The Journal. - Is America on Too Many Psychiatric Drugs?

As part of a year-long investigation, WSJ’s Shalini Ramachandran and Betsy McKay have been reporting on two of the most commonly prescribed psychiatric medications in America: benzodiazepines and antidepressants. These drugs weren’t intended for long-term use, but some Americans end up on them for years. Betsy and Shalini spoke to many patients who experienced the downsides. So a basic question popped up: Is America overmedicated?

Further Listening:

- A Quick Fix for Hair Loss Is Making Some Men Sick

- Uncontrolled Substances, Part 1: Subscribe and Prescribe

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1A - How The Idea Of Affordability Is Shaping Our Politics

No matter where you live in the U.S., you’ve probably heard stories — or have your own — about not being able to afford to live. The couple in their 30s that can’t buy a home. The 20-something who can’t afford rent without living with several roommates. The family of five who feel pinched every time they visit the grocery store. The retiree struggling to pay their health insurance premium.

Whatever the situation, these stories are becoming central to how Americans are experiencing the economy. And this feeling is shaping politics.

A CBS poll from October suggests inflation and the economy are now the top concern among Americans. According to the Urban Institute, 52 percent of U.S. families don’t have the resources to cover what it costs to live. The average monthly cost of groceries has also risen 32 percent since 2019.

What do when we mean when we say something is “affordable?” And how do we achieve that goal when the target keeps moving?

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In the Loop with Sasha-Ann Simons - Chicago Favorite Son Robert Townsend Is Back In Town

Acclaimed actor, filmmaker, and comedian Robert Townsend is hosting a pop-up film festival to support local charities. The West Side native joins In the Loop to talk about his storied career and efforts to give back to Chicago. For a full archive of In the Loop interviews, head over to wbez.org/intheloop.

The Commentary Magazine Podcast - A Not-Good Election for the GOP

Jesse Arm of the Manhattan Institute joins us as we examine the results of the special election in Tennessee that had a Republican candidate winning with a greatly reduced margin from Trump's showing in the district in 2024. Arm then shares with us some pathbreaking research into attitudes and ideas inside the Trump electoral coalition. And Abe Greenwald recommends a new HBOMax documentary called Paul Anka: His Way. Give a listen.

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CoinDesk Podcast Network - How Opera and Celo Plan to Bring Financial Inclusion to One Billion People by 2030

Opera EVP of Mobile Jørgen Arnesen and Celo Co-Founder Rene Reinsberg announce an extension of their MiniPay partnership.

Opera and Celo are extending their MiniPay partnership, aiming to onboard one billion people into the Web3 economy by 2030. Celo Co-Founder Rene Reinsberg and Opera EVP of Mobile Jørgen Arnesen join CoinDesk Live from Binance Blockchain Week to discuss the announcement and share how this product abstracts crypto complexity, enabling easy payments and access to mini apps for hundreds of millions of existing Opera users.

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This episode was hosted by Jennifer Sanasie and Sam Ewen.

The Bulwark Podcast - Jonathan Lemire: A Bubble-Wrapped Trump

Trump’s rallies have been his signature event, but since he returned to the White House, he has stopped doing them. And his allies are worried he’s losing touch with voters, as well as his political antenna. Instead of traveling the country, he’s dining with billionaires, playing golf, and going abroad in search of his elusive peace prize. Meanwhile, he can’t stay awake in own Cabinet meetings. Plus, the heat is on Hegseth, the ex-Honduran president Trump pardoned bragged about stuffing drugs up the noses of Americans, and the results of the Tennessee special election are a good sign for Democrats—and a reminder for the party to go all-in on the gerrymandering war.

Jonathan Lemire joins Tim Miller.

show notes

Big Technology Podcast - How An AI Model Learned To Be Bad — With Evan Hubinger And Monte MacDiarmid

Evan Hubinger is Anthropic’s alignment stress test lead. Monte MacDiarmid is a researcher in misalignment science at Anthropic.The two join Big Technology to discuss their new research on reward hacking and emergent misalignment in large language models. Tune in to hear how cheating on coding tests can spiral into models faking alignment, blackmailing fictional CEOs, sabotaging safety tools, and even developing apparent “self-preservation” drives. We also cover Anthropic’s mitigation strategies like inoculation prompting, whether today’s failures are a preview of something far worse, how much to trust labs to police themselves, and what it really means to talk about an AI’s “psychology.” Hit play for a clear-eyed, concrete, and unnervingly fun tour through the frontier of AI safety.

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Federalist Radio Hour - ’You’re Wrong’ With Mollie Hemingway And David Harsanyi, Ep. 177: Another Washington Post Hoax

Join Washington Examiner Senior Writer David Harsanyi and Federalist Editor-In-Chief Mollie Hemingway as they analyze the Washington Post's latest anonymously-sourced hoax targeting Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, discuss the implications of an Afghan national's suspected terrorist attack on two national guardsmen in Washington, D.C., and explain the latest Somali scam out of Minnesota. Mollie and David also review Richard Ayoade's Travel Man and debate whether generational comedy holds up over time. 


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