We're excited to offer some interviews as bonus content on Getting Hammered with friends of the show on topics we care about. Today, Karen Vaites, an expert on literacy and curriculum, who really knows the nitty-gritty about how students learn, what works, and what we can replicate. We rant a bit about school closings and Randi Weingarten, then get on to the business of moving forward— the Mississippi Miracle, the Southern Surge, and whether skepticism is warranted. We are optimists. There is good news! We're trying to spread the word and help spread the strategy. That's where you come in.
Over the Christmas season, it is estimated that some 3.6 million families in Japan will tuck into KFC over Christmas (other fried chicken is available), which inspired the Unexpected Elements team to chew over all things chicken!
First up, we discover that chicken may never have become domesticated if it wasn’t for rice farming. We also ponder whether the chicken or the egg came first (are you Team Chicken or Team Egg)? Next, we find out that humans are surprisingly smart at translating chicken chatter.
We’re then joined down the line by Dr Jingmai O’Connor, associate curator of fossil reptiles at the Field Museum of Natural History, who reveals more about the links between dinosaurs and birds.
Plus, how Brazil became a poultry superpower, and what happens to chickens in tornadoes.
All that, plus many more Unexpected Elements.
Presenter: Marnie Chesterton, with Camilla Mota and Godfred Boafo
Producers: Alice Lipscombe-Southwell, with Sophie Ormiston, Ella Hubber and Robbie Wojciechowski
OA1215 - We examine why the potential merger of Warner Brothers Discovery with either Netflix or Paramount would almost be certainly illegal under better circumstances before mourning the imminent loss of the independence of the one government agency which is supposed to stop this kind of thing. What exactly is the Federal Trade Commission, and why was destroying it a top priority for Project 2025? We then take a closer look at this week’s oral arguments in Trump v. Slaughter, in which the Supreme Court’s MAGA majority is poised to turn the FTC and dozens of other independent agencies into tools for Trump’s corruption and graft. Finally, in today’s footnote: why is an actual government website hawking the Trump Gold Card, and can the President really just make up a completely new way to give anyone with one million dollars a new path to US citizenship?
The Trump Administration has put billions of dollars into building an immigration superstructure meant to punish those who have done nothing wrong and intimidate everyone else – including legal immigrants and US citizens. Weirdly enough, that’s proving not to be very popular. According to new polling from the Associated Press, Trump is now deeply underwater on the subject of immigration – with 60 percent of respondents opposing his handling of the issue. So to talk more about what’s happening with immigration, from the Administration’s plans for 2026 to its many horrifying offenses, we spoke to Aaron Reichlin-Melnick. He’s a Senior Fellow at the American Immigration Council.
And in headlines, dueling healthcare bills fail in the Senate, nature-lovers push back on plans to make President Trump the face of their National Park adventures, and Disney becomes the first major studio to license its characters to OpenAI’s video generator.This holiday season, gift someone a Friends of the Pod subscription or treat yourself. Learn more at crooked.com/friends. Subscribing is the best way to support independent progressive media.
Donald Trump holds a campaign-style rally to hit his affordability message: making fun of the very idea of an affordability message, and telling parents to buy their kids fewer dolls. And when asked by Politico what grade he’d give the economy right now, he answers: “A+++++.” Jon and Dan discuss how Trump’s communications effort is landing and then turn to the rest of the news, including Indiana Republicans’ decision to reject a new Trump-backed congressional map, Trump’s jaw-droppingly low approval rating in a new AP poll, and Democrats’ continued fight to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies before they expire at the end of the year. Then, Rep. Adam Smith, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, talks to Jon about the administration’s seizure of an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela and the illegality of the strikes on boats in the Caribbean—including what Smith saw when the Pentagon showed him the video of the infamous double tap strike.
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.
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Want more business storytelling from us? Check our weekly deepdive show, The Best Idea Yet: The untold origin story of the products you're obsessed with. Listen for free to The Best Idea Yet: https://wondery.com/links/the-best-idea-yet/
About Us: The daily pop-biz news show making today’s top stories your business. Formerly known as Robinhood Snacks, The Best One Yet is hosted by Jack Crivici-Kramer & Nick Martell.
SpaceX and Blue Origin are trying to move the trillion-dollar data-center boom into orbit, but getting there will take a whole lot of cash. Wall Street Journal reporter Micah Maidenberg lays out what’s ahead in this new space race. Plus, WSJ reporter Ellen Gamerman explains what’s next for Tilly Norwood, the AI actress who’s shaking up Hollywood. Katie Deighton hosts.
After years of discussions, Taos, N.M. decided to remove Kit Carson’s name from a widely used park in the center of town. Carson’s renown as a Western frontiersman grew from greatly exaggerated tales in pulp novels and newspaper articles. Only later did his violent exploits against Navajos and other tribes emerge. He was among the main figures in the Long Walk, the forced march of 10,000 captive Navajos. More than a third of them died.
In Michigan, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers removed a Washington Monument-style obelisk commemorating the construction of shipping locks on Lake Michigan. The obelisk sat atop the remainder of a burial ground. Lock construction destroyed the main part of the sacred area but the Bay Mills Indian Community and Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians continue to hold ceremonies there. We’ll talk with tribal advocates about their years-long work to change how their histories are viewed by the public.
GUESTS
Jeremy Lujan (Taos Pueblo), Taos Pueblo tribal secretary
Jesse Winters (Taos Pueblo), Taos Pueblo second sheriff
Dr. Gregorio Gonzales (Comanche and Genizaro), tribal historic preservation officer for the Pueblo of Cochiti
Paula Carrick (Bay Mills Indian Community), tribal historic preservation officer for Bay Mills Indian Community
Break 1 Music: Take Your Troubles to the River (song) Vincent Craig (artist) Self-titled Release (album)
Break 2 Music: She Raised Us (song) Joanne Shenandoah (artist) LifeGivers (album)
Two new books delve into the best and worst corners of the internet. First, Jacob Geller creates YouTube essays about art, literature, film, video games and more. He’s compiled those essays in print form in a new book called How a Game Lives. In today’s episode, Geller speaks with Here & Now’s Scott Tong about how video games help him explore life’s big questions. Then, Nick Clegg was president of global affairs at Meta, a position he left earlier this year. In today’s episode, Clegg talks with NPR’s Steve Inskeep about his new book How to Save the Internet.
To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookoftheday
