NBN Book of the Day - On Bullshit in Politics

Today we’re continuing our series on philosopher Harry Frankfurt’s seminal work, On Bullshit. Our guest is Michael Patrick Lynch, Provost Professor of the Humanities and Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at the University of Connecticut. Michael is the author of the recently published book, On Truth in Politics: Why Democracy Demands It (Princeton University Press, 2025). The topic of our discussion today will be on bullshit in politics, and how we might think about ways to combat it.

Caleb Zakarin is editor of the New Books Network.

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The Intelligence from The Economist - The Weekend Intelligence: The hunt for Austin Tice

On December 8th, 2024, rebels swept into Damascus and ousted Syria's dictator, Bashar al-Assad. One of the first things they did was open up the prisons. Syrians who disappeared years earlier began to emerge from their grim detention cells. Would missing American journalist Austin Tice be among them?


In a new three-part series on The Weekend Intelligence, Middle East correspondent, Gareth Browne investigates what happened to Austin and explores what his story reveals about Assad's Republic of Fear.


In episode one, Gareth tells the story of Austin’s time in Syria leading up to his capture.


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Music by Blue dot Sessions and Epidemic.


This podcast transcript is generated by third-party AI. It has not been reviewed prior to publication. We make no representations or warranties in relation to the transcript, its accuracy or its completeness, and we disclaim all liability regarding its receipt, content and use. If you have any concerns about the transcript, please email us at podcasts@economist.com.

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The NewsWorthy - Special Edition: Party Lines, Power Plays & ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’

The “One Big, Beautiful Bill” (yes, that’s the official name) is nearly 1,000-pages long and touches nearly every part of American life. So how did so much end up in one bill? And what does it really mean for your wallet, your community, and the future of how Congress gets things done? We’re breaking down the key takeaways and the political strategies behind one of the most sweeping pieces of legislation in recent history.

 

Join us again for our 10-minute daily news roundups every Mon-Fri! 

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Amicus With Dahlia Lithwick | Law, justice, and the courts - The Call Is Coming From Inside The Court

In this episode of Amicus, Dahlia Lithwick sits down with Senator Sheldon Whitehouse to dissect the most recent Supreme Court term and its implications. They explore Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson's emerging role and influence, the patterns of bias within the court that she’s calling out, and the broader systemic issues facing the judiciary. Their conversation also delves into the “worst possible nominee” for a lifetime appointment to a US court of appeals, Emil Bove. Next, they tackle climate inaction, Democrats’ failure to respond to the billionaire takeover of the Supreme Court, and why Senator Whitehouse is still optimistic about challenging, even fixing, these systems.


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CBS News Roundup - 07/12/2025 | Weekend Roundup

On the "CBS News Weekend Roundup", host Michael Wallace has the latest on the deadly flooding in West Texas with CBS' Maurice DuBois and Janet Shamlian and more. CBS' Skyler Henry brings updates on President Trump's latest tariff threats and their impacts on businesses. On the "Kaleidoscope" segment, revisiting CBS' Allison Keyes 2024 interview with then-17-year-old Dorothy Jean Tillman, who had already earned a Ph. D and is the founder of the Dorothy Jeanius STEAM Leadership Institute.


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Audio Mises Wire - Social Engineering under the Fourteenth Amendment

Murray Rothbard called egalitarianism a "revolt against nature," and he believed that the egalitarianism inherent in the Fourteenth Amendment was socially harmful. Social engineering never turns out well, but that doesn't discourage progressives from engaging in it.

Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/social-engineering-under-fourteenth-amendment

Audio Mises Wire - Debunking the Myth of “Market Fundamentalism”

Critics of free markets such as Oren Cass claim that Austrians and other supporters of the free economy are engaged in “market fundamentalism.” However, support for free markets is not an act of blind faith but is based upon understanding of how markets actually work.

Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/debunking-myth-market-fundamentalism

More or Less: Behind the Stats - Why Manchester United can afford to play badly

Manchester United are terrible, even according to their own manager. Last season saw their worst ever performance in Premier League history.

But at the same time, according to Forbes magazine, they’re still the second most valuable football club in the world.

How is that possible?

Tim talks to Kieran Maguire, a football finance expert and the author of The Price of Football, to find out the secret of Manchester United’s financial success.

Presenter: Tim Harford Producer: Nicholas Barrett Series producer: Tom Colls Production co-ordinator: Brenda Brown Sound mix: Neil Churchill Editor: Richard Vadon

It Could Happen Here - It Could Happen Here Weekly 190

All of this week's episodes of It Could Happen Here put together in one large file. 

