What Could Go Right? 2024 Predictions Show

This podcast is an urgent, radical, yet practical response to the crisis of political polarization that is tearing America apart. Instead of mere tolerance and civility, we discuss how and why we should love our enemies.A response is needed to our culture of contempt, where many think of those who they disagree with as bad people. Millions are organizing their social lives and curating their news and information to avoid hearing viewpoints different than their own.The Outrage Industrial Complex-- angry politicians, cable TV and talk radio pundits, campus activists and Twitter trolls-- profits out of making us miserable and wrecking public life. An exhausted majority of Americans is tired of how divided we've become. This show looks at how to fix it.In his new book, "Love Your Enemies: How Decent People Can Save America From the Culture of Contempt", best-selling author and social scientist, Arthur Brooks, makes the case for something that is far more life affirming than mere tolerance and civility. He explains a new way to lead based not on attacking others, but on bridging national divides and mending personal relationships."You increase anxiety and stress in your own life when you treat somebody else with contempt," Arthur tells us. "The reason why I talk about love your enemies is because I believe that contempt in our society today is not just a terrible thing that we do, it's also a habit that we're engaged in."The episode is a joint production with "Half Hour of Heterodoxy". Deb Mashek, Executive Director of Heterodox Academy is our co-host. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

21 Maalis 201923min

Monsanto's controversial Roundup herbicide is the world's top-selling weed killer. But tens of billions of dollars in sales and profits are at stake because of questions about the safety of glyphosate, the product's key ingredient. Does Roundup cause cancer? Is it linked to cases of non-Hodgkin Lymphoma? Are GMO crops allies or enemies in the fight for a more sustainable environment?More than 11,200 lawsuits have been filed, claiming that Roundup causes cancer. A major trial is now underway in federal court in San Francisco. A 70-year-old California man alleges that he got sick because he used Roundup on his property for many years. The trial is hearing a range of opinions. This episode features former Reuters correspondent, investigative journalist, and advocate Carey Gillam-- the author of “Whitewash —The Story of a Weedkiller, Cancer and the Corruption of Science.” Carey's book won the Rachel Carson book award from the Society of Environmental Journalists. We report on the rates of non-Hodgkin lymphoma cases in recent years, and examine calls for transparency, the need for independent, rigorous science, and why European regulators take a different view of pesticides and food safety than U.S. authorities. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

15 Maalis 201924min

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez didn't waste any time getting started in Congress. The first-term Democrat boldly proposed The Green New Deal, one of the most ambitious policy proposals in decades.Precise details are fuzzy, but the broad strokes suggest that the Green New Deal calls on the federal government to ban virtually all fossil fuels, replace most cars and airplanes with trains and other forms of public transportation, build a smart electricity grid, strengthen trade unions, retrofit every building in the country, give everyone free college, free healthcare, and a guaranteed job.But would it prevent climate change? By including a series of highly ambitious left-wing proposals on economic and social policy, is the Green New Deal debate a distraction from constructive efforts to address carbon emissions, pollution and global warming?Our guest, Megan McArdle, is a Washington Post columnist and author of the book "The Upside of Down:Why Failing Well is the Key to Success." She writes about economics, finance and government policy. We discuss a series of proposed solutions, including a carbon tax, massive new government spending on research and development of promising green technologies, and ways to make renewable energy cheaper for consumers. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

7 Maalis 201923min

Migration is an emotional, super-charged issue, sparking fierce debates, angry protests and influencing election results around the world. From President Trump's demand for a border wall to the long controversy over Brexit, migration is seen by many as a threat. But movement of people across borders is inevitable, and has always played a major role in economic growth and technological innovation. Today, global migration is at a record high-- up 50% in less than twenty years. An estimated 244 million people, or about 3.3% of the world’s population, were born in one country and now live in another. Often, solutions to the world's problems involve an unsexy truth: Better management. This episode looks at the need for safe, orderly and regular migration. The alternative to international cooperation is often violence and chaos, leading to great human suffering.Our guest is Tolu Olubunmi, host of the podcast, "A Way Home Together: Stories of the Human Journey". Tolu is a global advocate for migrants, refugees, and displaced people. She is a Dreamer, born in Nigeria, who now lives in The United States. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

