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What Went Wrong With Contact Tracing Apps Aug 21, 2020

Show notes

In the early days of the pandemic, countries around the world invested heavily in new technologies that would help track the movement of the virus. Now, six months later, contact tracing apps are all but an afterthought in the fight to contain COVID-19. What happened? The U.K. provides some answers. The country put its faith in technology to contain the virus, and paid the price.

Guest:

Gus Hosein, executive director at Privacy International

Host

Celeste Headlee

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

Can NY Take Down the NRA? Aug 20, 2020

Show notes

New York Attorney General Letitia James surprised many when she announced plans to dissolve the National Rifle Association. James accused the gun lobby, which is headquartered in New York, of mismanaging their finances – claiming top executives “looted” NRA assets. With the organization’s finances in trouble, and the State AG investigating them for financial misconduct, could this be the end of the National Rifle Association?

Guest: Tim Mak, investigative reporter at NPR.

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The QAnon Candidate Aug 19, 2020

Show notes

Last week in Georgia’s 14th congressional district runoff, a Republican candidate who believes in the dangerous and baseless QAnon conspiracy theory came out on top. Marjorie Taylor Greene is now a shoo-in to win a seat in Congress. How did her candidacy get this far? And what does it mean for the Republican party?

Guest: Greg Bluestein, political reporter at the Atlanta Journal Constitution

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The Battle for Wisconsin's Dairy Farmers Aug 18, 2020

Show notes

Having the Democratic National Convention in Wisconsin was supposed to be a way for the Democrats to atone for 2016. Hillary Clinton was the first presidential candidate from either party to not campaign in the state since Richard Nixon in 1972.

Wisconsin flipped from blue to red in the last presidential election as rural voters voiced their disaffection with the Democratic Party and supported Donald Trump for president. Now, four years later, the Democrats are hoping they can use Trump’s record in office to win them back.

Guest: Dan Kaufman is Contributing Writer at The New Yorker and author of The Fall of Wisconsin

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Wanted by China Aug 17, 2020

Show notes

One day last month, Samuel Chu woke up to the news that the Chinese government wanted him in jail. Chu doesn’t think he’s in danger -- he’s a U.S. citizen, living in Los Angeles. So how did he wind up on the wrong side of Chinese authorities? Simple: He’s lobbying Congress to support democracy in Hong Kong.

Guest: Samuel Chu, founder of the Hong Kong Democracy Council.

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

TBD | How Google Search Sold Out Aug 14, 2020

Show notes

In the early days of internet search engines, Google set itself apart by providing a simple service. A list of links, inviting you to explore the websites that best matched your query. It was a portal to the rest of the internet. But over the last two decades, that mission has changed.

Does Google search still take you to the best result for your query? Or does it point users back to its own suite of products?

Guest:

Adrianne Jeffries, investigative journalist at The Markup.

Host

Celeste Headlee

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

How Google Search Sold Out Aug 14, 2020

Show notes

Does Google search still take you to the best result for your query? Or does it point users back to its own suite of products?

Guest:

Adrianne Jeffries, investigative journalist at The Markup.

Host

Celeste Headlee

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

Kamala: Historic, Safe, and Complicated Aug 13, 2020

Show notes

Kamala Harris is having an historic moment. What does it mean?

Guest: Jason Johnson, political science professor at Morgan State University.

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

Our Pandemic Learning Curve Aug 12, 2020

Show notes

The pandemic moves quickly. The scientific consensus changes slowly. Did we waste time waiting for data when we could have adopted low-cost safety measures?

Guest: New York Times reporter Apoorva Mandavilli.

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

Left Out of the Census Aug 11, 2020

Show notes

The U.S. Census Bureau has faced setback after setback. And, this year, who makes it into the official population count is going to be a lot more complicated.

Guest: Hansi Lo Wang covers the 2020 Census for NPR.

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