Bad Faith - Episode 550 Promo – Epstein, Chomsky, & The Politics of Betrayal (w/ Chris Hedges)

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Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, author, & theologian Chris Hedges returns to Bad Faith to engage in a spirited debate about how to act now that liberal incrementalism has led to incremental fascism. Why does it feel like so much left discourse is explaining why we aren't ready to act: "Insufficient union density, insufficient political consciousness, insufficient organization"? If it only takes 3% of the population to spark revolutionary change, what can we do with the tens of millions who mobilized for George Floyd or Palestine? How do we sustain civil disobedience as the state increasingly criminalizes free speech and ratchets up penalties as they did for Jessica Reznicek? Also, Hedges discusses his viral commentary on Epstein's relationship with Noam Chomsky, why he's not a Marxist, and more. Can't skip this one.

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Produced by Armand Aviram.

Theme by Nick Thorburn (@nickfromislands).

Native America Calling - Monday, February 16, 2026 — Tribes come to grips with $1.5 billion federal funding retraction

With help from Congress, the Trump administration stripped some $1.5 billion in federal funds previously promised to tribes. A lot of that was in the form of contracts for clean energy manufacturing and development — new money doled out three years earlier as part of President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act. A new analysis by the Brookings Institution identifies three funding and policy changes, including reductions in SNAP and Medicaid, that negatively affect Native Americans. The research firm says the actions continue a pattern of disinvestment and falls short of the federal government’s binding responsibility to Indian Country.

GUESTS

Robert Maxim (Mashpee Wampanoag), fellow at The Brookings Institution

Chéri Smith (Mi’kmaq descendant), president and CEO of the Alliance for Tribal Clean Energy

Timothy Nuvangyaoma (Hopi), vice president of tribal engagement for the Alliance for Tribal Clean Energy and former chairman of the Hopi Tribe

Dr. Kyle Whyte (Citizen Potawatomi Nation), professor at the School for Environment and Sustainability at the University of Michigan

CBS News Roundup - 02/16/2026 | World News Roundup

New plea from Savannah Guthrie. It's the third day of the partial government shutdown. And the latest on the Winter Games. CBS News Correspondent Cami McCormick has those stories and more on the World News Roundup podcast.

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Marketplace All-in-One - Heating bills are going up this winter

We learned on Friday that inflation dropped to 2.4% — the lowest it’s been in almost five years. But certain prices are still rising much faster than that overall measure, including utilities. The National Energy Assistance Directors Association projects that people will have to spend over $1,000, on average, to heat their homes this winter. Plus, the IRS lost more than 25% of its staff to cuts. Is it ready for this tax season?

Marketplace All-in-One - TikTok’s parent company pledges AI safeguards

From the BBC World Service: The Chinese tech company ByteDance says it'll curb its AI video app, Seedance, which is being used to create viral life-like clips of Hollywood stars; Disney and other entertainment giants have threatened legal action over it. Then, the UK government says it will review its regulation of AI to better protect children online. And later, Starbucks is hoping AI will help turn around the company's fortunes.

Marketplace All-in-One - High-tech data centers get a powerful assist from a century-old company

Caterpillar, which manufactures heavy duty equipment like asphalt pavers, diesel engine locomotives, and industrial gas turbines, has been around for 101 years. And now, the company seems to be one of the big winners of the AI infrastructure build out.


Big tech companies are working as fast as possible to get their data centers up to power artificial intelligence. Some are building their own natural gas plants to provide electricity for those data centers. Enter Caterpillar, maker of electric generators. Marketplace’s Dan Ackerman has been reporting on this.

Bay Curious - Meet the Duduk Whisperer

While you might not recognize the name, there’s a good chance you’ve heard the haunting, almost otherworldly sound the duduk makes. This humble shepherd’s flute wandered out of the Armenian countryside and into Hollywood, making cameos on the scores of movies and shows like The Gladiator and The Last Temptation of Christ. The duduk was even recently synthesized on both Dune soundtracks. Audiences in the Bay Area don’t get many chances to hear the instrument live — unless they’re able to catch a performance by Santa Rosa-based Khatchadour Khatchadourian -- the duduk whisperer.


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This story was reported by Elize Manoukian. This story first aired on the California Report Magazine and was produced by Victoria Mauleon, Suzie Racho, Brendan Willard, Katherine Monahan, Srishti Prabha and Sasha Khokha. 


Bay Curious is made by Olivia Allen-Price, Katrina Schwartz and Christopher Beale. Additional support from Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Maha Sanad, Ethan Toven-Lindsey and everyone on Team KQED.

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Headlines From The Times - DHS Barrels Towards Shutdown as Congress Leaves Washington and a CA Bill May Provide Mortgage Relief to LA Fire Victims

The Department of Homeland Security could shut down this weekend if lawmakers leave Washington for a holiday break without reaching a deal on a funding bill. Meanwhile, inflation cooled in January. New data shows U.S. inflation at 2.4%, just above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target. In other news, President Trump repealed the 2009 endangerment finding on greenhouse gases, reversing years of federal climate policy. And in Southern California, a storm is expected to bring moderate rain and potentially dangerous waves to the coast next week. In business, a proposed California bill would extend mortgage relief for homeowners rebuilding after the Palisades and Eaton fires, and Wall Street is selling stocks seen as vulnerable to artificial intelligence disruption. Read more at LATimes.com.

Stuff They Don't Want You To Know - Strange News: The FAA’s Big Whoopsie (or Conspiracy), Epstein Updates, Sketchy Phone Calls

With no warning to the public or the local government, the FAA suddenly announced airspace in El Paso would be completely shut down until February 20th -- only to rescind the order less than 11 hours afterward. Cue the conspiracy theories. The guys review some of the recent Epstein revelations, mysterious phone call cover-ups, the story of a mysterious biolab in Vegas, and more in this week's strange news segment.

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Up First from NPR - DHS Shutdown, Ukraine Peace Talks, Olympics Stars Stumble

Congress is out on recess as a partial shutdown at the Department of Homeland Security is underway after talks collapsed over immigration enforcement reforms.
Officials from the U.S., Russia, and Ukraine prepare for new peace talks in Geneva as Moscow presses territorial demands and Kyiv insists on security guarantees.
And at the Winter Olympics in Italy, American speed skater Jordan Stolz is making history while other superstar athletes struggle with the intense pressure of competing on the world’s biggest stage.

Want more analysis of the most important news of the day, plus a little fun? Subscribe to the Up First newsletter.

Today’s episode of Up First was edited by Jason Breslow, Kate Bartlett, Tina Kraya, Eric Whitney, Mohamad ElBardicy and Adam Bearne.

It was produced by Ziad Buchh and Nia Dumas.

Our director is Christopher Thomas.

We get engineering support from Neisha Heinis. And our technical director is Simon-Laslo Janssen.

(0:00) Introduction
(01:57) DHS Shutdown
(05:38) Ukraine Peace Talks
(09:26) Olympics Stars Stumble

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