Category: 3-SometimeCommentary

Meet the God Squad, the brains behind our series “Faith, Food, Friday: Improbable conversations for people of faith and no faith at all (because talking politics wasn’t hard enough)." We hope you’ll join us as we explore what happens when people of good will who might not agree cross each others’ thresholds and break a little bread together. Whoever you are, whatever your beliefs, bring an open mind and open heart for a continuing conversation on the topics your mother taught you to never broach in polite company.

What's happening to us? A conversation between neighbors.  The God Squad is introduced to podcast listeners in this throwback program from November 2018, just after the synagogue tragedy in Pittsburgh and just before the 2018 election.  As we approach the 2020 election during a time of deep divisions and a global pandemic, we find ourselves astonished at how relevant this program is today.  Even the short description from this event could have been written for 2020:

"The tragic events of the last week have devastated an already polarized country. As we head into a divisive election we seem to lack the capacity to be together even in times of national grief and trauma. So we’ve asked the God Squad to provide some much-needed perspective in this storm. Whether you’re a God Squad regular or you’ve never been, we hope you’ll join us."

Paris Marx is joined by JS Tan to discuss the internet’s connection with neoliberalism, China’s protectionist measures to develop its own tech industry, and how the new tensions between the United States and China are leading Silicon Valley to embrace nationalism.

JS Tan is a former tech worker and writer. He also started Collective Actions in Tech. He recently wrote articles about the tech angle on the Cold War for Foreign Policy and Trump’s attempted TikTok ban for Jacobin. Follow JS on Twitter as @organizejs.

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. Follow the podcast (@techwontsaveus) and host Paris Marx (@parismarx) on Twitter.

Find out more about Harbinger Media Network and follow it on Twitter as @harbingertweets. You can also find Kino Lefter on Twitter.

Also mentioned in this episode:

• The solidarity between tech workers in the United States and China
• Key insights into tech worker activism from the Collective Actions in Tech database
• Mark Zuckerberg’s speech at Georgetown University
• Peter Thiel’s tech nationalism op-ed in the New York Times
• Eric Schmidt’s tech nationalism op-ed in the New York Times

Support the show

On the Gist, a vice presidential debate starring plexiglass.

In the interview, Mike hosts a roundtable discussion with journalist Richard Kreitner and Vox’s Matthew Yglesias to talk about how each of their new books address the problem of an ever-increasing American population. They debate if the U.S. should split into more manageable nations, or if the country should keep pushing population growth. Yglesias’ book is One Billion Americans: The Case for Thinking Big, and Kreitner’s latest is Break It Up: Secession, Division, and the Secret History of America’s Imperfect Union.

In the spiel, Delco, South Philly, and NY tri-state area Italian Americans for Joe Biden.

Email us at thegist@slate.com

Podcast production by Daniel Schroeder and Margaret Kelley.

Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Andy starts with an update on President Trump’s health and the impact of what’s happening at 1600 Superspreader Avenue with Dr. Bob Wachter. Then, Connecticut senator and ACA advocate Chris Murphy discusses the future of the ACA, what the COVID-19 outbreak among Republican senators means for the Amy Coney Barrett hearings, the looming election, and what you can do to work for a positive outcome for all of those.

Keep up with Andy on Twitter @ASlavitt and Instagram @andyslavitt.

Follow Dr. Bob Wachter on Twitter @Bob_Wachter. Follow Senator Chris Murphy on Twitter and Instagram @ChrisMurphyCT. 

In the Bubble is supported in part by listeners like you. Become a member, get exclusive bonus content, ask Andy questions, and get discounted merch at https://www.lemonadamedia.com/inthebubble/ 

Support the show by checking out our sponsors!

• Livinguard masks have the potential to deactivate COVID-19 based on the testing they have conducted from leading universities such as the University of Arizona and the Free University in Berlin, Germany. Go to shop.livinguard.com and use the code BUBBLE10 for 10% off.
• You can digitally purchase life insurance from Haven Life Insurance Agency at havenlife.com/bubble. Haven Term is a Term Life Insurance Policy (ICC17DTC) issued by Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual), Springfield, MA 01111 and offered exclusively through Haven Life Insurance Agency, LLC. Policy and rider form numbers and features may vary by state and not be available in all states. Our Agency license number in California is 0K71922 and in Arkansas, 100139527.

Check out these resources from today’s episode: 

• Watch Senator Chris Murphy speak on the Senate floor about Amy Coney Barrett and the ACA: https://twitter.com/civilrightsorg/status/1311420966887714819 
• Check out the article about constructive alternatives to “doomscrolling” Senator Murphy mentions in today’s episode: https://www.vox.com/21497021/how-to-help-win-election 
• Read more about Dr. Bob Wachter’s reaction to President Trump’s actions since his COVID-19 diagnosis: https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Top-UCSF-doctor-slams-Trump-s-motorcade-trip-15620796.php 
• Are you hoping to vote in the 2020 election? Are you confused about how to request an absentee ballot in your state? This website can help you with that: https://www.betterknowaballot.com/  
• Volunteer to work at your local polling place this November 3rd: https://www.powerthepolls.org/. 
• Pre-order Andy’s book, Preventable: The Inside Story of How Leadership Failures, Politics, and Selfishness Doomed the U.S. Coronavirus Response, here: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250770165 

To follow along with a transcript and/or take notes for friends and family, go to www.lemonadamedia.com/show/in-the-bubble shortly after the air date.

Stay up to date with us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at @LemonadaMedia. For additional resources, information, and a transcript of the episode, visit lemonadamedia.com.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Gist, a buffet of bad takes from Joe Piscopo.

In the interview, CNN chief legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin is here to discuss a topic the Gist can’t seem to get enough of recently, the Mueller investigation. Toobin’s new book, True Crimes and Misdemeanors: The Investigation of Donald Trump, explores the investigation and analyzes its failures, and he talks with Mike about Mueller’s misplaced trust in institutions, and how sympathetic we should find him in light of that.

In the spiel, how do you feel about Trump’s diagnosis?

Email us at thegist@slate.com

Podcast production by Daniel Schroeder and Margaret Kelley.

Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Happy belated Mid-Autumn Festival! 

We pried Andy away from doomscrolling 45 to bring you this late-night episode of semi-coherent thoughts on the American regime, post-wet market theories of Covid-19, and listener queries on class.

0:00 – What is, even, anything? The big, maskless T has Covid, as does everyone around him. We talk conspiracies and sad, middling fantasies of functioning government. Is it time to give up on electoral politics? Will there ever be another Bernie?

28:30 – Twitter warrior and coronavirus prophet Zeynep Tufekci is out with a provocative new piece at The Atlantic. We reminisce about the bad old days at the start of this podcast, which we nearly christened “Pangolin Power Hour.” What does it mean for Covid-19 to be an “overdispersed pathogen”? Who is Pareto, and why does nationalized health care matter?

55:40 – We address a composite (brilliant! erudite!) listener question about class and class cosplay. Why do upper-class wokesters downplay their families’ money? Do upper- vs. upper-middle-class distinctions even matter in elite spaces? Should our class backgrounds influence our career choices or social politics? And why do we tell and retell Asian American immigrant tales of overcoming? Thanks to Janis Jin, @Soledad_Kyrie, and Lisa.

And thanks to all of you for supporting TTSG (https://goodbye.substack.com). Please stay in touch via Twitter (@ttsgpod) and email (timetosaygoodbyepod@gmail.com), and tell all your friends and enemies to subscribe.