18 Minutes From Nuclear Annihilation

Mark Leibovich has a day job covering the reality show of politics as the New York Times Magazine’s Chief National Correspondent, but he’s spent the spent the last few years reporting a book on America’s other biggest reality show: football. The new season begins with Colin Kaepernick the face of Nike, Donald Trump the NFL’s biggest commentator, and America’s most popular sport facing a myriad of problems. How does football survive both CTE and declining ratings? Which is the bigger swamp – Washington, DC, or an NFL owner’s box? Links - Big Game: The NFL in Dangerous Times (Mark Leibovich, 2018) - “The Absurdist Spectacle of the Nike Boycotts” (Hannah Giorgis, September 5, 2018) - “Colin Kaepernick, Nike, and the Myth of Good and Bad Companies” (Joshua Hunt, September 5, 2018) - “Taking a Blowtorch to Debate” (Alex Wagner, September 5, 2018) - “Trump’s Divisive and Relentless Politicization of the NFL” (Ben Strauss, September 1, 2018) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

7 Sep 201844min

This week, the most rigorous estimate yet of deaths caused by Hurricane Maria was published, marking a grim milestone: the hurricane season of 2017 was one of the deadliest in North America in a century. A year after Puerto Rico, Houston, and other communities were devastated by storms, they’re still counting the victims and trying to rebuild. Because of climate change, these types of extreme disasters may only grow more common. In this episode, The Atlantic’s staff writers Vann Newkirk and Elaina Plott join Matt Thompson to discuss their reporting on Puerto Rico and Houston. How are they doing a year later? And what should we learn from their recovery efforts? Links - “A New Death Toll for Puerto Rico After Hurricane Maria” (Vann R. Newkirk II, August 28, 2018) - “Hurricane Harvey Is Houston’s Unending Nightmare” (Elaina Plott, August 26, 2018) - “A Look Back at Hurricane Harvey: One Year Since Landfall” (Alan Taylor, August 26, 2018) - “Researchers Are Still Counting the Dead From Hurricane Maria” (Vann R. Newkirk II, August 2, 2018) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

31 Aug 201855min

Matt and Gillian discuss Paul Manafort’s guilty verdict and Michael Cohen’s guilty plea with Franklin Foer and David A. Graham. Was Tuesday a turning point for the Trump administration? Links - “The Day That Everything Changed for Trump” (David A. Graham, August 22, 2018) - “Trump’s Victory Was a Disaster for Michael Cohen and Paul Manafort” (David A. Graham, August 23, 2018) - “Blind Confidence Couldn’t Save Paul Manafort” (Franklin Foer, August 21, 2018) - “The Plot Against America” (Franklin Foer, March 2018 Issue) - “Will Trump Be Meeting With His Counterpart — Or His Handler?” (Jonathan Chait, New York Magazine, July 8, 2018) - “All Eyes on the Presidency” (Adam Serwer, August 22, 2018) - Corruption in America (Zephyr Teachout, 2016) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

23 Aug 201846min

With movies like Crazy Rich Asians, BlacKkKlansman, and Sorry To Bother You out in theaters, Hollywood is trying to mute the complaint that it lacks racial and ethnic diversity, to avoid another #OscarsSoWhite. But depicting people of color onscreen was always the easy part. Next comes a harder question: how authentically are minority experiences being represented? Matt sits down with senior editor Gillian White and culture writer Hannah Giorgis to discuss. Links - “What Does It Mean to ‘Sound’ Black?” (Hannah Giorgis, August 15, 2018) - “There’s Nothing Wrong With Black English” (John McWhorter, August 6, 2018) - “With BlacKkKlansman, Spike Lee Sounds the Alarm About America’s Past and Present” (David Sims, August 8, 2018) - “Daveed Diggs and Rafael Casal on Blindspotting and the Power of Poetry” (Hannah Giorgis, July 21, 2018) - “Blindspotting Is a Boldly Sincere Love Letter to Oakland” (David Sims, July 20, 2018) - “The Oscars’ Terrible Idea” (David Sims, August 9, 2018) - “Yet Another Reason the New ‘Popular Film’ Oscar Is a Terrible Idea” (Christopher Orr, August 11, 2018) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

