Shared posts

10 Nov 16:54

Bonus - The CIA and Time Magazine w/ Simon Willmetts (Preview)

Tom Roche

8:12, so just /slightly/ more than a teaser

Danny and Derek chat with Simon Willmetts, associate professor of intelligence studies at Leiden University, about his recent piece for Diplomatic History, "The CIA and Time Magazine: Journalistic Ethics and Newsroom Dissent". The group discusses the subfield of intelligence history, public awareness of intelligence organizations, why the scope Time and Life magazines in the mid-20th century and why the CIA would want to collude with such publications, the development of journalistic ethics in light of journalistic connections with the national security state, and more.

Further reading:


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09 Nov 17:59

Why Donald Trump won the US election: Kamala Harris failed to provide an economic alternative

Tom Roche

VERY EXCELLENT summary of US politics, esp best 35-min overview of how CorpDems lost the 5 Nov 2024 elections so badly

Donald Trump won the 2024 US presidential election in a landslide. Why did Kamala Harris lose so badly? Ben Norton explains the failure of the billionaire-funded Democratic Party to provide an economic alternative to the billionaire-funded Republicans' pseudo "populism", as working-class people suffer. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSBi0m5xCJs Topics 0:00 Donald Trump wins 2024 presidential election 1:07 Who really is Kamala Harris? Does anyone know? 4:42 DNC strategy: sacrifice workers for moderate Republicans in suburbs 5:48 Harris campaigns with neoconservative Cheney family 6:56 Harris had no democratic mandate 7:42 Out-trumping Trump on immigration? Really? 8:04 Hillary Clinton 2.0 10:05 Low Democrat turnout 11:12 The status quo loses 12:34 Dems' extreme pro-Israel stance lost swing state voters 16:01 Rashida Tlaib & Ilhan Omar won; Harris lost 17:37 "Never Trump Republicans" barely exist 18:30 It's the economy, stupid 20:09 US GDP growth is not benefiting workers 21:39 Wealth inequality 22:32 Poverty & hunger increased under Biden-Harris 23:33 Trump scapegoats 24:09 (CLIP) Trump vows: "We are going to take other countries' jobs" 24:58 Trump's false promises 25:27 Deindustrialization 26:22 Immigration 28:40 Trump's tax cuts help rich elites, hurt workers 31:12 Billionaires Elon Musk & Stephen Schwarzman funded Trump 32:11 Inflation, debt, deficits 35:11 Tariffs 35:40 Conclusion
09 Nov 17:43

News - Ethnic Cleansing in Northern Gaza, German Government Collapses, Potential End to Ukraine War

Tom Roche

The Bessner and (mostly) Davison week-in-reviews are reliably EXCELLENT, but this week they're above that average--54 min of your time well-spent

Heads of state come and go, but not all of them make the news roundup with Danny and Derek. This week: in Palestine-Israel, Netanyahu fires defense minister Gallant (0:57), a leak scandal involving Netanyahu's office (6:36), an update on the humanitarian situation in northern Gaza (8:52), and the IDF appears to admit to committing ethnic cleansing (13:05); in Lebanon, the ceasefire push collapses (15:39), the IDF looks to create a "buffer zone" (17:46), and the Washington Post reports that Israeli evacuation warnings are misleading civilians (19:31); in Iran, Supreme Leader Khamenei threatens an attack on Israel (27:19); a new report details the mistreatment of migrant workers in Arabian Gulf states (30:35); the DPRK/North Korea conducts a new ICBM test (33:09); new RSF massacres in Sudan (36:41); in Russia-Ukraine, North Korean soldiers join combat operations (38:35), future concerns in the US about how the war will be conducted under Trump (41:38), and Russia floats the possibility of ending the war (44:36); the German government collapses (46:59); and in Bolivia, protesters supporting former president Evo Morales pause roadblocks amid clashes with the police (49:54).