28 Helmi 201921min

The climate change debate is heating up. Record numbers of people no longer see extreme climate as a distant threat, but as a crisis that is unfolding right now. According to a Yale survey, "the proportion of Americans who are very worried about global warming has more than tripled since its lowest point in 2011." Despite opposition by activist groups, support for carbon-free nuclear power is growing among climate scientists and environmentalists as they search for ways to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions.In this episode, Richard quizzes co-host Jim Meigs, who argues in the latest edition of City Journal that nuclear is the best source of clean, reliable and safe energy.We consider concerns about cost, nuclear waste, power plant safety, and look at what really happened after disasters at Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and Fukushima. Jim explains why subsidies for wind and solar have led to the construction of more polluting natural gas plants, instead of no-emission nuclear facilities.Sources cited include an MIT study, "The Future of Nuclear Power", the research and advocacy group,Environmental Progress, and Jim's "City Journal" article. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

21 Helmi 201926min

The American worker is in crisis. Wages have stagnated for several decades. Despite nearly a decade of continuous economic growth and falling unemployment (as defined by official statistics), the percentage of Americans in the workforce is still well below normal levels. For the first time in modern memory, life expectancy has started to fall, as substance abuse and obesity rates rise. Our guest in this episode, Oren Cass, argues that we've abandoned the American worker, and pushed four-college at the cost of other, more effective, solutions.In his widely-praised new book, "The Once and Future Worker", Oren argues that government policy should emphasize production, not consumption. His arguments were summarized in The Atlantic."We've become obsessed with consumerism-- measuring everything in terms of consumers and living standards... In the process, we've forgotten that producing stuff is important too.Oren Cass is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research. He worked previously the domestic policy advisor for Mitt Romney's presidential campaign, and a management consultant at Bain & Company. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

15 Helmi 201928min

Life as a teenager is proving traumatic for Facebook. The social media juggernaut turned 15 this month. The company has gone from being universally celebrated for changing the way we communicate, to a troubled adolescent with serious questions about its entire business model. Critics say Facebook ignored hate speech on its site and played down destructive actions by internet trolls and other bad actors. More than two-thirds of American adults are Facebook users, but surveys show that many more of us are increasingly uncomfortable that Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp-- all owned by the same parent company-- know so much about our private lives. Many of us have a conflicted relationship with social media. While disturbed about the lack of transparency and the invasion of privacy, we find it hard to walk away from friends, colleagues and family members who share photos, memories and much more on the world's biggest website.Our guest, "Soonish" podcast host and technology journalist Wade Roush, tells us he is in the process of getting off Facebook. He walks us through what this means and makes the case for why Facebook is not only much too big, but is also a threat to democracy. We examine the case of breaking up Facebook, look at its troubled role overseas, and consider what we can do to push back against the massive power of online tech giants. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

7 Helmi 201924min

The public's faith in journalism is at the lowest point in living memory. A recent Gallup poll for the Knight Foundation found that most U.S. adults said they personally have lost trust in the news media in recent years. More than 9 in 10 Republicans feel this way. The recent uproar over the rush to judgement and media coverage of the Covington Catholic story is the latest damaging controversy. “Boys in Make America Great Again Hats Mob Native Elder at Indigenous Peoples March,” was the first New York Times headline about what happened. But by the next day a much more complex picture began to emerge of what had happened. "The weekend began to take a long, bad turn for respected news outlets and righteous celebrities," wrote Caitlin Flanagan in a long and thoughtful analysis in The Atlantic about why the media "botched" the story.The news business is also reeling from years of job losses and budget cuts. Newsrooms at many local and regional newspapers have been decimated. More newspaper layoffs were announced in recent weeks, while many online journalists are losing their jobs at Buzzfeed and Verizon's media division. Jim and Richard look at journalism's crisis and consider whether readers, viewers and listeners may be partially to blame. We also hear from Aron Pilhofer, professor of Journalism Innovation at the Klein College of Media and Communication at Temple University, and David Bornstein co-founder of Solutions Journalism Network. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

31 Tammi 201924min