Amanda Holmes reads Maya Angelou’s poem “Still I Rise.” Have a suggestion for a poem by a (dead) writer? Email us: podcast@theamericanscholar.org. If we select your entry, you’ll win a copy of a poetry collection edited by David Lehman.
This episode was produced by Stephanie Bastek and features the song “Canvasback” by Chad Crouch.
This specific episode was cited in The New Yorker this week, so we’re giving it an encore refresh with bonus material and a 2020 update from Dr. Esposito herself!
Scorpions: the victims of undue shade. If you've ever wanted to impress a date with weird facts THIS IS THE EPISODE FOR YOU. A handful of people on planet Earth have a PhD in scorpions and Dr. Lauren Esposito is one of them. She spills the beans on how venom works, what's up with the blacklight glow effect, how dangerous they *really* are, what all the movies get wrong, the best names for scorpions, where she's traveled to look under rocks, where a scorpion's butt is, if scorpions dance or make out (SPOILER: YES), what good mothers they are, how big they used to be millions of years ago and how -- technically speaking -- they are not poisonous. Also: how much does a gallon of venom cost? Oh, and why she started the visibility campaign 500 Queer Scientists. Get this one in your ears right away.
We all take our vaccine suppositories, discuss the stimulus, and talk Obama’s year-end TV list. But, most importantly, the Reading Series is back! We take a look at a recent New York Times op-ed that uses the Iliad to ask you to gently close your eyes and forget about all these pesky forever wars we seem to be embroiled in.
And, today in Remembrances of Things Trump: charitable contributions.
In the interview, it’s part one of Mike’s discussion with author, Michael Scott Alexander about his book, Making Peace with the Universe: Personal Crisis and Spiritual Healing. Alexander details how he searched for insight during an existential crisis, and retroactively explored how other great thinkers, philosophers, psychologists, and musicians found help in healing the mind. Alexander is associate professor of religious studies and Maimonides Endowed Chair in Jewish Studies at the University of California, Riverside.
In the spiel, dubious arguments against dubious death sentences.
Congress’s latest $900 million stimulus package includes $600 checks to eligible Americans, $13 billion in food assistance, and protection for renters. What it doesn’t include is the funds struggling state and local governments were hoping for from Capitol Hill. We check in with a few experts on what the aid package includes, where it falls short, and what it means for Chicago and Illinois.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo acknowledged who was behind the cyber attack on Friday, saying Russia used third-party software to get inside the systems of multiple U.S. government agencies.
But the attack didn't happen last week. It started in March. To help make sense of how an attack of this magnitude went undiscovered for months, NPR's Mary Louise Kelly spoke with Fiona Hill, who served as President Trump's most senior Russia adviser on the National Security Council until last year.
Now that it's clear who was behind the attack, how do deal with Russia will be a big question for the incoming Biden administration.NPR's Russia correspondent Lucian Kim explains how the U.S.-Russia relationship may change as Biden takes office in January.
The devastation and expense of the attack on customers of SolarWinds, including many secretive government agencies, won't be known for some time. Julian Sanchez details some of what we know now.
On December 10, 2020 the Supreme Court decided Rutledge v. Pharmaceutical Care Management Association. The question presented was whether the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) pre-empts the State of Arkansas’ Act 900, which regulates the price at which pharmacy benefit managers reimburse pharmacies for the cost of drugs covered by prescription-drug plans. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit held that ERISA preemption applied. By a vote of 8-0, the Supreme Court reversed that judgment and remanded the case. Writing for the Court, Justice Sotomayor indicated that Act 900 “has neither an impermissible connection with nor reference to ERISA and is therefore not pre-empted.” Justice Sotomayor’s opinion was joined by all other members of the Court except Justice Barrett, who took no part in the consideration or decision of the case. Justice Thomas filed a concurring opinion. Max Schulman, an Associate at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, joins us today to discuss this ruling.
Catalonia is a unique region. They have their own Romance language, their own customs, and cuisine, and when it comes to the Christmas season, they have their own traditions.
In fact, when it comes to the Christmas season, they have some very very unique traditions. I’d dare say that their Christmas traditions are firmly ranked #2.
Learn more about the Christman traditions of Catalonia on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
Raoul Pal is the founder and CEO of Global Macro Investor and Real Vision and one of the leading voices in modern macroeconomic discussions. In this conversation, he and NLW discuss bitcoin's monster 2020, how DeFi compares to ICOs, and why we should be paying more attention to central bank digital currencies.