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News Items Podcast with John Ellis — Politics
News Items Podcast with John Ellis

Ninety percent of the news out there tells you nothing about where the world is going — ten percent of it tells you everything. Every afternoon on the News Items Podcast with John Ellis, John and Rebecca Darst focus on that ten percent — news that’s interesting, important or both. The podcast is based on John Ellis’ News Items, an email newsletter that goes out to organizations including the Council on Foreign Relations, Samsung Next, and the Wall Street Journal. Tune in every Monday through Thursday afternoon to hear decades of journalistic experience packed into 20 or so minutes of insight, plus guest interviews on finance, U.S. politics, foreign affairs, science and technology.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Copyright: © The Recount

Latest Episodes:

How Tesla (Almost) Failed to Start, with Tim Higgins Aug 25, 2021

Show notes

John interviews Tim Higgins. Tim is a tech reporter at The Wall Street Journal, a regular CNBC contributor, and the author of “Power Play: Tesla, Elon Musk, and the Bet of the Century.”

The book chronicles Tesla’s multiple near-death experiences and shows how it came to symbolize the electric car and, ultimately, grew into the largest automaker in the world by market value. However, Tim says, “this isn't the story of Elon Musk,” and the book reports on many of the other figures that give Tesla its edge.

John and Tim discuss Musk’s penchant for bold moves (good and bad); Tesla’s true competitors; and the recently opened federal investigation into the company’s self-driving tech.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When A.I. Recognizes Emotion, with Rosalind Picard Aug 24, 2021

Show notes

John interviews A.I. scientist Rosalind Picard. Rosalind is a pioneer in the field of affective computing, the co-founder of two companies at the forefront of A.I., Affectica and Empatica, and the founder and director of the affective computing research group at the MIT Media Lab.

Affective computing aims to close the emotional gap between computers and their users. As Rosalind wrote in her book “Affective Computing,” published in 1997, “if we want computers to be genuinely intelligent, to adapt to us, and to interact naturally with us, then they will need the ability to recognize and express emotions.”

John and Rosalind talk about the limits and applications of affective computing, and how wearable technology could change health care as we know it.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Case Against Ghislaine Maxwell, with Lisa Bryant Aug 19, 2021

Show notes

John interviews Lisa Bryant, the director and executive producer of the Netflix docuseries “Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich.” In the second episode of this two-part conversation, John and Lisa discuss Epstein’s suspicious death in a jail cell in 2019, as he awaited trial — and the curious story of his alleged co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell, who is set to go on trial in November.

Part one of the conversation aired yesterday.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How Jeffrey Epstein Got ‘Filthy Rich,’ with Lisa Bryant Aug 18, 2021

Show notes

John interviews Lisa Bryant, the director and executive producer of the Netflix docuseries “Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich.” In the first episode of this two-part conversation, John and Lisa discuss the making of the series; Epstein’s background and wealth; and how he rubbed elbows with (and ensnared) powerful people. John also asks Lisa about Epstein’s first conviction in 2008, and how a “sweetheart deal” allowed him to step out of jail for 12 hours a day, six days a week.

Part two of the conversation, which airs tomorrow, delves into Epstein’s death in 2019 as he awaited trial in a second case — and the curious story of his alleged co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell, who is set to go on trial later this year.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

‘Inevitable’: Gayle Tzemach Lemmon on the US' Afghan Exit Aug 17, 2021

Show notes

John interviews Gayle Tzemach Lemmon, a bestselling author and an adjunct senior fellow for women and foreign policy at the Council on Foreign Relations.

John and Gayle discuss her newest book, “The Daughters of Kobani,” which tells the story of the all-female Kurdish militia that helped defeat ISIS in Syria. They also talk about Afghanistan, and what the Taliban’s victory could mean for both the Biden administration and Afghanistan's neighbors. (This interview was conducted before the fall of Kabul.)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On the Origins of the Coronavirus, with Donald McNeil Aug 12, 2021

Show notes

John interviews award-winning journalist Donald G. McNeil Jr. In this, the second half of a two-part interview, John and Donald talk about the early days of the pandemic and the evidence, regarding the origins of the virus, behind the animal-to-human transmission theory versus the lab leak theory.

If you haven’t heard part one, make sure to go back and listen to John and Donald discuss the Biden administration’s response, the Delta variant, and the financial incentives behind the anti-vaccine movement.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Time for a Vaccine Mandate, with Donald McNeil Aug 11, 2021

Show notes

John interviews award-winning journalist Donald G. McNeil Jr. about a recent essay, published in Medium, where he excoriates the Biden administration's handling of the pandemic. In part one of this two-part interview, John and Donald discuss the administration’s aforementioned stumbles; the financial incentives motivating the leaders of the anti-vaccine movement; and the deadly risks posed by the Delta variant, as tens of millions of unvaccinated children return to school.

Make sure to tune in tomorrow for part two, to hear John and Donald discuss the coronavirus’ origins.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How Substack Breaks Through the Attention Economy Aug 10, 2021

Show notes

John interviews Hamish McKenzie, one of the co-founders of Substack. Since its start in 2017, the company has managed to upend the relationship between journalists and news outlets. A good number of prominent writers, including Anne Helen Peterson, Glenn Greenwald, Andrew Sullivan, Matt Yglesias — and John Ellis himself — have started newsletters on Substack, and some of them make a good deal more money than they did when they were employed at traditional outlets.

Of course, the company hasn’t been without some controversy. John and Hamish talk about that, as well as the company’s newly announced effort to attract comic book creators — and how it plans to fend off competition from giants like Facebook.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How Voice Profiling Will Revolutionize Health Care, with Rita Singh Aug 09, 2021

Show notes

John interviews Rita Singh: a pioneer in the emerging field of voice profiling, the author of “Profiling Humans from Their Voice,” and an associate research professor at Carnegie Mellon University. Rita and her team are developing technology that can analyze a human voice signal and unlock a wealth of information about its owner. With only a short voice recording, researchers can make startlingly accurate deductions about a person’s skeletal structure, general appearance, age, and even their medical outlook. This obviously has massive implications for health care, and in just a few months, commercially available voice profiling that uses Rita’s technology may help people find out whether they should take a COVID-19 test, or if they’re “in the clear.”

John and Rita talk about the moment that led her to switch from voice recognition research to voice profiling; how the technology works; how it could transform health care; and the serious privacy implications that arise when a short voice recording is all it takes to unlock a stranger’s health secrets.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're on the Verge of Guiding Our Own Evolution, with Jane Metcalfe Aug 06, 2021

Show notes

John interviews Jane Metcalfe, the former president and co-founder of Wired magazine, about her fascinating career: from starting the “Rolling Stone of technology,” to co-founding a chocolate factory, and most recently, founding Neo.life. Metcalfe describes it as a digital media company that reports on how “to apply engineering to human biology.” With this new venture, she makes the case for a new field she calls neobiology. It is, in her words, “the next stage of the digital revolution,” or how humans will become capable of shaping their own evolution.

This is a longer, lightly edited version of an interview that ran on Monday, August 2nd.

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