Call It Like I See It

The fight over raising the federal minimum wage in the U.S. looks to be heating up, so James Keys and Tunde Ogunlana consider the extent to which most of the economic and the social questions being debated have already been answered (01:56).  The guys also take a look at recent research on what makes men more likely to respond aggressively to threats to their masculinity (as opposed to physical threats) (42:13).

How raising minimum wage to $15 per hour could affect workers and small businesses (CNBC)

Republicans Grapple With Raising the Minimum Wage (NY Times)

Why the U.S. needs a $15 minimum wage (Economic Policy Institute)

'Be a Man': Why Some Men Respond Aggressively to Threats to Manhood (Duke.edu)

The crisis in Texas involving an overwhelmed power grid and millions being left in the cold presented a challenge and an opportunity for the state’s leadership, so James Keys and Tunde Ogunlana discuss the approach that has been taken and what is need for our society to better handle matters like these (01:23).  The guys also take a look at Prince Hall, founder of Prince Hall Freemasonry and a fascinating but an underappreciated figure from the time of our nation’s founding (42:54).

Texas Blackout: How the Electrical Grid Failed (Bloomberg)

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott falsely wind turbines, Green New Deal for power grid outages (WaPo)

How Texas’ Drive for Energy Independence Set It Up for Disaster (NY Times)

Why some Texans are facing catastrophic electric bills after a winter storm (Vox)

Texas Power Outage Underscores Looming Climate Tests (Scientific American)

Millions of Texans wake up without safe drinking water after winter storm (NBC News)

Texas Is a Mess (Atlantic)

A Forgotten Black Founding Father (Atlantic)

Prince Hall Freemasonry: A Resource Guide (Library of Congress)

Henry Louis Gates Jr.’s “Reconstruction: America After the Civil War” documentary series, which originally aired in 2019 on PBS, provides a deep dive into an immensely impactful yet often overlooked time in American history, and James Keys, Tunde Ogunlana, and Rick Ellsley discuss their biggest takeaways from the series and how what happened during this time period still influences much of contemporary American culture, politics, and economics.

Reconstruction: America After the Civil War (PBS)

Reconstruction: America After the Civil War (Amazon Prime Video)

Facebook’s decision to ban vaccine misinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic appears to be a major departure from its normal handling of misinformation, so James Keys and Rob Richardson discuss their reaction to this effort, the good and bad could come from it, the extent to which this kind of simple approach can work for our society’s complex problems (01:06). The guys also take a look at some recent research into how and why people procrastinate and discuss how they try to minimize procrastination in their own lives (30:21).

Removing More False Claims About COVID-19 and Vaccines (FB.com)

Facebook bans misinformation about all vaccines after years of controversy (Guardian)

With the Election Over, Facebook Gets Back to Spreading Misinformation (Vanity Fair)

Trump’s Twitter and Facebook bans are working (Vox)

'Why Do I Spend Weeks Avoiding Tasks That Will Take Me 10 Minutes to Do?' (Vice)

DESCRIPTION:
Mark Manson’s 2016 bestselling book “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck,” challenges many common beliefs on how to find happiness and fulfillment and lays out what it describes as a “counterintuitive approach,” so James Keys and Tunde Ogunlana discuss their impressions of the book and their thoughts on some of the major principles it articulates.  NOTE: this podcast contains spoilers.

LINK(S):
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck (HarperOne)

It appears that significant amounts of government stimulus dollars are being used not for necessities but to play in the stock market, so James Keys and Tunde Ogunlana discuss how this happened and how big of a problem it is (01:13). The guys discuss the tradeoffs between security or convenience and privacy in light of a report about an employee for a national security company who used security cameras in customer’s homes to view unsuspecting people’s sex lives (39:41).

$1,400 Stimulus Checks Will Blow Up The Stock Market (Forbes)

The stock market is ending 2020 at record highs, even as the virus surges and millions go hungry (WaPo)

2020 Has Been a Great Year for Stocks and a Bear Market for Humans (Bloomberg)

Home alarm tech backdoored security cameras to spy on customers having sex (Arstechnica)

Society appears to have left the Industrial Age in the dust, so James Keys and Tunde Ogunlana discuss what that means for the concept of “work” and what people should be contributing to, and expecting from, society (02:24). The guys also take a look at some recent research into where rituals come from and what purpose they serve in our societies (41:05).

What’s Wrong with the Way We Work (New Yorker)

An Alligator Wrestler, A Casino Boss And A $12 Billion Tribe (Forbes)

Why do humans embrace rituals? Disease and danger may be at the root of the behaviors. (Nat Geo)

Radicalization in America is manifesting itself in dangerous ways, so James Keys and Tunde Ogunlana consider how big of a threat it poses to civil society as well as who, and what, can potentially settle things down (01:31). The guys also discuss the recent identification of an enzyme that may make it practically and commercially feasible to reuse plastic waste (44:40).

Watch ITV News' eyewitness report from inside the US Capitol as Trump supporters storm building (ITV)

The Insurrectionists Would Like You to Know That They’re the Real Victims (The Atlantic)

Impeach and Remove Trump Now (Intelligencer)

ACLU Counsel Warns of 'Unchecked Power' of Twitter, Facebook After Trump Suspension (Newsweek)

Have British scientists solved the problem of plastic pollution? (The Times)

Seeing the recent chatter about how 2020 revealed America as perhaps the most overprivileged society of all time, James Keys and Tunde Ogunlana analyze the nature of the overprivileged and entitled mindset that pervades a significant chunk of Americans (01:44). The guys also dive into some recent stories about where life on Earth likely fits in relative to the rest of the galaxy (37:34).

America the overprivileged (Yahoo Finance)

The Milky Way is probably full of dead civilizations (Space.com)

“The Social Dilemma” docu-drama both explains and illustrates how social media exploits weaknesses in our humanity, and James Keys and Tunde Ogunlana discuss their biggest takeaways from the film and the challenges that it details (01:14). The guys also consider what having a non-destructive social media environment would require (27:20) and take a look at where the film may have changed or confirmed their existing perceptions (37:17).

The Social Dilemma (Netflix)