The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the unemployment rate remained steady at 4.1% and 12,000 jobs were added to the U.S. economy during October. It's a lower-than-expected jobs number, from a period that saw two significant hurricanes in the southeast and a strike from workers at Boeing. Today on the show, we explain the complexities of calculating the monthly job numbers, and why the Bureau of Labor Statistics can be trusted.
Related episodes: Behind the scenes of Jobs Friday (Apple / Spotify / NPR)
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Another nail in the coffin of Sen. Chuck Schumer's reputation for being a voice for the Jewish community was hammered yesterday by the Free Beacon with an earthquake of a story in which he seeks to bury evidence of anti-Semitism on the Columbia University campus. This leads us into a discussion of, what else, the election. Give a listen.
Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition leader, died in a Siberian prison this past February–and in his diary entries, Navalny wrote that he knew he might not make it out alive. Those diaries are part of Navalny's new memoir, Patriot, published posthumously with help from his widow, Yulia Navalnaya. The book details some of Navalny's darkest moments in his fight for a more democratic Russia, but also showcases the leader's characteristic humor. In today's episode, Navalnaya joins NPR's Ari Shapiro to talk about a pivotal conversation between the couple during a prison visit, the duality of her late husband's personality as a serious politician and an ordinary family man, and taking up the mantle of the Russian opposition movement after Navalny's death.
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Today, there is a giant rift that is tearing the continent of Africa apart.
..and I mean this quite literally because the rift isn’t cultural, economic, or political, it’s geologic.
In several million years, Africa will be split into two continents, and while the process will take a long time, you see ample evidence for it right now.
Learn more about the East African Rift and how it has shaped the modern continent of Africa on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
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Donald Trump dresses up like a sanitation worker as a message stunt and says he'll "protect" women "whether the women like it or not." Kamala Harris seizes on those remarks in events in the swing states, sharpening her argument against Trump on abortion and health care. In the final Friday episode before Election Day, Jon and Dan discuss all the latest and what they're watching for in each of the battleground states on Tuesday. Then, Nebraska's independent Senate candidate, Dan Osborn, talks with Dan about how he's pulled even with the Republican incumbent in one of the reddest states in the country, and how he plans to win.
For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.
In 1880, the Chinese were the biggest group of immigrants in the western U.S. But Sinophobic sentiments crystallized into racist policies and eventually the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. The rationale was that banning Chinese laborers would boost job opportunities for U.S.-born workers. Today, an economist explains how the Chinese exclusion laws affected the economies of western states and what it says about our current debate over immigration and jobs.
The introduction of soldiers from both North and South Korea in Russia's assault on Ukraine poses significant risks for the US. Cato's Doug Bandow explains.