Plus: The Trump administration and Saudi Arabia make progress on a chips agreement. And a new study shows tech workers are willing to accept less pay for a remote or hybrid job. Zoe Kuhlkin hosts.
Today we’re all getting smarter about some of the economic and political terms dominating the headlines these days. Terms like “authoritarianism” and “state capitalism” that have been hotly debated during the second Trump administration. Plus, “stagflation” and other vocabulary words our listeners have been curious about. With some help from experts, Kimberly breaks them all down.
You might mistake a recent video released by the Department of Homeland Security for an action movie trailer.
It shows Border Patrol agents in military fatigues entering an apartment building in South Shore and arresting people alleged to be connected to Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang.
Reporting from WBEZ, the Chicago Sun-Times and other outlets confirm that U.S. citizens were detained for hours, some of them in handcuffs and zip ties. None of that was shown.
In the Loop talks to Jim Warren with NewsGuard and security affairs expert Robert Pape of UChicago about whether or not the federal government’s videos of immigration raids – such as the one in South Shore – amount to propaganda about Chicago crime and immigrants.
For a full archive of In The Loop interviews, head over to wbez.org/intheloop.
The 2025 Nobel prizes are announced this week – how did Science in Action’s predictions fare? Science author and thinker Philip Ball judges.
Also, a new “Human Disease Blood Atlas” gets a boost, as described by Mathias Uhlén of SciLifeLab.
Meanwhile Nozair Khawaja of Free University of Berlin has been revisiting data from the Cassini mission to Enceladus, one of Saturn’s moons, back in 2008. His new analysis increases the prospects of habitable conditions deep on the ocean floor beneath the icy crust.
Presenter: Roland Pease
Producer: Alex Mansfield
Production Coordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth
(Image: Chair of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry explains a model during a press conference. Credit: Jonathan Nackstrand via Getty Images).
ICE and other armed federal agents are doing their best to incite violence in blue cities so they can help Trump realize his unfulfilled dream from 2020 to impose a military crackdown. At the same time, Trump can only point to what happened in Portland five years ago during Black Lives Matter protests to try to bolster his case. Meanwhile, Comey has a pretty good shot to get his case dismissed—thanks in part to a Truth Social post that was supposed to be a DM to Bondi directing her to go after his enemies. Plus, doubts around the longterm sustainability of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal, the butch-up cosplay behind the blowing up of boats off of Venezuela, and the real power of conservative media influencers like Candace and Tucker. Sam Stein joins Tim Miller.
Israel and Hamas have agreed on the "first phase" of a Gaza ceasefire deal, raising the possibility that the war may now be over. We hear from two of our correspondents in the region who have covered the entire war about the details in the plan and reactions to the announcement in Israel and in Gaza. And an interview with a Israeli man whose cousin’s remains are still in Gaza, about how families of hostages are feeling in this moment.
Why France is stumbling from one political crisis to the next, a new report on homelessness across Europe, and a Housing First project in the UK. Then: Flotilla activists speak of abuse, what Czechia's political future holds, Dutch feminists reclaim the night, and a Fish and Chips shop with a twist. + FEANTSA report on homelessness: https://tinyurl.com/3uxmxf3t +?maca=en-podcast_inside-europe-949-xml-mrss
The Chef calls in with a fascinating theory on the Kaikōura lights. Nemesis shares an inside look at Big Tobacco, answering Ben's earlier question about smoking inside (and much more). In the wake of the infamous Snuff episode, multiple Conspiracy Realists reach out with jokes, puns, well-wishes, kind words and pet pics. All this and more in this week's listener mail segment.
Why does Arthur Hayes argue that bitcoin's 4-year cycle no longer stands?
Arthur Hayes is arguing that the primary catalyst behind previous bitcoin bear markets in 2014, 2018, and 2022 was monetary tightening in major economies, not the four-year halving cycle. What's next for bitcoin price then? CoinDesk’s Jennifer Sanasie hosts “CoinDesk Daily.”
-
Break the cycle of exploitation.
Break down the barriers to truth.
Break into the next generation of privacy.
Break Free.
Free to scroll without being monetized.
Free from censorship.
Freedom without fear.
We deserve more when it comes to privacy. Experience the next generation of blockchain that is private and inclusive by design.
Break free with Midnight, visit midnight.network/break-free
-
Bridge simplifies global money movement. As the leading stablecoin issuance and orchestration platform, Bridge abstracts away blockchain complexity so businesses can seamlessly move between fiat and stablecoins. From payroll providers and remittance companies to neobanks and treasury teams, Bridge powers payments, savings, and stablecoin issuance for thousands – like Shopify, Metamask, Remitly, and more.