Here are the news items:Sinovac’s COVID-19 vaccine is proving highly effective, burnishing China’s “vaccine diplomacy” as it exports millions of doses around the world.Two human rights groups allege Apple is sourcing hardware and assembly work from Chinese companies engaged in forced labor of oppressed minorities.Israelis and Palestinians may be headed for war again — John and Rebecca look at whether the window for de-escalation is closing. American companies have announced $484 billion in share buybacks as they spend excess profits after a surprisingly strong year. The FBI is reportedly looking into the investment practices (and foreign adventures) of Pennsylvania’s biggest pension fund, which holds $62 billion for public school teachers.
 PLUS: John and Rebecca discuss the cyberattack on the Colonial Pipeline — the most important channel for fuel distribution in the country — and how the shutdown is affecting gas and heating oil commodities. 
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Are Israel and Gaza Destined for Another War?

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.

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John interviews Adam Tooze, a historian, the author of five books on economic history, and a professor at Columbia University, where he is the director of the interdisciplinary European Institute. Adam also writes a newsletter, “Chartbook,” which in its own words, reports on "economic data, images, stories that matter."
Adam’s two latest books deal with the major economic crises of the past two decades. “Crashed” looks back at the global financial crisis of 2007 and 2008, and explains both its causes and the rescue plan that got us out of it – though not without eroding democracies around the world. The newly-released “Shutdown” analyzes the COVID-19 pandemic’s effects on the world economy.
John and Adam talk about both crises, their differences, and the mystical workings of the repo market. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

‘So Close to the Edge’: Adam Tooze on the Pandemic Economy

John interviews Steve Coll, a staff writer at The New Yorker, the dean of the Columbia Journalism School, the author of eight books, and a two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize. 
Between 1989 and 1992, he worked as The Washington Post's South Asia bureau chief. That experience ultimately led him to write two books on Afghanistan and Pakistan (with a third on the way).
The first, “Ghost Wars,” won a Pulitzer Prize in 2005. It chronicles the C.I.A.'s secret wars in Afghanistan and how these fueled the founding of Al Qaeda. The second, “Directorate S,” focuses on the Pentagon and C.I.A.’s struggles with the eponymous, secretive branch of the Pakistani intelligence service that supported the Afghan Taliban.
John and Steve discuss both books and the intense research they required; the Biden administration’s withdrawal from Afghanistan; and Steve’s plans for a third book on the subject. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Steve Coll on the Taliban’s Return to Power

John interviews Jeffrey Stern. An award-winning journalist and the author of three books, Jeffrey originally started his career as a foreign correspondent in Afghanistan. In 2018, his book “The 15:17 to Paris” was adapted into a film by Clint Eastwood, and in 2019, he won the Overseas Press Club award for best human rights reporting in any medium and Amnesty International’s USA Media Award in the international news category.
John talks to Jeffrey about how he became a writer; his first book, “The Last Thousand,” which tells the story of a school in the slums of Kabul that has sent kids to Ivy League universities; and how he came to co-write “The 15:17 to Paris.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From Kabul to Oregon: Jeffrey Stern on Reporting the World

John interviews Joseph Kanon, a former publishing executive who became a bestselling author in his 50s. Joseph’s spy novels take place in the aftermath of World War II and the Cold War that followed. He published his debut novel, “Los Alamos,” in 1997, and the story of a murder set against the backdrop of the Manhattan Project won the Edgar Award for best first novel. His third novel, “The Good German,” was adapted to the big screen by director Steven Soderbergh and starred George Clooney and Cate Blanchett.
Joseph’s stories are told through characters navigating ethically fraught terrain. “There was a reviewer who said at one point that my books were novels of moral intrigue,” Joseph said. “And I thought it was a perfect description that I hadn't thought of, or otherwise I would have told it to the publisher, to put it on the jacket.”
John and Joseph talk about his midlife career change; his tenth novel, “The Berlin Exchange,” which comes out in January; and what he’s writing next. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why Spy Novels Matter, with Joseph Kanon

John interviews Priya Donti, a Ph.D. student in computer science at Carnegie Mellon University. She is also the co-founder and chair of Climate Change A.I., an organization working at the intersection of climate science and machine learning.
Priya’s goal is to use machine learning to analyze, slow, and adapt to climate change. This could include optimizing pollutive supply chains, improving climate models, and helping researchers create next-generation batteries.
John and Priya talk about these applications; machine learning’s relevance for insurance companies; and why A.I. isn’t a silver bullet for this era’s most prominent environmental challenge. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Are Israel and Gaza Destined for Another War?

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