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09 Nov 17:41

News - Knesset Bans UNRWA, Sudan Massacre, Georgia Election

Tom Roche

Bessner and (mostly) Davison week-in-review EXCELLENT as usual

Nothing's spookier than the news, but Danny and Derek find their courage. This week: in Israel-Palestine, a new report of the Biden administration ignoring Israeli war crimes (0:30), the Knesset votes to ban UNRWA (2:43), and yet more ceasefire talks (8:12); in Lebanon, Hezbollah names a new leader (10:32) and a push for a ceasefire there (12:25); regarding Iran, the aftermath of the Israeli strikes (15:36) and reports of an imminent retaliation (19:10); North Korea/DPRK tests an ICBM (22:07); Japan's Liberal Democratic Party loses its parliamentary majority (24:33); in Sudan, a new massacre by the RSF (26:52) and a UN report on sexual violence in the conflict (29:18); Somalia kicks out another diplomat from Ethiopia (30:28); in Russia-Ukraine, North Korean soldiers in Kursk (32:49), Russia makes gains in Donetsk (34:50), and new talks on sparing energy sites (36:56), the results of Georgia's election (37:59); Venezuela withdraws its ambassador from Brazil over BRICS (41:07); and the annual UN General Assembly's vote over the embargo of Cuba (42:43).

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09 Nov 17:41

News - BRICS Summit, IDF Assault on Lebanon, India-China Border Agreement

Tom Roche

Bessner and (mostly) Davison week-in-review EXCELLENT as usual

It's 80 degrees in late October here at AP headquarters, but Danny and Derek remain cool as a cucumber to bring you the news. This week: the 2024 BRICS summit was held, featuring Vladimir Putin pushing for a dollar alternative and potentially alienating some member states (1:36); in Palestine-Israel, an update on Northern Gaza (9:10), Antony Blinken visits (12:31), and a leaked document on Israel's planned counterattack on Iran (16:22); in Lebanon, the IDF targets the Qard al-Hassan banking network (18:22), US special enovy Amos Hochstein visits with special demands (21:13), and the IDF targets Tyre for the first time in this assault (23:45); in Turkey, a terrorist attack interferes with the Kurdish peace process (25:19) and Fethullah Gülen of (of the eponymous movement) dies (28:02); India and China negotiate a border agreement, with Xi and Modi meeting while at the BRICS summit (31:11); in Sudan, an RSF commander defects (34:18); the M23 ceasefire in the Democratic Republic of the Congo appears to have failed (36:03); in Ukraine, Russian forces are pressuring several towns (37:57) amid talk of DPRK/North Korean soldiers being deployed (40:18); and finally, a new UN climate report says countries have made no progress in cutting emissions to tackle climate change (43:42).

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09 Nov 15:35

Thanos Apollo: RSS Mastery with RSS-Bridge & Elfeed [Video]

by Thanos Apollo

I’ve just published a short video covering the basics of RSS, RSS-Bridge & Elfeed, it’s currently available on YouTube.

Video notes

What is RSS?

  • XML-based web feed that allows users to access updates of websites, without “visiting” the website.
  • Hacktivist including Aaron Swartz contributed to the development of RSS

Why use it?

  • Having total control over information you consume
    • Filter/Prioritize content from various sources
    • Bypass algorithms
    • Ad-free reading
  • Offline Access
  • Time saving
  • Allows creation of a personalized & decentralized information hub

(+ Emacs RSS) ;; => ’elfeed

No matter what RSS reader you choose, they all get the same job done

  • Elfeed is a simple & highly customizable RSS client for Emacs
    • Developed by Christopher Wellons (skeeto)
  • It has a well designed database & tagging system

use-package installation example:

(use-package elfeed
  :vc (:url "https://github.com/skeeto/elfeed") ;; vc option is available on Emacs 30
  :config
  (setf elfeed-search-filter "@1-week-ago +unread"
        browse-url-browser-function #'browse-url-default-browser
        elfeed-db-directory (locate-user-emacs-file "elfeed-db"))
  ;; Feeds Example
  (setf elfeed-feeds
        '(("https://hackaday.com/blog/feed/"
           hackaday linux)))