- Palestine’s Stolen Future

- The Genocide Budget (And How to Stop It)

- Protest, Immigration Enforcement, and the Unhoused Community

- The Minnesota Assassination & Evangelical Terrorism

- Executive Disorder: White House Weekly #24

You can now listen to all Cool Zone Media shows, 100% ad-free through the Cooler Zone Media subscription, available exclusively on Apple Podcasts. So, open your Apple Podcasts app, search for “Cooler Zone Media” and subscribe today!

http://apple.co/coolerzone 

Sources/Links:

Palestine's Stolen Future

Raz Segal on genocide - https://jewishcurrents.org/a-textbook-case-of-genocide

Omer Bartov on genocide – https://www.democracynow.org/2024/12/30/omer_bartov_israel_gaza_genocide

Amos Goldberg on genocide - https://thefirethesetimes.com/2025/05/25/intent-holocaust-studies-and-the-gaza-genocide-w-amos-goldberg/

Khaled Elgindy on Biden’s “bear hug” - https://foreignpolicy.com/2024/10/10/biden-israel-hamas-war-gaza-us-policy/

Bezalel Smotrich on population transfer - https://www.timesofisrael.com/smotrich-says-gaza-to-be-totally-destroyed-population-concentrated-in-small-area/

Nissim Vaturi on population transfer - https://www.timesofisrael.com/occupy-expel-settle-minister-mks-at-far-right-rally-call-to-empty-gaza-of-gazans/

Arab Peace Initiative - https://www.kas.de/c/document_library/get_file?uuid=a5dab26d-a2fe-dc66-8910-a13730828279&groupId=268421

Arab Center Washington – “The Biden Administration and the Middle East in 2023” - https://arabcenterdc.org/resource/the-biden-administration-and-the-middle-east-in-2023/

Mike Huckabee on Palestinians - https://edition.cnn.com/2024/11/12/politics/mike-huckabee-palestinian-comments-trump-israel-ambassador

Steve Witkoff making deals with Hamas - https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/hamas-says-witkoffs-gaza-ceasefire-proposal-must-lead-end-war-2025-05-31/

Adam Boehler “we are not an agent of Israel” - https://www.axios.com/2025/03/09/adam-boehler-hamas-israel-talks

Philippe Lazzarini on Gaza Humanitarian Foundation - https://www.unrwa.org/newsroom/official-statements/unrwa-commissioner-general-gaza-aid-distribution-has-become-death-trap

Doctors without Borders on Gaza Humanitarian Foundation -  https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/latest/siege-gaza-msf-denounces-new-aid-mechanism-proposed-us-and-israel

Jake Woods, Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, resigns - https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/may/26/gaza-humanitarian-foundation-aid-group-jake-wood-resigns

Saudi Minister on Two-State Solution - https://www.mofa.gov.sa/en/ministry/news/Pages/His-Highness-the-Foreign-Minister-A-Two-State-Solution-is-the-Only-Path-to-Achieving-a-Just-and-Lasting-Peace-in-the-Regio.aspx

France & Saudi sponsor peace conference - https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/politics-and-diplomacy/article-855969

Qatari foreign minister on Saudi sponsored peace conference - https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20250613-qatar-france-fms-underscore-importance-of-upcoming-un-two-state-solution-conference-as-real-opportunity-for-peace/

The Oslo Accords and the Palestinian Authority background - https://www.palquest.org/en/highlight/31121/x-oslo-process-and-establishment-palestinian-authority

Yitzhak Rabin’s final address to the Knesset - https://www.palquest.org/en/historictext/24965/yitzhaq-rabin%E2%80%99s-address-knesset-after-israeli-palestinian-agreement

Mapping Palestinian Politics – European Council on Foreign Relations - https://ecfr.eu/special/mapping_palestinian_politics/plo/

“Abbas is America’s Man” - https://jewishcurrents.org/abbas-is-americas-man

Tariq Dana – “Lost in Transition: The Palestinian National Movement After Oslo” - https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/from-the-river-to-the-sea-9781978752658/

Wendy Pearlman – “Violence, Nonviolence, and the Palestinian National Movement” - https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/violence-nonviolence-and-the-palestinian-national-movement/0F8D188C7D514D49F68D827066E0FABD

BDS call - https://bdsmovement.net/pacbi/pacbi-call

Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research – September 2023 poll - https://www.pcpsr.org/sites/default/files/Poll%2089%20English%20Full%20Text%20September%202023.pdf

Interview with Ukrainian outlet “Commons” - https://commons.com.ua/en/intervyu-z-danoyu-el-kurd/

