that develops drones, autonomous vehicles, subs, rockets, and software for military use.

At just 33, Palmer spends his days building the most technologically advanced software and war-fighting devices in the world. His goal is straightforward: “Move fast, build what works, and get it into the hands of people who need it.”

And the moment could not be more critical. Iran is trying to destabilize the Middle East. Russia is willing to lose countless soldiers to gain slivers of territory in Ukraine. China is gaming how to invade Taiwan—to say nothing of our intensifying cold war and AI arms race. And the West’s enemies are undermining us from without and within.

Bari sat down with Palmer Luckey live in D.C. to ask: What can we do about all of it? Does America still have the technological prowess—and, more importantly, the will—to win?

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With the continued federal government shutdown and SNAP not being funded for November, San Antonio and many other communities are confronting a hunger crisis. The San Antonio Food Bank is working to meet the sudden rising need. We are joined by Eric Cooper, president and CEO of the San Antonio Food Bank.array(3) { [0]=> string(20) "https://www.tpr.org/" [1]=> string(0) "" [2]=> string(1) "0" }

Philosopher John Sanbonmatsu’s The Omnivore’s Deception argues that eating animals—no matter how “humanely” raised—is inherently unethical. Rejecting the idea of sustainable meat, he calls for abolishing animal agriculture altogether.array(3) { [0]=> string(20) "https://www.tpr.org/" [1]=> string(0) "" [2]=> string(1) "0" }

Michelle Eisen, barista-turned-organizer from Buffalo's first unionized Starbucks, breaks down how Workers United grew from one store to hundreds—and why the real fight now is over pay, scheduling, and the right to keep your piercings. She pushes back on what she calls "the most aggressive union-busting in modern labor history."  Plus, examples of great journalism from The Daily on the Hole in The White House and The Atlantic on The Death Train. Also: a Spiel on tariffs, psyops, and Meet the Press mind games.

Produced by Corey Wara

Production Coordinator Ashley Khan

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