  ;; Play videos from elfeed
  (defun elfeed-mpv (&optional use-generic-p)
    "Play video link with mpv."
    (interactive "P")
    (let ((entries (elfeed-search-selected)))
      (cl-loop for entry in entries
               do (elfeed-untag entry 'unread)
               when (elfeed-entry-link entry)
               do (start-process-shell-command "elfeed-video" nil (format "mpv \"%s\"" it)))
      (mapc #'elfeed-search-update-entry entries)
      (unless (use-region-p) (forward-line))))

  :bind (("C-x f" . elfeed)
         :map elfeed-search-mode-map
         ("v" . 'elfeed-mpv)
         ("U" . 'elfeed-update)))

What to do with websites that do not provide an RSS feed?

  • Utilize rss-bridge to generate one.
  • RSS Bridge is easy to self host using docker

Example guix service:

(service oci-container-service-type
         (list
          (oci-container-configuration
           (image "rssbridge/rss-bridge")
           (network "host")
           (ports
            '(("3000" . "80"))))))
09 Nov 03:47

Dead Ringers: Ep1. Budget Politicians

Tom Roche

S25E1 of Dead Ringers is not a /complete/ win, as it has perhaps the worse ever Kamala impersonation. But even there, only the voice is off--the material is great, as is

* the opening (UK budget) skit works in Pulp's "Common People" (amusing for us olds)
* an excellent Ahnold (I mean Arnold) Schwarzenegger
* not /1/ but /2/ VERY-EXCELLENT Elon Musk hits
* an almost-EXCELLENT take on the Rogan-Trump interview: the Rogan voice is also off, but the much-practiced Trump is perfect, and the material is great
* perfect KC3 vs reparations for UK crimes
* ... and no DR would be complete without Liz Truss, Nigel Farage, and Ian McKellen as Gandalf

Some bits don't /quite/ work, but net: must-listen VERY FUNNY half-hour of BBC Radio 4 Comedy in top form. I just hope next week's DR on the US elections (the FNC feed remains on 1-week delay--this was the 1 Nov episode) is as good.

What was Rachel Reeves’ real inspiration for her budget? What advice is Kamala Harris giving to Joe Biden, and what exactly is a ‘working person’? JD Vance and Tim Walz make their first appearances on the show and Rishi Sunak probably his last.

This week's impressionists are Jon Culshaw, Jan Ravens, Lewis MacLeod, Jess Robinson and Jason Forbes.

The episode was written by: Tom Jamieson and Nev Fountain, Laurence Howarth, Ed Amsden and Tom Coles, Cody Dahler, Rob Darke, Edward Tew, Sophie Dickson with additional material by Jennifer Walker.

Sound design: Rich Evans Executive Producer: Richard Morris Produced and created by Bill Dare Production Coordinator: Caroline Barlow

08 Nov 19:52

Democracy Now! 2024-11-08 Friday

Tom Roche

consistently EXCELLENT

Democracy Now! 2024-11-08 Friday

  • Headlines for November 08, 2024
  • Democrats Deserted Working Poor: Bishop William Barber on Healthcare, Living Wages, Voting Rights
  • "Open Celebration of the Oligarchy": Both Dems & GOP Sucked Up to Billionaires in 2024 Election
  • End the Arms: Humanitarian Chief Jan Egeland Urges U.S. to Stop Arming Israel Before Trump Takes Office

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08 Nov 18:38

883 - History Doesn’t Repeat Itself…But It Slimes (11/7/24)

Tom Roche

Chris+Felix+Will deliver excellent, insightful, funny review of the massive, continuing fail that is the Corporate Democratic Party

We have always lived in The Zone. We take in the stunning re-election of Donald Trump, the manifest failure of Kamala Harris, Joe Biden and the entire Democratic party, and all of the myriad obungles that have brought us to this moment. This has happened before, it will happen again…Reasons to be scared, reasons for hope, and assurance that we’re still ready to ride with you all every day. Get bonus content on Patreon

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08 Nov 15:20

Special - The U.S. Presidential Election, the Latino Vote, and the Deportation Regime w/ Alexander Aviña (Preview)

Tom Roche

9:25, so bit more than a teaser

Alexander Aviña, associate professor of history at Arizona State University, joins Danny and Derek to talk about narratives forming around the election regarding a Latino shift to the right, Biden and Trump's respective records on the border, whether Trump will be able to carry out his threats of mass deportation, right-wing anti-migrant rhetoric vs. businesses that depend on that labor force, and more.

