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Plus: The Trump administration conditionally approves plans for new cryptocurrency-focused national banks. And bond markets signal growing risk about a potential AI bubble. Julie Chang hosts.
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While some viewers complain that AI-generated ads look uncanny, brands like Coca-Cola are making them anyway. WSJ’s Katie Deighton explains how Coke remade their iconic “Holidays Are Coming” ad with artificial intelligence, and what that signals for the ad industry’s future. Jessica Mendoza hosts.
Further Listening:
- The Era of AI Layoffs Has Begun
- How a $1.5 Billion Settlement Could Alter the Course of AI
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Irving Finkel is a scholar of ancient languages and a longtime curator at the British Museum, renowned for his expertise in Mesopotamian history and cuneiform writing. He specializes in reading and interpreting cuneiform inscriptions, including tablets from Sumerian, Akkadian, Babylonian, and Assyrian contexts. He became widely known for studying a tablet with a Mesopotamian flood story that predates the biblical Noah narrative, which he presented in his book “The Ark Before Noah” and in a documentary that involved building a circular ark based on the tablet’s technical instructions.
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Transcript:
https://lexfridman.com/irving-finkel-transcript
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EPISODE LINKS:
Irving’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drirvingfinkel/
The Ark Before Noah (book): https://amzn.to/4j2U0DW
Irving Lectures Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYXwZvOwHjVcFUi9iEqirkXRaCUJdXGha
British Museum Video Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0LQM0SAx603A6p5EJ9DVcESqQReT7QyK
British Museum Website: https://www.britishmuseum.org/
The Great Diary Project: https://thegreatdiaryproject.co.uk/
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OUTLINE:
(00:00) – Introduction
(00:43) – Sponsors, Comments, and Reflections
(09:53) – Origins of human language
(15:59) – Cuneiform
(23:12) – Controversial theory about Göbekli Tepe
(34:23) – How to write and speak Cuneiform
(39:42) – Primitive human language
(41:26) – Development of writing systems
(42:20) – Decipherment of Cuneiform
(54:51) – Limits of language
(59:51) – Art of translation
(1:05:01) – Gods
(1:10:25) – Ghosts
(1:20:13) – Ancient flood stories
(1:30:21) – Noah’s Ark
(1:41:44) – The Royal Game of Ur
(1:54:43) – British Museum
(2:02:08) – Evolution of human civilization
NPR recently met with a senior Hamas leader on the outskirts of Doha, Qatar as the organization prepares to negotiate the next stage of the Gaza ceasefire. He says Hamas is willing to lay down its weapons for up to ten years. Our correspondent gives us the highlights of the conversation.
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Plus: Broadcom’s stock slides after the chip maker's latest earnings report. And Iranian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi was arrested at a public event, according to her foundation. Pierre Bienaimé hosts.
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The UN says a powerful storm is sweeping through Gaza, leaving 800,000 people in danger from deluged camps and collapsed buildings. (130) Long description (no character limit and should always end with the words below): The UN says a powerful storm is sweeping through Gaza, leaving 800,000 people in danger from deluged camps and collapsed buildings.
Also: an Australian minister accuses Reddit of trying to protect its profits, after it launches a legal challenge against the country's landmark social media ban for under-16s; how a growing number of young women are challenging the Iranian authorities; why the low-budget French videogame "Clair Obscur" has seen off its bigger American rivals to sweep the Game Awards; why conservationists fear some of the world's rarest apes, the Tapanuli orangutans, may have been destroyed in a devastating cyclone; and how changes in polar bear DNA could help protect the Arctic animals from climate change. The Global News Podcast brings you the breaking news you need to hear, as it happens. Listen for the latest headlines and current affairs from around the world. Politics, economics, climate, business, technology, health – we cover it all with expert analysis and insight. Get the news that matters, delivered twice a day on weekdays and daily at weekends, plus special bonus episodes reacting to urgent breaking stories. Follow or subscribe now and never miss a moment. Get in touch: globalpodcast@bbc.co.uk
Here we are in mid-December, which means that along with all of the other year-end lists we produce and avidly consume at this time each year, The New York Times Book Review's staff critics are also looking back on everything they read in 2025, and toasting the books that have stayed with them.
On this episode, host Gilbert Cruz talks with Dwight Garner, Alexandra Jacobs and Jennifer Szalai about their standout fiction and nonfiction of the past 12 months.
Books mentioned:
Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.