Make no mistake -- being a farmer is hard work. Farming outfits often have to carry a huge amount of risk from one season to the next, and any number of things may ruin their prospects, from unexpected weather, market volatility and so on. To mitigate these dangers, world governments often provide funding, or subsidies, to agribusiness in order to lower risk and increase chances of farmers staying in business. In the US, these subsidies are a multi-billion dollar industry... but where does all that money actually go?
State leaders express sorrow over loss of Alabama girl in Texas flooding
Baldwin County Chaplain heads to TX to help with relief efforts there
Handful of Faculty members from UAB and AU send open letter in defense of "science" and accusing Trump Admin of Nazi programs
Huntsville plant is notified of UAW efforts to unionize workers there
State lawmaker says E-verify is not enough to stop illegal workers in state
Governor Ivey appoints Hal Nash as Chairman of Pardons and Paroles
National
84 bodies recovered from floodwaters in TX, as rescue operations continue
In South TX a gunman is neutralized after attack on border patrol station
DHS releases long list of criminality of those sent to "Alligator Alcatraz"
Federal Judge issues temporary block on portion of BBB re: abortion
President Trump issues tariffs on 14 countries, extends deadline to August 1st
DOJ memo is causing a stir after claims that Jeffrey Epstein had no high profile client list, wasn't conducting blackmail operations, a did kill himself
Love him or hate him, many consider Elon Musk to be a modern-day genius. He co-founded PayPal, which transformed how people purchase things. He became the CEO of Tesla, which revolutionized electric vehicles—and made it cool to drive them. He founded SpaceX, accomplishing what only superpower nation-states have previously. And he is working to make our species interplanetary—maybe in a few years, we’ll be doing this podcast on Mars.
To many, these acts make Elon Musk a genius, perhaps the most important genius in history.
But it’s worth asking: What exactly makes him a genius? Is it a particular set of qualities, or is Elon Musk just particularly adept at playing the role of genius? Or at least what we’ve come to expect of geniuses? Is his offensive behavior excused by his genius, or the result of it? And why do human beings value genius, even to the point of deifying it?
All of these questions are raised in Helen Lewis’s new book, The Genius Myth. And not just with regard to Musk, but to so many of the figures our culture venerates as geniuses: Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, William Shakespeare, Isaac Newton, Pablo Picasso, Albert Einstein, and Steve Jobs. Lewis asks: Were these people actually geniuses? Or was their genius based on a myth? And more importantly, how does our perception of “genius” confuse and distort our understanding of success—and how we value, or don’t value, other human beings?
Today on Honestly, Bari asks Helen Lewis if some people belong to a special and superior class, what it means to be a genius, and if she believes in geniuses at all.
Go to groundnews.com/Honestly to get 40% off the unlimited access Vantage plan and unlock world-wide perspectives on today’s biggest news stories.
In the face of accelerating climate change, anticapitalist environmental justice activists and elite tech corporations increasingly see eye to eye. Both envision solar-powered futures where renewable energy redresses gentrification, systemic racism, and underemployment. However, as Myles Lennon argues in Subjects of the Sun: Solar Energy in the Shadows of Racial Capitalism(Duke University Press, 2025), solar power is no less likely to exploit marginalized communities than dirtier forms of energy. Drawing from ethnographic research on clean energy corporations and community solar campaigns in New York City, Lennon argues that both groups overlook solar’s extractive underside because they primarily experience energy from the sun in the virtual world of the cloud. He shows how the material properties of solar technology—its shiny surfaces, decentralized spatiality, and modularity—work closely with images, digital platforms, and quantitative graphics to shape utopic visions in which renewable energy can eradicate the constitutive tensions of racial capitalism. As a corrective to this virtual world, Lennon calls for an equitable energy transition that centers the senses and sensibilities neglected by screenwork: one’s haptic care for their local environment; the full-bodied feel of infrastructural labor; and the sublime affect of the sun.
Myles Lennon is Dean's Assistant Professor of Environment and Society and Anthropology at Brown University.
Alec Fiorini is a PhD student at Queen Mary University London's Centre for Labour, Sustainability and Global Production (CLaSP).
Now that President Donald Trump has gotten exactly what he wanted, and signed his major domestic tax and policy agenda into law, what should Democrats do now? Poll after poll has shown the legislation is wildly unpopular, but also that voters don’t know a ton about it. The legislation is projected to strip millions of people of health care and food assistance over the next decade. And for Democrats, tying Republicans to the law’s most unpopular provisions will be imperative to their hopes of regaining power in Congress in next year’s midterm elections. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries joins us to talk about how Democrats plan to respond, both to Trump’s big beautiful disaster of a law and to the onslaught of attacks from the Trump administration more broadly.
And in headlines: Texas officials said they’ve confirmed more than 100 deaths from Friday’s devastating floods, Trump announced new 25 percent tariffs on Japan and South Korea, and immigration officers staged another massive show of force in Los Angeles.
We’re talking about the ongoing search efforts in Texas—hundreds have been rescued from floodwaters, but the death toll is still rising.
Also, we’ll tell you about new tariffs announced for many of America’s trading partners and the surprise Israel’s prime minister had for President Trump.
Plus, we're covering new backlash over the so-called “Epstein files,” why top medical groups are suing RFK Jr., and everything you need to know about “Black Friday in July.”
Those stories and even more news to know in about 10 minutes!
Join us every Mon-Fri for more daily news roundups!
Right-wing influencers and conspiracy theorists lose it over a Justice Department memo that says there’s no evidence Jeffrey Epstein had a “client list” or blackmailed his associates. Criticism of DOGE’s cuts to the National Weather Service resurface after catastrophic floods hit central Texas. In a Fourth of July ceremony, President Trump signs his disastrous economic plan into law. Jon and Tommy break down the Medicaid cuts, ICE funding, and the highly unusual tax breaks that made it into the final “Big Beautiful Bill.” Then they check in on Elon Musk’s growing threat to launch a new political party, and they discuss Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s allegation that he was tortured in El Salvador’s CECOT megaprison.
Twentieth and twenty-first century monetary history shows us how our government, step-by-step, removed the monetary gold standard and introduced their fiat paper currency dollar to fund their increasing political power.
The trendiest song over the weekend was by a fake band… Spotify’s 1st AI band has gone viral.
The only major beer growing in America? Michelob Ultra… thanks to plagiarizing Gatorade.
One tech guy is collecting 4 different full-time tech salaries… all at once.
The untold origin story of… the Frisbee.
$SPOT $BUD $META
Want more business storytelling from us? Check out the latest episode of our new weekly deepdive show: The untold origin story of… “Frisbee 🥏A Pie in the Sky Idea (Literally)”
About Us: The daily pop-biz news show making today’s top stories your business. Formerly known as Robinhood Snacks, TBOY Lite is hosted by Jack Crivici-Kramer & Nick Martell.
Tesla’s fortunes in China are looking bleaker as Elon Musk’s company loses market share to the same domestic EV brands it helped create. The WSJ’s Rafaelle Huang explains why Beijing’s relationship with Musk has grown colder. Plus, the WSJ’s Heather Haddon on why college students and city dwellers have mixed feelings about food delivery robots. Patrick Coffee hosts.
Programming note: Starting this week, Tech News Briefing episodes will be released on Tuesdays and Fridays, and the TNB Tech Minute will be released twice on weekdays, in the morning and afternoon.