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08 Nov 15:00

882 - Election Eve Live (11/5/24)

Tom Roche

not as good as Chapo's previous liveshow, but still amusing

We’re joined by Charles, Alex & Andrew from Episode 1 for a night of Election-themed spoofs and goofs live at the Aratani Theater in Los Angeles. Featuring the Dan Boeckner Christmas Time Players: Dan Boeckner, Nick Thorburn, Alex Fischel &  Adam Halferty. And of course, a special visit from Santa. Get bonus content on Patreon

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07 Nov 19:35

Project 2025 Is Even More Radical Than You Think

by Arjun Singh
Tom Roche

EXCELLENT, esp re links between not just rightwing Republicans and Heritage Foundation (from Paul Weyrich t Kevin Roberts and Paul Dans), but between the tightening ties between Corporate Republicans and not only Protestant-fundamentalist Christian nationalists (the Weyrich/Heritage project) but rightwing Catholics (from Leonard Leo to JD Vance), esp Opus Dei.

If elected, former president Donald Trump has promised to implement mass deportations, target journalists, and carry out other unprecedented actions. How could he pull it off? Project 2025, a radical plan to reshape the government under Trump, highlights the key to his sweeping agenda: Schedule F, a policy that would expose federal workers to political interference and give the president broad leeway to govern through fear. 

Today on Lever Time, senior podcast producer Arjun Singh unpacks this radical strategy for Trump’s second term — and explores the religious fundamentalism and free-market ideology driving the creators of Project 2025, the right-wing think tank called The Heritage Foundation. 

In the early 1980s, the Heritage Foundation became the intellectual backbone of the conservative movement and today wields huge influence over the Republican party. Unlike other conservative think tanks, the Heritage Foundation was unique in blending the principles of free market capitalism with Christian nationalism, creating a blueprint for conservative politics that has now become the status quo. Over the past four years, a brain trust within the foundation has been drawing up Project 2025, laying the groundwork for how Trump could warp the tools of government and deliver ineradicable changes.

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07 Nov 18:46

11/7/24: Kamala Concession Speech, Trump Possible Cabinet, Zelensky Sucks Up To Trump

Tom Roche

consistently EXCELLENT

Krystal and Saagar discuss Kamala's concession speech, Trump's potential appointments, Zelensky sucks up to Trump.

 

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07 Nov 18:46

11/7/24: Biden World Blame Game, Bernie Shreds Dems For Abandoning Working Class

Tom Roche

consistently EXCELLENT esp closing segment (David Sirota vs Corporate Democrats)

Krystal and Saagar discuss Democrats play blame game over Kamala loss, Bernie shreds Dems for abandoning working class. 

 

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07 Nov 17:19

Trump has won the US election - so how did he do it?

Tom Roche

this unusually-long LNL (52 min, all of a nightly episode) has some moments of insight, but is unfortunately dominated by the toxic (and, I argue, Kamala-crushing) mixture of Dick-Cheney-style neocon foreign/military policy (esp guest Heilbrunn) and identity-politics/norms-revering neoliberalism (esp guest Shapiro and host David Marr)

Late Night Live's team of experts bring you their analysis of the US election 2024. What went right for Donald Trump? What went wrong for Kamala Harris? And will Trump Make America Great Again?

Guests: 

  • Bruce Shapiro - Contribution Editor with The Nation, Executive Director with the Dart Centre for Journalism and Trauma at Columbia
  • Chas Licciardello - Co-host of Planet America on ABC TV
  • Clare Corbould - Associate Head of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Deakin University
  • Jacob Heilbrunn - Editor of The National Interest, author of America Last: The Right’s Century Long Fascination with Foreign Dictators
07 Nov 16:19

Special - The 2024 US Presidential Election (Preview)

Tom Roche

excellent but truncated (runtime=11:05)

Danny and Derek jump on the mic to break down Donald Trump's decisive election victory. Topics include the crisis of liberalism, the end of the road for the Democrats' status quo, what Trump and Vance mean for American foreign policy, the Boomers and members of the Silent Generation holding onto power, and the profound alienation of our time.

