Category: Series

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More or Less: Behind the Stats - Does a single AI query use a bottle of water?

We’re living through boom-times for Artificial Intelligence, with more and more of us using AI assistants like ChatGPT, DeepSeek, Grok and Copilot to do basic research and writing tasks.

But what is the environmental impact of these technologies?

Many listeners have got in touch with More or Less to ask us to investigate various claims about the energy and water use of AI.

One claim in particular has caught your attention - the idea that the equivalent of a small bottle of drinking water is consumed by computer processors every time you ask an AI a question, or get it to write a simple email.

So, where does that claim come from, and is it true?

Reporter: Paul Connolly Producer: Tom Colls Production co-ordinator: Brenda Brown Sound mix: Donald McDonald Editor: Richard Vadon

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Audio Mises Wire - America’s War on Arab Christians

The recent attack by Israeli setters on the village of Taybeh in the West Bank has brought attention to the conflicts between Israel and the Christian population in Palestine. American Christians who uncritically support Israel should take a harder look at what is happening.

Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/americas-war-arab-christians

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60 Songs That Explain the '90s - “Heavy Metal Drummer”—Wilco

In this week’s episode, Rob uses the blueprint he learned from all of his favorite rock band movies, like 'Dig!' and 'The Great Muppet Caper,' to better understand the self-proclaimed misunderstood band Wilco. He takes us through Jeff Tweedy’s journey, starting with Wilco’s predecessor Uncle Tupelo, which diverged from the marketable grunge movement of its time to make forthright folk music. Unsurprisingly, Tweedy continued not to write music for the masses and the labels, inadvertently making hits like “Heavy Metal Drummer.” Later, Rob is joined by Dylan Tupper Rupert, who explains how she discovered Wilco as a 12-year-old and how a band can make even the most childless of listeners feel like a dad (in the best way).


Host: Rob Harvilla

Guest: Dylan Tupper Rupert

Producers: Olivia Crerie, Chris Sutton, and Justin Sayles

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More or Less: Behind the Stats - Are abortion numbers rising in the US?

In June 2022 the United States Supreme Court passed what became known as ‘the Dobbs decision’. In doing so they overturned the long standing constitutional right for women to access abortion in the US. Since then a number of states have banned abortion completely with many others having highly prohibitive rules. You’d expect the numbers of abortions to go down. They haven’t. How is it possible that more people are accessing abortions in a post Dobbs society and why is it not true that states which have total bans have zero abortions per year? Presenter: Lizzy McNeill Producer: Lizzy McNeill Series Producer: Tom Colls Production Co-ordinator: Rosie Strawbridge Studio Manager: Neil Churchill Editor: Richard Vadon, Bridget Harney.

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The Indicator from Planet Money - What you need to know about the jobs report revisions

Why do revisions to the jobs report happen? Today on the show, we speak with a former Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics about why revisions occur and how we should interpret the monthly report's actual message.

Related episodes:
Can we still trust the monthly jobs report? (Update)
What really goes on at the Bureau of Labor Statistics (Update)
​​How you're using AI at work

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