Protests against Hamas – July 2023 - https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2023/07/30/thousands-of-marchers-in-gaza-in-rare-public-display-of-discontent-with-hamas_6073136_4.html

Protests against Hamas - https://edition.cnn.com/2025/03/25/middleeast/anti-hamas-protests-gaza-intl-latam

Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research – May 2025 poll - https://www.pcpsr.org/sites/default/files/Poll%2095%20press%20release%206May2025%20ENGLISH.pdf

Changes in PLO structure and new Vice President role - https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/may/08/palestinians-leader-mahmoud-abbas-president

Polling on Hussein Al-Sheikh - https://pcpsr.org/sites/default/files/Poll%2092%20English%20full%20text%20July2024.pdf

Palestinian National Conference - https://ncpalestine.org/

A Land for All - https://www.2s1h.org/en

Israeli backed gangs in Gaza - https://zeteo.com/p/who-is-abu-shabab-meet-the-gaza-gangster

The Genocide Budget (And How to Stop It)

Trans Income Project: https://www.transincomeproject.org/donate

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jul/07/planned-parenthood-trump-lawsuit

https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/one-big-beautiful-bill-medicaid-work-requirements-affordable-care-act-immigrants/#:~:text=The%20bill%20would%20require%20states%20that%20have,individual)%20and%20138%25%20of%20that%20amount%20($21%2C597).&text=The%20Senate%20bill%20would%20allow%20states%20to,who%20seek%20emergency%20room%20care%20for%20nonemergencies.

https://www.chalkbeat.org/2025/05/16/school-choice-expansion-in-budget-bill-puts-federal-stamp-on-gop-priority/

https://www.nea.org/nea-today/all-news-articles/trumps-budget-bill-attack-public-schools-working-families-and-immigrants

https://www.americanprogress.org/article/10-egregious-things-you-may-not-know-about-the-one-big-beautiful-bill-act/

https://time.com/7299514/bill-will-devastate-public-schools

https://www.edweek.org/policy-politics/the-senate-passed-a-federal-voucher-program-whats-in-it/2025/07

https://www.au.org/the-latest/articles/not-beautiful-trumps-budget-forces-a-national-voucher-plan-on-america/

https://www.npr.org/2025/05/23/nx-s1-5397175/trump-federal-voucher-private-school

https://itep.org/trump-megabill-expensive-private-school-vouchers/

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/careersandeducation/how-trump-s-big-spending-bill-will-overhaul-repayment-for-millions-of-student-loan-borrowers/ar-AA1HXbVa?cvid=7271B17CDE424D63B5C23D6A3D1E71B7&ocid=msnHomepage

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/trump-signs-big-tax-cut-spending-bill-law-july-fourth-ceremony-rcna216753

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/07/05/trump-budget-bill-states-border-security/84463777007/

https://newrepublic.com/post/197412/donald-trump-big-beautiful-budget-bill-devastating-poll

https://www.kff.org/medicaid/issue-brief/allocating-cbos-estimates-of-federal-medicaid-spending-reductions-across-the-states-senate-reconciliation-bill/

https://www.kff.org/policy-watch/how-might-federal-medicaid-cuts-in-the-senate-passed-reconciliation-bill-affect-rural-areas/

https://www.cbpp.org/research/medicaid-and-chip/senate-reconciliation-amendment-would-cut-hundreds-of-billions-more-from

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/whats-in-trump-big-beautiful-bill-senate-version/

https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/fact-sheet/house-reconciliation-bill-immigration-border-security/

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/heres-whats-in-the-big-bill-that-just-passed-the-senate

The Minnesota Assassination & Evangelical Terrorism

00155d0deff0

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25976535-boelter-federal-affidavit/

https://web.archive.org/web/20250614161224/https://www.pguards.net/leadership-team

https://youtu.be/Sh01z1t2l3w?si=vSme9mqCPmeDROqp

https://www.startribune.com/timeline-how-an-early-morning-assault-against-minnesota-lawmakers-unfolded/601373039

https://www.startribune.com/melissa-hortman-shooting-vance-boelter-suspect/601373342

https://kstp.com/kstp-news/top-news/vance-boelter-due-back-in-federal-court-thursday-afternoon/

https://www.wired.com/story/shooting-minnesota-melissa-hortman-vance-boelter/

https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/17/us/vance-boelter-minnesota-shooting-invs

https://web.archive.org/web/20230723010430/https://www.redliongroupdrc.com/#

Executive Disorder: White House Weekly #24

 

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