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06 Nov 18:32

Radio War Nerd EP 479 — Ukraine Military Rot, feat. Peter Korotaev

by mail@yashalevine.com (Gary Brecher)
Tom Roche

EXCELLENT survey of the Ukraine scam

Co-hosts John Dolan & Mark Ames
04 Nov 19:45

Billionaire BlackRock CEO: 'Doesn't matter' who wins US election; Trump & Kamala benefit Wall Street

Tom Roche

VERY EXCELLENT short overview of US economic inequality and how this makes economic oligarchy the best model of US politics and government

Billionaire BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said it “really doesn’t matter” who wins the US presidential election, because both Donald Trump and Kamala Harris will be good for Wall Street. Ben Norton shows how the United States is not a democracy but rather an oligarchy, in which big corporations buy politicians and lobbyists create policies. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chPfp01rsD0 Topics 0:00 US election season 0:42 BlackRock CEO: it “really doesn’t matter” who wins US elections 2:20 The "Big Three" Wall Street asset managers 3:06 S&P 500 and Nasdaq bubbles 4:35 Richest 10% of Americans own 93% of stocks 5:30 Princeton study: USA is oligarchy, not democracy 6:26 Billions spent buying US elections 7:54 Money buys seats in Congress (90% of the time) 8:50 Crypto industry funds Republicans & Democrats 10:51 Biden promised rich donors "nothing would fundamentally change" 11:59 Extreme wealth & income inequality in USA 15:12 US wages stagnated while productivity soared 15:42 Financialization of US economy 17:09 Inflation & cost of living crisis 18:43 House prices grow much faster than wages 20:48 Blackstone: the world's largest landlord 22:49 Private equity 24:03 Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman funds Trump 24:28 Kamala Harris & Trump woo Wall Street 25:25 Trump tax cuts make rich much richer 27:19 BlackRock makes economic policy for Biden & Harris 28:10 USA is an oligarchy 29:41 Outro
04 Nov 19:06

Ivo Graham's Obsessions

Tom Roche

skip

Ivo Graham brings 2 more celebrity guests to Radio 4, to tell us about their obsessions.

Comedian Fatiha-El Ghorri and Paul Gorton of the hit BBC show 'The Traitors' join Ivo this week. Fatiha El-Ghorri is obsessed with trainers, and judges the audience on theirs while Paul details the hours he spends in his gaming room. Ivo also delves into the audience to find out what their obsessions are, and finally Ivo is joined by a Very Obsessed Person, or 'VOP'. This week, Ailish Morrison comes on to tell us about her unexpected twin passions of cheerleading and Lord of the Rings.

Hosted by Ivo Graham Featuring Fatiha El-Ghorri, Paul Gorton and Ailish Morrison

Written by Ivo Graham and Zoe Tomalin

Additional Material by Cody Dahler, Christina Riggs and Peter Tellouche

Recorded at the Marylebone Theatre by Duncan Hannant Sound edited by Charlie Brandon-King Production Coordinators: Katie Baum and Jodie Charman Executive Producer: Pete Strauss

Produced by Gwyn Rhys Davies, a BBC Studios Audio production for Radio 4

An EcoAudio certified production Show image: Matt Stronge

04 Nov 15:50

Democracy Now! 2024-11-04 Monday

Tom Roche

after headlines, very skippable

Democracy Now! 2024-11-04 Monday

  • Headlines for November 04, 2024
  • "You're Being Lied To": Pennsylvania County Elections Chair Debunks Claims of Voter Fraud
  • Former FEC Counsel Speaks Out on Big Money, Citizens United & Elon Musk's Illegal Moves to Help Trump
  • Save the Children in Gaza: Israel Bombs Polio Vax Site, Bans UNRWA in Attacks on Humanitarian Aid
  • Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud on Refusing Meeting with Trump, Not Endorsing Harris

