Category: 3-SometimeCommentary

Introducing the newest thing in higher (and we really mean higher — like look UP) education: The Flying Pig Academy. A dream of The Village Square (with support from Florida Humanities) for many years, it’s finally aloft. The division in American society is big and seems impossible at times to address. 

This Flying Pig Episode: If you’re trying to build community in this fractured time (for anything), have we got a hack for you. At a time when binaries rule the day (you’re either with “us” or “them,” with us or against us), “complicating the narrative” between groups has a powerful effect on the conversations and relationships that are even possible. That means civic entrepreneurs need to be on the lookup for unexpected combinations—of traits in people, of relationships between people, of coalitions of groups. We call it being criss-crossey, a term we’re just sure is going to sweep the nation.

Miss the first Flying Pig Academy Episode? Find it here.

The second in the series, after "Location, Location, Location" is an homage to our intellectual hero (and lucky for us, our friend and colleague) Dr. Jonathan Haidt who - literally - wrote the book for Pigs With Big Dreams. The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion.

Oh and if you haven't watched the "hive switch-y" Almost Famous Tiny Dancer scene we mention toward the end of the episode, here's your chance.

Find the full list of Flying Pig Academy Episodes online here.

The Village Square is a proud member of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what's broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.

The U.S. military has blown up three boats in the Caribbean Sea in the past three weeks, killing 17 people aboard.

Each time, President Trump has claimed that the boats were carrying drugs to the United States and that those killed were “narcoterrorists.” But he has offered no concrete evidence to back up this claim.

Charlie Savage, who covers national security for The New York Times, tells us what he has learned about what may be the true objective behind these airstrikes and whether any of this is even legal.

Guest: Charlie Savage, who writes about national security and legal policy for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

• Last week, Mr. Trump said the U.S. military had attacked a third boat suspected of carrying drugs, killing three.
• He has claimed the power to kill those suspected of drug smuggling.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

Photo: Elizabeth Frantz for The New York Times

Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Paris Marx is joined by Ed Niedermeyer to discuss the mission to turn Elon Musk into the world’s first trillionaire, Tesla’s growing interest in making robots instead of cars, and how other automakers are coming for the EV market it once dominated.

Ed Niedermeyer is the author of Ludicrous and co-host of the Autonocast.

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:

• Tesla is paying out a series of lawsuits, and the California DMV has called for a one-month ban on Teslas being driven in the state.

• Curious to see what Tesla’s current Optimus robot is like?

• Is Tesla the world’s biggest meme stock?

• Tesla lied about data relating to a fatal accident until a hacker found it.

• ICE raided a Hyundai plant earlier this month.

A record number of people are being detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

And the conditions they’re reporting have been described as cruel and inhumane.Last month, 60,000 people were detained by ICE, breaking a record set by the previous Trump administration.

A Los Angeles Times analysis of public data found that more than a third of detainees have spent time in a dedicated facility that is over capacity.

And now, county jails and ICE field offices are being transformed to fill those gaps.

Jails held an average of about 10 percent of all detainees (7,100 people) each day in July, according to the Prison Policy Initiative.

So, what fallout is the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown having on ICE detention centers? What are the conditions in these centers like? And what legal options do detainees have?

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Earlier this summer Carmen Herrera was detained by ICE outside of San Antonio’s immigration court. She’s a mother of five girls who are all U.S. citizens and she is also married to a U.S. citizen. After she was detained, Herrera’s nightmare began—and it’s a story shared by many in our community. Herrera’s story is told in a new documentary.array(3) { [0]=> string(20) "https://www.tpr.org/" [1]=> string(0) "" [2]=> string(1) "0" }

Laura Spinney joins to discuss her new book Proto: How One Ancient Language Went Global, tracing the unlikely rise of Indo-European and why most of the world now speaks it. Also, a look at the Dallas ICE field office shooting in the broader context of political violence and how we categorize it. And in the Spiel: Jimmy Kimmel’s comeback monologue, Donald Trump’s cancellation calculations, and Sarah McLachlan’s rhymes—or lack thereof.

Produced by Corey Wara

Production Coordinator Ashley Khan

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Ravi Gupta welcomes back Lenore Skenazy, author of Free-Range Kids and president of Let Grow, to explore how fear-driven parenting and digital distraction are reshaping childhood. From the 1980s milk-carton panic to today’s surveillance tech, they show how over-scheduling breeds helplessness instead of competence. Citing new polling, Skenazy reveals kids overwhelmingly prefer unstructured play with friends over screens or adult-run activities. They link these trends to rising youth anxiety, falling literacy, and weakened civic resilience—arguing that restoring children’s freedom is both a personal and political imperative.

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Join Washington Examiner Senior Writer David Harsanyi and Federalist Editor-In-Chief Mollie Hemingway as they reflect on Charlie Kirk's memorial service, debunk the lies surrounding the Jimmy Kimmel broadcasting controversy, and discuss the Supreme Court's decision to reconsider Humphrey's Executor v. United States. Mollie also shares her love for Mexican food, and David shares his culture picks for the week. 

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