Roundup pesticides get a pass from Georgia. CrowdStrike joins the AI craze. A mysterious birdpocalypse in California. Regeneron buys the bankrupt 23andMe, prompting concerns over consumer's DNA. Free El Gato. All this and more in this week's strange news segment.
Whether rich or poor, young or old, everyone on the planet has to eat. Government institutions monitor the safety, cleanliness and consistency of our favorite foods, but as with any global industry, there are more than a few skeletons in the collective closet of the food and beverage business. Join Ben and Matt as they dive down the gastronomic rabbit hole of food conspiracies in tonight's Classic episode.
The Trump administration cut a quarter of the staff at Haskell Indian Nations University in February. A little over a month later a judge reinstated those positions. Even though the jobs at Haskell and other Bureau of Indian Education schools were restored, uncertainty over the future of those institutions prevails. Similar anxiety accompanies dozens of other important programs and institutions including libraries, museums, low-income heat assistance, and Medicaid. We’ll get updates from places feeling the effects of fast-changing federal support.
More than 42,000 Native Americans served in the military during the Vietnam War, the vast majority as volunteers. They faced racist and stereotypical taunts from fellow service members. After their service, veterans suffered psychological and emotional trauma at a higher rate than other populations. As the nation marks 50 years since the fall of Saigon and the end of the war, we’ll hear from Native Vietnam veterans about what the conflict means to them now. This is an encore show so we won’t be taking live calls from listeners.
Hi, ICHH fans! We want to share a new show, Away Days: Reporting from the Underbelly.
Away Days Podcast is an episodic documentary series focused on unreported stories from the fringes of society. We’re compassionately documenting the underground without watering it down or editorially obscuring it. This is independent journalism with no filter. Real, raw, and ugly. Journalist Jake Hanrahan, the host and creator of Away Days has spent the last 10 years embedded in places he’s not meant to be. With unique access and a straightforward style of on-the-ground reporting, the listener will be taken deep into the places they didn’t know existed.
Episode 1: A Cold Day for Violence
Welcome to the world of ‘No Rules’, a new underground fighting subculture where anything goes. Biting, head stamping, eye gouging, hair pulling, elbows, headbutts—it’s all allowed. These fights are fought on concrete, with no gloves, and no rounds. It’s non-stop organized ultraviolence, and we’ve been allowed to see it first hand…
LeBron James was selling out basketball arenas while still in high school. At just 18, he said he was offered a $10 million cheque from Reebok - on the spot - if he agreed not to meet any other brands. It was a life-changing sum for a teenager living with his mum in the projects.
But LeBron turned it down. He was willing to hedge his bets.
He’s won four NBA championships, four Most Valuable Player titles, three Olympic golds, and scored more points than anyone in league history. Yet, as BBC business editor Simon Jack and journalist Zing Tsjeng reveal, most of his fortune hasn’t come from basketball. With a lifetime deal from Nike, plus investments, endorsements, and savvy business moves, LeBron has built an empire way beyond the court, becoming one of sport’s richest ever people.
Good Bad Billionaire is the podcast exploring the lives of the super-rich and famous, tracking their wealth, philanthropy, business ethics and success. There are leaders who made their money in Silicon Valley, on Wall Street and in high street fashion. From iconic celebrities and CEOs to titans of technology, the podcast unravels tales of fortune, power, economics, ambition and moral responsibility, before inviting you to make up your own mind: are they good, bad or just another billionaire?
Ten years ago, on the fourth episode of the show, I investigated why the C-word is considered a worse swear than the others. Since then - well really just in the last three years or so - there has been a huge development: the word has hit the mainstream as a compliment, in the forms of serving it and -y. Linguists Nicole Holliday and Kelly Elizabeth Wright discuss this use of the word originating in the ballroom culture of New York City in the 1990s, and what it means to turn such a strong swear into praise.
Related to this: the Allusionist live show Souvenirs! Which is about, among other things, some of the tech problems today's word causes, and how being one can wreck a friendship and a printing press. See Souvenirs in Toronto 1 June and Montréal 9 June; find ticket links and venue info at theallusionist.org/events.
Visit theallusionist.org/serving for a transcript of this episode, plus links to more information about topics in the episode, and the rest of Four Letter Word season.
Support the show at theallusionist.org/donate and as well as keeping this independent podcast going, you also get behind-the-scenes glimpses about every episode, fortnightly livestreams with me and my dictionaries, and the Allusioverse Discord community.
This episode was produced by me, Helen Zaltzman, on the unceded ancestral and traditional territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. The music is by Martin Austwick. Download his songs at palebirdmusic.com and listen to his podcasts Song By Song and Neutrino Watch.
Find the Allusionist at youtube.com/allusionistshow, instagram.com/allusionistshow, facebook.com/allusionistshow, @allusionistshow.bsky.social… If I’m there, I’m there as @allusionistshow.
Our ad partner is Multitude. If you want me to talk compellingly about your product, sponsor an episode: contact Multitude at multitude.productions/ads. This episode is sponsored by:
• Squarespace, your one-stop shop for building and running your online forever home. Go to squarespace.com/allusionist for a free 2-week trial, and get 10 percent off your first purchase of a website or domain with the code allusionist.
• Rosetta Stone, immersive and effective language learning. Allusionist listeners get 50% off unlimited access to all 25 language courses, for life: go to rosettastone.com/allusionist.
• Home Chef, meal kits that fit your needs. For a limited time, Home Chef is offering Allusionist listeners fifty per cent off and free shipping on your first box, plus free dessert for life, at HomeChef.com/allusionist.
• Quince, luxurious clothing and homewares at prices 50-80% lower than comparable brands. Go to Quince.com/allusionist for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns.
Live from NotACon with Guest Rogue Adam Russell; News Items: New Cambrian Fossil, Best Archaeopteryx Specimen, Chimps Using First Aid, Treatment for Baldness, New Color - Olo, The Next Theranos, Bespoke Genetic Therapy; Science or Fiction