Download this show

04 Nov 15:49

Democracy Now! 2024-11-01 Friday

Democracy Now! 2024-11-01 Friday

  • Headlines for November 01, 2024
  • Will Abortion Rights Decide 2024 Election? Amy Littlefield on Trump's Misogyny & 10 Ballot Measures
  • Report from Wisconsin: John Nichols on Harris's Madison Roots & Key Senate/House Races Nationwide
  • "Little Secret"? Elie Mystal on Trump's Likely Plan to Steal Election with GOP House Speaker Johnson

Download this show

04 Nov 15:42

How can BRICS de-dollarize the financial system?

Tom Roche

another VERY EXCELLENT (though Hudson-less) Geopolitical Economy Hour

BRICS plans to transform the international monetary and financial system, and discussed policies at the 2024 summit in Kazan, Russia. Can it successfully challenge the dominance of the US dollar? Political economist Radhika Desai is joined by Ben Norton and former central banker Kathleen Tyson, author of the book "Multicurrency Mercantilism". VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7ejfZdPboo This is part of the show Geopolitical Economy Hour. You can watch other episodes of the program here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDAi0NdlN8hMl9DkPLikDDGccibhYHnDP You can follow Kathleen on Twitter/X here: https://x.com/kathleen_tyson_ Topics 0:00 Highlight 1:24 Intro: 2024 BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia 7:33 Evaluating BRICS proposal to improve financial system 16:47 De-dollarizing trade vs capital markets 24:50 Can a global currency solve the Triffin dilemma? 29:10 Investment flows from poor to rich 30:44 Capital controls 37:16 Could Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) be a new global reserve currency? 42:17 Can a currency backed by a basket of commodities help settle trade imbalances? 48:38 Financial deregulation, Glass-Steagall, and China 53:21 HSBC splits between West and East 55:18 How can central banks de-dollarize reserves? 1:02:35 Controlling finance 1:09:01 What can China do with its huge surplus? 1:16:11 Outro
02 Nov 03:43

World War Civ 45: Russia and Germany make peace at Brest-Litovsk

Tom Roche

Justin and Dave (back to collab) EXCELLENT as usual

The Bolsheviks had made their revolution promising Peace, Land, and Bread. But peace meant a deal with Germany, which could bring British and French subversion of their nascent revolution. How could Lenin get out of this impossible dilemma? By sending Trotsky to lead the negotiations with Imperial Germany. Did Trotsky go rogue? Was he following … Continue reading "World War Civ 45: Russia and Germany make peace at Brest-Litovsk"
02 Nov 03:34

Episode 211: Bari Weiss, The 'University' of Austin, and the Silicon Valley-Funded Faux-Iconoclast Media Industry

Tom Roche

VERY EXCELLENT dissection of the Bari Weiss fraud (and the US rightwing pseudovictimization narrative)

The PC Police Outlaw Make-Believe." "Meet the Renegades of the Intellectual Dark Web." "The Roots of Campus Hatred." "End DEI."

These articles all have something in common: they were written by Bari Weiss. Weiss, the New York Times opinion editor and columnist turned horseshoe theorist media proprietor, has made a name for herself as a victim, and enemy, of that perennial right-wing bogeyman: so-called wokeness. For over a decade now, Weiss has taken to the pages of major news media to complain, vilified — and sometimes target — college kids and protesters who won't let her and the fascistic company she keeps, Jordan Peterson, Ben Shapiro, and the like, speak their minds as loudly and publicly as possible.

There is, of course, a comical level of irony here. Amid her claims of being silenced and repressed by a hostile left, Weiss has been paid to voice her opinions in legacy paper after legacy paper and been given millions by venture capital firms to start her own media company, The Free Press, and her so-called "university," the University of Austin. And despite her insistence that mainstream institutions are too intolerant of heterodox views like hers, she's warmly embraced on CNN broadcasts, in the pages of her former employer, The New York Times, and has been given glowing profiles in Vanity Fair, Los Angeles Magazine, Ha'aretz, The Information, and the Financial Times.

