From the bustling ports of Lisbon to the coastal inlets of the Bight of Benin to the vibrant waterways of Bahia, Black mariners were integral to every space of the commercial South Atlantic. Navigating this kaleidoscopic world required a remarkable cosmopolitanism--the chameleonlike ability to adapt to new surroundings by developing sophisticated medicinal, linguistic, and navigational knowledge. In Captive Cosmopolitans: Black Mariners and the World of South Atlantic Slavery (Omohundro Institute and UNC Press, 2025) Mary E. Hicks shows how Portuguese slaving ship captains harnessed and exploited this hybridity to expand their own traffic in human bondage. At the same time, she reveals how enslaved and free Black mariners capitalized on their shipboard positions and cosmopolitan expertise to participate in small-scale commodity trading on the very coasts where they themselves had been traded as commodities, reshaping societies and cultures on both sides of the Atlantic. Indeed, as Hicks argues, the Bahian slave trade was ruthlessly effective because its uniquely decentralized structure so effectively incorporated the desires and financial strategies of the very people enslaved by it. Yet taking advantage of such fraught economic opportunities ultimately enabled many enslaved Black mariners to purchase their freedom. And, in some cases, they became independent transatlantic slave traders themselves. Hicks thus explores the central paradox that defined the lives of the captive cosmopolitans and, in doing so, reveals a new history of South Atlantic slavery centered on subaltern commercial and cultural exchange.
We’ll tell you why charges have been brought against the former head of the FBI in an unprecedented indictment—and how it’s stirring debate about whether politics are guiding prosecutions.
Also, a rare, urgent meeting bringing hundreds of senior U.S. military officers together for an unknown reason.
Plus: how some companies will get to avoid paying the newest round of tariffs, who could get a piece of the multibillion-dollar settlement Amazon agreed to pay, and how to call a hotline for life advice from some senior citizens.
Those stories and even more news to know in about 10 minutes!
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We’ve been on quite the journey with our First Amendment-guaranteed right to free speech, haven’t we? This week, we had the reinstatement of ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” after Kimmel was suspended – thanks to the FCC threatening to take action against networks that chose to carry his show. And President Trump is still threatening to sue ABC in response to Kimmel’s return. You know, the President of the United States sure does have a lot of time on his hands to threaten talk-show hosts, get his political opponents indicted by the state, and rant about… escalators, for some reason. Which is odd, given that we’re staring down the barrel of a government shutdown if Congress can’t find a path to get the government funded in the next four days. So to talk more about the shutdown, our crisis of free speech, lawfare, and whether he’s worried he could become Trump’s next target, we spoke to Maryland Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin.
And in headlines, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reportedly summons top military officers to Virginia for a surprise meeting next week. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said in front of the United Nations that Palestinians will not leave their homeland, and President Donald Trump reminisces on when he was in …exile?
Just days after the President demanded the Justice Department prosecute his political enemies and ousted a career prosecutor who refused to comply, Trump's handpicked replacement indicts former FBI Director James Comey. Jon and Dan react to Trump's weaponization of the Justice Department and then discuss Jimmy Kimmel's powerful pro-free speech monologue, a government shutdown that now seems inevitable, and why Vice President JD Vance called Jon a "dipshit" on Twitter earlier this week. Then, Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff stops by the studio to talk to Tommy about his office's investigations into ICE and the defining feature of the Trump administration: corruption.
OA1193 - Could Tylenol sue RFK Jr. for libel? Does the pressure the FCC put on Disney/ABC to fire Jimmy Kimmel constitute a First Amendment violation? Is the Trump administration really going to charge rural hospitals $100,000 for the privilege of being able to hire foreign doctors? In today’s Rapid Response Friday we answer all of these recent patron questions and more, and Jenessa shares a personal footnote about her decision to voluntarily take the most specialized bar exam in the US legal system.
Google X, the tech giant’s “moonshot factory,” is an enigmatic division that has pushed through ideas like Waymo, Alphabet’s self-driving car unit. It’s also chalked up a lot of innovations that haven’t seen the light of day. The WSJ Leadership Institute’s Wendy Bounds lifts the lid on how it builds failure into its workflow. Plus, WSJ reporter Kris Maher goes looking for a proposed-but-delayed $28 billion Intel factory site in the heart of Ohio. Katie Deighton hosts.
Starbucks is decaffeinating itself, closing 400 stores… but there’s hope for Starbs at McDonald’s.
3 NFL teams just sold at record prices... They sold to Private Equity, but what about fan shares?
Spotify deleted 75M AI songs, while AI slop is slowing your work day… Welcome to the AI Garbage Truck Era.
Plus, Anthropologie is selling a rock?… For $1,000?
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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.
Since the age of nine or ten, Katie Burns has had debilitating pain from endometriosis, a condition where tissue resembling the uterine lining grows outside the uterus. For years, Katie was in the dark about what was causing her pain. Even after a diagnosis at age 20 it was hard to find relief, or even answers about her condition. Her search for better care is part of what led her to a career studying the disease, which affects tens of millions of people worldwide. And in 2012, she discovered something new about its origins. Today, we talk to Katie and science reporter Meredith Wadman about that discovery, which points to a surprising culprit of endometriosis — the immune system.
It’s Indicators of the Week! It is that show where we parse the most fascinating financial numbers in the news and bring them to you.
On today's show: Argentina needs a bailout, Microsoft’s new way to cool data centers, and retail hiring is not looking like it’s in the holiday spirit.
