This Machine Kills - Patreon Preview – 442. The Empire of Blood and Oil

We chat about the Karp x Fink interview at Davos, the humiliation ritual of making Adam Tooze sit on a panel about how batteries are a Chinese threat to America, how an administrative rule change at the EPA about the (non-)value of life in regulatory cost-benefit analysis will be a major accelerant for the American Empire of Blood and Oil — plus a forbidden riff. ••• Trump’s E.P.A. Has Put a Value on Human Life: Zero Dollars https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/21/climate/epa-human-life-value.html Standing Plugs: ••• Order Jathan’s book: https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520398078/the-mechanic-and-the-luddite ••• Subscribe to Ed’s substack: https://substack.com/@thetechbubble ••• Subscribe to TMK on patreon for premium episodes: https://www.patreon.com/thismachinekills Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (bsky.app/profile/jathansadowski.com) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (www.x.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (bsky.app/profile/jebr.bsky.social)

Planet Money - Can transforming neighborhoods help kids escape poverty?

In the 1990s, Congress created HOPE VI, a program that demolished old public housing projects and replaced them with more up-to-date ones. But the program went further than just improving public housing buildings. HOPE VI was designed to transform neighborhoods with concentrated poverty into neighborhoods that attracted people with different incomes. Some people who moved to HOPE VI neighborhoods earned too much to qualify for public housing. And some even paid for market-rate housing. The idea was that this would help create new opportunities for the low-income people who lived there and even lift people out of poverty.

For years though, there wasn’t a clear answer to whether this approach actually succeeded. A new working paper from Raj Chetty and the team at Opportunity Insights finally provides some answers. On today’s show: Who really benefits when people living in poverty are more connected to their surrounding communities? Are there lessons from the HOPE VI experiment that could apply to other kinds of policies aimed at fostering upward mobility?

More about Opportunity Insights’ study and a link to their interactive map here.

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Newshour - Trump : Iran ‘needs’ to sign nuclear deal

Is the United States about to launch a larger attack on Iran, than last June, when 'Operation Midnight Hammer' targeted its nuclear programme? Earlier this month President Trump told protesters that "help was on the way," and now thousands are dead. We hear from a former US envoy to Iran.

Also on the programme: Tensions over ICE agents persist in Minnesota - we get a view from the Democrats; and we hear the extraordinary story of mathematician Dr Gladys West, who has died at the age of 95.

(Photo: The USS Abraham Lincoln shown in 2019; Credit : US Navy via Reuters)

Lost Debate - Pretti Killing, ICE Impunity, NVIDIA Dominance

Ravi begins by explaining why this conversation matters to him: although he’s often skeptical of tech leaders, he sees Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang as a rare and genuinely consequential figure. He briefly reflects on the Pretti shooting in Minnesota and the broader questions it raises about accountability and transparency before turning to the interview. Ravi then speaks with author Stephen Witt about the forces that shaped Jensen’s leadership—from a punishing childhood and Nvidia’s early brush with failure to the high-risk CUDA bet that helped make modern AI possible. It’s an absorbing portrait of leadership, obsession, and the building of one of the most important tech companies of our time.


Stephen Witt’s Jensen Huang, Nvidia, and the World's Most Coveted Microchip

Ravi's Garbage Town

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WSJ What’s News - Fed Enters a New Holding Pattern on Interest Rates

P.M. Edition for Jan. 28. The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady, and though officials signaled openness to cutting rates again, they didn’t indicate when that might happen. WSJ investing columnist Spencer Jakab discusses the decision and its implications. Plus, Amazon says it’s cutting 16,000 jobs, bringing its total cuts since October to about 30,000. And two Border Patrol agents who shot Alex Pretti and the ICE officer who shot and killed Renee Good in Minneapolis have been put on leave. Alex Ossola hosts.


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WSJ Minute Briefing - Stocks Mostly Flat As Fed Keeps Interest Rates Steady

Plus: Nvidia shares rise as China approves the purchase of its AI chip. And Deutsche Bank stock falls amid a money laundering investigation. Katherine Sullivan hosts.


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State of the World from NPR - What to know about President Trump’s Board of Peace

In the past year, President Trump has often threatened or turned to military force. Yet he likes to present himself as a peacemaker, and that includes his new plan for a global Board of Peace. We hear from two NPR correspondents about what the Board of Peace could be.



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The Journal. - Can $60 Billion Boost Disney’s Theme Park Magic?

Disney’s largest source of revenue is its theme parks and cruises. The people responsible for designing those attractions are the secretive Imagineers. WSJ’s Ben Fritz reports that the company is spending $60 billion to create more Disney magic and it's up to the Imagineers to make it work. Ryan Knutson hosts. 


Further Listening:


- Disney’s Big AI Dilemma
- Disney Gets Into Gambling



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Motley Fool Money - Starbucks Is Back, But Is It a Buy?

Earnings season is in full swing and we’re here to break down Starbucks and GM, who reported earlier this week. After that, we’ll talk about why silver has skyrocketed in 2026 and what to expect from precious metals in the future.


Travis Hoium, Lou Whiteman, and Rachel Warren discuss:

- Starbucks earnings

- GM Earnings

- GM’s autonomy plans

- Will silver’s run continue?


Host: Travis Hoium

Guests: Lou Whiteman, Rachel Warren

Engineer: Dan Boyd


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