On this episode, we discuss the rise of Bari Weiss Silicon Valley-funded media empire, the trope of the Iconoclast rebel, truth-telling media lightening rod with banal conservative political positions, and the broader, seemingly uniquely American psychological need, and branding convention, for people with 95% boilerplate rightwing positions to see themselves as persecuted outsiders who don't fit into any labels.

Our guest is Discourse Blog's Katherine Krueger.

01 Nov 19:46

The News Quiz: Ep 8. Interference, Incentives and Interruptions

Tom Roche

Ian Smith hosts an EXCELLENT, top-notch NQ to end season 115 (!) with panelists Geoff Norcott, Amy Hoggart, Alasdair Beckett-King, and the not-quite-impenetrably-Scottish (I could not decipher one of her utterances) Susie McCabe on US politics, UK vs Commonwealth, and (England) North vs South (et al). Another reliably-delightful half-hour from BBC Radio 4 Comedy.

This week on The News Quiz, join guest host Ian Smith, along with Geoff Norcott, Amy Hoggart, Alasdair Beckett-King and Susie McCabe, as they break down accusations of Labour door-knocking across international lines, Musk's super PAC and Trump's Big Mac, and the wild adventures of King Charles in the South Pacific.

Written by Ian Smith.

With additional material by: Alex Kealy, Cameron Loxdale, Christina Riggs and Laura Davis. Producer: Rajiv Karia Executive Producer: Richard Morris Production Coordinator: Jodie Charman Sound Editor: Marc Willcox

A BBC Studios Audio Production for Radio 4 An Eco-Audio certified Production

01 Nov 18:48

881 - Kook Hunter feat. Kath Krueger (10/31/24)

Tom Roche

just bant but funny: Felix, Kath, and Will break the already-broken NBC series 'Brilliant Minds' into its many defective parts. Along the way, comparisons are made to better and worse TV shows (esp Fox's 'House'), the genre of NBCcore, and the general decline of US TV.

It’s 5 days until the election and we’ve had enough talking this political bullshit so guess what? It’s Time For My Stories. We’re looking at NBC’s new medical drama “Brilliant Minds,” which dares to ask the question “what if a doctor cared about his patients?” We’ve got Memento’d bikers, Three Stooges-induced heart attacks, TikTok witch psychosis and more, all solved with the miraculous application of empathy (and taking your patient’s party drugs).


LOS ANGELES: Come to our 11/4 Election Eve show with E1 & live house band featuring Dan Boeckner and Nick Diamonds: https://link.dice.fm/b1eb3de54f54


And, have you checked out Vic Berger’s amazing mini-doc on Trump’s interregnum at Mar-A-Lago? Watch on youtube now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxG6s1-eIOQ&ab_channel=ChapoTrapHouse

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01 Nov 16:15

Irreal: Define Alternatives

by jcs

Marcin Borkowski (mbork) has an excellent post concerning a function I didn’t know about. It helps with the following problem: suppose you have a function with several implementations, want to access them with a single function name, and need to choose the implementation to use when you invoke the common function name.

That probably seems a little obscure but the example that mbork gives makes it clear. His use case is wanting to play some music using one of mplayer, vlc, or mpv using a single invocation name.

There are plenty of straightforward ways of doing this, of course, but mbork shows a very nice builtin method: define-alternatives. It’s easy to use and set up. You simply provide an alist of method/function pairs and use define-alternatives to specify a function name that will invoke the method of the user’s choice. See mborks post or the documentation for the details.

Define-alternatives is a great way of handling this situation. It’s hard to imagine a method that requires less code or effort on the developer’s part. As mbork says, the method doesn’t seem to be well known so it’s worthwhile pointing to mbork’s post as a way of getting the word out.

