The “Capital in the Twenty-First Century” documentary provided a fasted paced and fascinating look at the evolution of capital in recent history and how this has affected so much, and James Keys and Tunde Ogunlana discuss what stood out the most (01:27), what can be made of growing inequality trends (17:05), the link between wealth inequality and social instability (30:04), and how current trends can be addressed (43:12).“Capital in the Twenty-First Century” documentary by Justin Pemberton (Netflix)
Our society’s recklessness and disregard seems to be making the Earth less hospitable to our society, so James Keys and Tunde Ogunlana take a look at the accelerating destruction of, and increasing threats to, our habitat (01:21) and discuss ways that societies can make preserving the planet we live on more of a priority (32:55). Referenced:Death toll rises in US as wildfires continue in West Coast states (BBC)Animal Populations Fell by 68% in 50 Years and It’s Getting Worse (Bloomberg)Don’t Call It A Garbage Patch: The Truth About Cleaning Up Ocean Plastics (Huffpost)Opinion: The Trump administration wants to discourage your 401(k) from including ESG investment options (MarketWatch)
With the coronavirus driven economic downturn still creating so much uncertainty, James Keys and Tunde Ogunlana discuss reports that are suggesting that the worst of the economic fallout is still to come (01:04). The guys also make sense of the fact that more young adults under 30 are living with their parents than on their own (28:49). Material Discussed:Here comes the real recession (Axios)‘A tale of 2 recessions’: As rich Americans get richer, the bottom half struggles (Politico)Majority Of U.S. Adults Under 30 Now Living With Parents, Study Finds (HuffPost)
It often seems that what happens means less to many people than who it happens to, so James Keys and Tunde Ogunlana discuss how public polarization outpaced investigation with the shooting of Jacob Blake (01:44) and some of the positive and negative things we have seen in the aftermath of the tragedy (16:07). The guys also try to make sense of the reports that our intelligence services will be restricting the information provided to Congress about ongoing threats to disrupt the 2020 election (38:43). Material Discussed:Police in Wisconsin shoot Black man in back multiple times, sparking protestshttps://www.cbsnews.com/news/jacob-blake-kenosha-shooting-wisconsin-police-black-man-protesters-gather/A visual timeline of violence in Kenosha after police shooting of Jacob Blakehttps://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/graphics/2020/08/27/jacob-blake-kenosha-police-shooting-two-killed/3442878001/17-year-old charged with murder in Kenosha, Wisconsin, shootingshttps://www.vox.com/2020/8/26/21402951/kyle-rittenhouse-jacob-blake-kenoshaWhy the NBA Wildcat Strike Is So Importanthttps://www.vice.com/en_us/article/ep47pj/why-the-nba-wildcat-strike-is-so-importantNBA Playoffs Will Resume, League and Players Announce New Social Justice Initiativeshttps://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/08/nba-teams-strike-for-black-lives.htmlDems outraged as Trump administration scales back election security briefingshttps://www.politico.com/news/2020/08/29/odni-to-scale-back-election-security-briefings-404919
Our intelligence community is sounding the alarm, so James Keys and Tunde Ogunlana react to the release of the final volume of the Senate Intel Committee’s Bipartisan Russia Report (01:08), discuss the ongoing information warfare campaign being waged against Americans and the “Firehose of Falsehood” propaganda model as explained by the RAND Corporation (09:24), and speak on the 100 anniversary the 19th Amendment which prohibited gender based voting restrictions (50:12).Material discussed:Rubio Statement on Senate Intel Release of Volume 5 of Bipartisan Russia Reporthttps://www.intelligence.senate.gov/press/rubio-statement-senate-intel-release-volume-5-bipartisan-russia-reportSenate Intel Committee Releases Bipartisan Report on Russia’s Use of Social Mediahttps://www.burr.senate.gov/press/releases/senate-intel-committee-releases-bipartisan-report-on-russias-use-of-social-media-The Russian “Firehose of Falsehood” Propaganda Modelhttps://www.rand.org/pubs/perspectives/PE198.htmlQAnon, the scarily popular pro-Trump conspiracy theory, explainedhttps://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/8/1/17253444/qanon-trump-conspiracy-theory-4chan-explainerWomen’s suffrage was a giant leap for democracy. We haven’t stuck the landing yet.https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/lifestyle/100-years-of-womens-suffrage-whats-changed/
The push to defund the U.S. Postal Service is needlessly self-destructive, so James Keys and Tunde Ogunlana discuss their issues with the efforts to politicize the operations of the U.S. Postal Service (01:24). The guys also consider the extent to which the coronavirus has killed the free market (24:34) and discuss a recent discovery of a (literal) caveman’s bed from 200,000 years ago (44:50).
