There is a select handful of people who were never meant to step foot into an office due to their proclivity to screw around. Just like we sent Rob packing to Ohio to bother no one but himself, Lowestoft, England shipped us The Darkness. During the post-grunge era when rock was murkily defined, we were gifted front man and lead singer Justin Hawkins on a silver platter (his manager’s shoulders) to give us crude operatic hair metal ballads. This week, Rob discusses, “I Believe in a Thing Called Love,” a song that proves if you dive head first into cheesiness, it becomes ironic and cool. Later, he is joined by Jill Hopkins who talks about the experience of watching The Darkness live and then comparing that to the people who feel confident enough to sing The Darkness at karaoke.
China will soon unveil its economic blueprint for the next five years, including a target for economic growth. This comes as consumption is down, wages aren’t rising, and property prices continue to drop. So what’s the plan? Today, we hear from NPR’s China correspondent Jennifer Pak about the challenges facing China’s economic policymakers.
FYI, we are going on a book tour! Planet Money’s first ever book comes out in April. We’ll be celebrating in about a dozen cities. There’s a limited edition tote bag included with your ticket, while supplies last. Details, dates and how to get your ticket at planetmoneybook.com.
Author Andrew Krivak grew up hearing stories about his grandfather, who died in a coal mine collapse in the early 1900s. These stories inspired Mule Boy, a novel about a 13-year-old who survives a deadly accident at a Pennsylvania mine. The story takes place during a 24-hour period in which the boy, now an old man, reflects on what took place there. In today’s episode, Krivak joins NPR’s Scott Simon for a conversation about being the grandson of Slovak immigrants, the trio brought together in Mule Boy, and the way Krivak tried to mimic oral storytelling in the novel.
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Our ongoing coverage of the Iran war continues with comments made by Marco Rubio and Mike Johnson on the justification for war, the historical comparisons to George W. Bush and the Iraq War, and the Trump administration's deficiencies in maintaining coherent messaging.
Amanda Holmes reads Galway Kinnell’s “After Making Love We Hear Footsteps.” Have a suggestion for a poem by a (dead) writer? Email us: podcast@theamericanscholar.org. If we select your entry, you’ll win a copy of a poetry collection edited by David Lehman.
This episode was produced by Stephanie Bastek and features the song “Canvasback” by Chad Crouch.
On Saturday, February 28, the United States and Israel launched a massive military assault on Iran that resulted in the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, along with much of his senior command. This came less than two months after the United States military captured Nicolás Maduro, the president of Venezuela, in an overnight raid.
The president seems to believe that he can decapitate these regimes and control their successors without events spinning out of his control. Is he right?
Ben Rhodes is a New York Times Opinion contributing writer and a co-host of “Pod Save the World.” He served as a senior adviser to President Barack Obama and worked on the Iran nuclear deal.
In this conversation, we discuss the ongoing conflict in Iran, how Democrats should respond, and whether Trump’s “head on a pike” approach to foreign policy underestimates the chaos of war.
This episode of “The Ezra Klein Show” was produced by Jack McCordick. Fact-checking by Michelle Harris with Mary Marge Locker, and Kate Sinclair. Our senior engineer is Jeff Geld, with additional mixing by Aman Sahota and Isaac Jones. Our executive producer is Claire Gordon. The show’s production team also includes Marie Cascione, Annie Galvin, Rollin Hu, Kristin Lin, Emma Kehlbeck, Marina King and Jan Kobal. Original music by Pat McCusker. Audience strategy by Kristina Samulewski and Shannon Busta. The director of New York Times Opinion Audio is Annie-Rose Strasser.
The Trump administration struggles to justify its new war with Iran, while Democrats struggle to effectively explain why Americans should oppose it. Jon, Tommy, and Lovett react to Trump's first live remarks following the killing of six American soldiers and dissect the administration's conflicting comments about the war's rationale, objectives, and timeline. Then, they discuss how Democrats are talking about it, why not even all of MAGA is on board, the Department of War declaring Anthropic a "supply chain risk," and the Ellison family's impending takeover of CNN. Then, Lovett talks to Senator Ruben Gallego about Iran and the Democratic Party's Senate primaries in Maine and Texas.
Journalist Jason Zengerle spent years observing right-wing media personality Tucker Carlson. His new book Hated by All the Right People asks: Does Carlson believe what he says? Zengerle’s reporting maps changes in the former Fox host’s views, such as the shift in how he spoke to his audience about the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, and the 2020 election. In today’s episode, Zengerle talks with NPR’s Steve Inskeep about what Carlson was like as a young journalist, the controversial Nick Fuentes interview, and why Zengerle views Carlson more as a "movement leader” than a media persona.
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