17 Aug 201845min

It’s been a year since the violence of the “Unite the Right” rally and the political turmoil of its aftermath. How did Charlottesville change the country? Has the alt-right withered under the new scrutiny or grown amidst the new visibility? And what responsibility do tech platforms have to stop the spread of hateful ideologies? Links - "The White Nationalists Are Winning" (Adam Serwer, August 10, 2018) - “White threat in a browning America” (Ezra Klein, Vox,  July 30, 2018) - “The Hate Report: The alt-right is down, but not out” (Will Carless and Aaron Sankin, Reveal, June 1, 2018) - “The Defense That Failed White Nationalists” (Adam Serwer, May 10, 2018) - “The Lost Boys” (Angela Nagle, December 2017 Issue) - “The Hoods Are Off” (Matt Thompson, August 12, 2017) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

10 Aug 201851min

The first anniversary of Radio Atlantic this week coincides with one of the newsiest weeks of 2018. So we’ve decided to take the opportunity to lift our sights above the fog of news for a few minutes, and discuss the things that are most important to remember—the Keepers of the Year. We revisit some of the most memorable keepers of the show’s earliest months, and share reflections from our Atlantic colleagues. Links - “Nanette Is a Radical, Transformative Work of Comedy” (Sophie Gilbert, June 27, 2018) - Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business (Neil Postman, 1985) - “My Family's Slave” (Alex Tizon, June 2017 Issue) - “Complicating the Narratives” (Amanda Ripley, Medium, June 27, 2018) - “how to do nothing” (Jenny Odell, Medium, June 29, 2017) - “Philip Roth's final interview: 'Life can stop on a dime'” (Charles Mcgrath, Irish Times, January 22, 2018) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

20 Juli 20181h 8min

As President Trump meets with other western leaders in Europe, the spirit of democratic cooperation we’re used to in NATO summits is gone. But it’s not just Trump. Populist movements around Europe are agitating against the cooperation that has bound the continent since World War II. Where is the West headed? Is this a short-term fever brought on by unique stresses? Or does it herald a re-fracturing of the continent? Are the ‘member states’ of Europe becoming ‘nation states’ again? Links - “Angela Merkel, Escape Artist” (Yasmeen Serhan, July 3, 2018) - “What If Russia Invaded the Baltics—and Donald Trump Was President?” (Uri Friedman, July 27, 2016) - “England’s Unfamiliar Emotion: Hope” (Sophie Gilbert, July 10, 2018) - “Why Didn't Boris Johnson Get Fired Before He Quit?” (Yasmeen Serhan, July 9, 2018) - “The End of the Brexit Illusion” (David Frum, July 9, 2018) - “Trump’s Plan to End Europe” (David Frum, May 2017 Issue) - Educated (Tara Westover, 2018) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

13 Juli 201846min

“Humanity is now in the midst of its fastest-ever period of change,” writes Ed Yong in the July/August issue of The Atlantic. Urbanization and globalization mean pathogens can spread and become drug-resistant more quickly than ever. Yong joins executive editor Matt Thompson and fellow science writer Sarah Zhang to discuss what vulnerabilities exist a century after the 1918 pandemic, and how our sharpest risks might be societal and psychological. Links - “The Next Plague Is Coming. Is America Ready?” (Ed Yong, July/August 2018 Issue) - “VIDEO: Is Trump Ready for a Global Outbreak?” (Ed Yong, Jun 14, 2018) - “China Is Genetically Engineering Monkeys With Brain Disorders” (Sarah Zhang,  June 8, 2018) - “The Perfect Storm Behind This Year's Nasty Flu Season” (Sarah Zhang,  January 13, 2018) - “Trees That Have Lived for Millennia Are Suddenly Dying” (Ed Yong, Jun 11, 2018) - @sarahzhang on Twitter; @-mention her if you’ve read Audrey Schulman’s A Theory of Bastards - 160 Years of Atlantic Stories - “How Bad Is the Flu?” (Justina Hill, March 1944 Issue) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

6 Juli 201859min