Trump Brags That He’s Trying to Sabotage the Postal Service to Rig the Electionhttps://gizmodo.com/trump-brags-that-hes-trying-to-sabotage-the-postal-serv-1844717679
Postal workers are sounding the alarm as mail sorting machines are removed from processing facilitieshttps://theweek.com/speedreads/931215/postal-workers-are-sounding-alarm-mail-sorting-machines-are-removed-from-processing-facilities
How does vote-by-mail work and does it increase election fraud?https://www.brookings.edu/policy2020/votervital/how-does-vote-by-mail-work-and-does-it-increase-election-fraud/
Donald Trump keeps blasting ‘universal’ mail voting. But few states are planning that in Novemberhttps://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2020/08/15/donald-trump-slams-universal-mail-voting-few-states-planning/3333957001/
Barr warns Democrats ‘playing with fire’ over ‘grossly irresponsible’ mail-in voting pushhttps://www.foxnews.com/politics/william-barr-democrats-mail-in-voting
Tomlinson: Coronavirus killed the free market. The Federal Reserve has taken charge.https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/columnists/tomlinson/article/coronavirus-killed-the-free-market-fed-reserve-15476077.php
Scientists Found a 200,000-Year-Old Human Bed Made From Grass and Ashhttps://gizmodo.com/scientists-found-a-200-000-year-old-human-bed-made-from-1844715920
Governments and large companies around the world are making high stakes, chess style moves over control of who has access to your sensitive data, and James Keys and Tunde Ogunlana discuss the President’s executive order that seeks to ban TikTok in the U.S. (01:20) and the discomfort some have expressed following Blackstone’s acquisition of genealogy company Ancestry (21:14). The guys also discuss their takeaways from recent findings on how dogs process and understand human language (35:11).
Trump issued an executive order effectively banning TikTok if it doesn’t sell in the next 45 dayshttps://www.vox.com/recode/2020/7/31/21350072/trump-tiktok-executive-order-ban-microsoft-sale-bytedance-china-security-concerns
A Private Equity Firm Bought Ancestry, and Its Trove of DNA, for $4.7Bhttps://www.vice.com/en_us/article/akzyq5/private-equity-firm-blackstone-bought-ancestry-dna-company-for-billions
Dogs understand praise the same way we do. Here’s why that matters. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2020/08/dogs-praise-brains-human-language/
The “truth” about the coronavirus seems to vary depending on who you talk to, so James Keys and Tunde Ogunlana react to the apparent post truth nature of medicine (02:04), discuss why conspiracy theories and fanciful explanations for things seem to have so much appeal (18:09), and consider whether the widespread lack of any shared understanding of truth is a substantial threat to our democratic society (39:00).
Malcolm Gladwell’s Talking to Strangers laid out several concepts that influence how we deal with people we do not know, and James Keys and Tunde Ogunlana discuss which of the concepts was most notable (02:25), which anecdotes from the book stood out (22:32), biases and trends that were present in several of the concepts (38:37) and whether the book gives us more or less faith in humanity’s ability to solve its problems (45:45).
We all encounter stressors and potential stressors all day long, so James Keys and Tunde Ogunlana take a look at what appears to be causing the most stress during the COVID-19 crisis (01:29), the nature of chronic stress and how it effects our bodies (06:44), and some of the things they do to manage stress (22:18). The guys also discuss the shift in the zodiac signs published by NASA and how the meaning one personally assigns to that make that shift something stressful (34:55).