31 Oct 15:12

Wormholes

Tom Roche

IOT doing science well

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the tantalising idea that there are shortcuts between distant galaxies, somewhere out there in the universe. The idea emerged in the context of Einstein's theories and the challenge has been not so much to prove their unlikely existence as to show why they ought to be impossible. The universe would have to folded back on itself in places, and there would have to be something to make the wormholes and then to keep them open. But is there anywhere in the vast universe like that? Could there be holes that we or more advanced civilisations might travel through, from one galaxy to another and, if not, why not?

With

Toby Wiseman Professor of Theoretical Physics at Imperial College London

Katy Clough Senior Lecturer in Mathematics at Queen Mary, University of London

And

Andrew Pontzen Professor of Cosmology at Durham University

Producer: Simon Tillotson

Reading list:

Jim Al-Khalili, Black Holes, Wormholes and Time Machines (Taylor & Francis, 1999)

Andrew Pontzen, The Universe in a Box: Simulations and the Quest to Code the Cosmos (Riverhead Books, 2023)

Claudia de Rham, The Beauty of Falling: A Life in Pursuit of Gravity (Princeton University Press, 2024)

Carl Sagan, Contact (Simon and Schuster, 1985)

Kip Thorne, Black Holes & Time Warps: Einstein's Outrageous Legacy (W. W. Norton & Company, 1994)

Kip Thorne, Science of Interstellar (W. W. Norton & Company, 2014)

Matt Visser, Lorentzian Wormholes: From Einstein to Hawking (American Institute of Physics Melville, NY, 1996)

In Our Time is a BBC Studios Audio Production

31 Oct 04:11

Call Jonathan Pie: The American Dream

Tom Roche

I'm not always a fan of Tom Walker's comedy, but this CJP episode is an EXCELLENT, very funny BBC Radio 4 lib self-satire with some political insight: 28 min well-spent. Note also that this is part 1 of a pair: part 2 available (even in the US) [here](https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0024ljm)

In the first of two US election specials Pie (Tom Walker) is tackling the thorny issue of democracy and is quickly derailed. As he takes his usual balanced (not) approach to the US presidential candidates Jules (Lucy Pearman) dangles a juicy carrot. There’s a big gig in the offing; if only he can stop ranting about one of the candidates. Can you guess which one?

Written and performed by Tom Walker. Additional material by Daniel Abelson and Will Franken

Jules …. Lucy Pearman. Sam ….. Aqib Khan Roger ….. Nick Revell Callers ….. Rosie Holt, Ellile Dobing, Daniel Abelson, Will Franken and Ed Kear Original Music ....Jason Read Voiceover .... Bob Sinfield. Producer ….. Alison Vernon-Smith Executive Producer ….. Julian Mayers Production Co-Ordinator ….. Ellie Dobing A Yada-Yada Audio Production for BBC Radio 4

30 Oct 18:15

880 - End of the Line feat. Dave Weigel & Ettingermentum (10/28/24)

Tom Roche

VERY EXCELLENT analysis /and/ humor on US politics esp previewing the 5 Nov 2024 US presidential and (federal) Senate elections. Seriously, and as much as I generally enjoy Breaking Points: I got more from this 83 min with Felix, Will, Josh Ettinger, and Dave Weigel than I have learned from the past week (or maybe 2) of BP.

Chapo elections unit Dave Weigel and Josh “Ettingermentum” return for one last check-in on the state of the 2024 US Elections. We review Trump’s fascist clown show rally at Madison Square Garden over the weekend, and discuss its potential impacts on the final week of the race. We look at the closing arguments & strategies of both campaigns, the increasingly strained relationship between the electorate and the media, key senate races to watch, and give final chances for Trump & Harris.


LOS ANGELES: Come to our 11/4 Election Eve show with E1 & live house band featuring Dan Boeckner and Nick Diamonds: https://link.dice.fm/b1eb3de54f54

We are releasing another batch of SIGNED COPIES of Matt’s book, ¡No Pasarán!, tomorrow/today TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29th, at Noon ET/9am PT at chapotraphouse.store. Sales open ONLY until this Thursday, October 31st, get your copy!


Find Dave’s reporting at Semafor here: https://www.semafor.com/author/david-weigel

Find the Ettingermentum newsletter here: https://www.ettingermentum.news/



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