Call It Like I See It

The lifeblood of our system of government is voting, so James Keys, Tunde Ogunlana, and friend of the program Rick Ellsley discuss why voting matters in our governmental system (01:35), what they make of the aversion many Americans have to everyone (including themselves) voting (11:23), the specific challenges being faced in 2020 (27:18), and what it would take for more Americans to come together as far as wanting everyone (including themselves) to vote (44:56).

How, Where, and When to Vote (USA.gov)

Republican senator says 'democracy isn't the objective' of US system (The Guardian)

National General Election VEP Turnout Rates (electionproject.org)

U.S. trails most developed countries in voter turnout (Pew)

Participation in Presidential Elections by Sex Since 1980 (census.gov)

The 100 Million Project (the100million.org)

Trump’s encouragement of GOP poll watchers echoes an old tactic of voter intimidation (The Conversation)

Paul Weyrich - "I don't want everybody to vote" (Youtube)

Georgetown created fact sheets on illegal militias at the polls and what to do if you spot them (CNN)

A federal court just struck down North Carolina’s voter ID laws, citing racial discrimination (Vox)

Coronavirus update: New England Journal of Medicine says Trump should be voted out over pandemic management as U.S. death toll tops 212,000 (Market Watch)

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Ask Americans to Get Out and Vote: "You Deserve to Be Heard" (Yahoo)

Paulo Coelho's international bestselling book, "The Alchemist," is a timeless story about self discovery, destiny, travel and treasure, and James Keys and Tunde Ogunlana discuss their impressions of and takeaways from some of the major themes in the story.  Note that this podcast does contain spoilers.

The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho

The financial settlements paid by cities following police misconduct are undoubtedly a red flag, so James Keys and Tunde Ogunlana discuss the implications of the $12 million settlement paid by Louisville to the family of Breonna Taylor (01:05).  The guys also compare discuss the commonality between America’s original conspiracy theory and conspiracy theories floating around today (26:56) and the disturbing story about mass hysterectomies being performed in ICE facilities (34:50).

Police Settlements: How The Cost Of Misconduct Impacts Cities And Taxpayers

An Illuminati Conspiracy Theory Captured American Imaginations in the Nation’s Earliest Days—And Offers a Lesson for Now

An ICE Nurse Revealed That A Georgia Detention Center Is Performing Mass Hysterectomies

The “Capital in the Twenty-First Century” documentary provided a fasted paced and fascinating look at the evolution of capital in recent history and how this has affected so much, and James Keys and Tunde Ogunlana discuss what stood out the most (01:27), what can be made of growing inequality trends (17:05), the link between wealth inequality and social instability (30:04), and how current trends can be addressed (43:12).

“Capital in the Twenty-First Century” documentary by Justin Pemberton (Netflix)

Our society’s recklessness and disregard seems to be making the Earth less hospitable to our society, so James Keys and Tunde Ogunlana take a look at the accelerating destruction of, and increasing threats to, our habitat (01:21) and discuss ways that societies can make preserving the planet we live on more of a priority (32:55).

Referenced:
Death toll rises in US as wildfires continue in West Coast states (BBC)

Animal Populations Fell by 68% in 50 Years and It’s Getting Worse (Bloomberg)

Don’t Call It A Garbage Patch: The Truth About Cleaning Up Ocean Plastics (Huffpost)

Opinion: The Trump administration wants to discourage your 401(k) from including ESG investment options (MarketWatch)

With the coronavirus driven economic downturn still creating so much uncertainty, James Keys and Tunde Ogunlana discuss reports that are suggesting that the worst of the economic fallout is still to come (01:04).  The guys also make sense of the fact that more young adults under 30 are living with their parents than on their own (28:49).

Material Discussed:

Here comes the real recession (Axios)

‘A tale of 2 recessions’: As rich Americans get richer, the bottom half struggles (Politico)

Majority Of U.S. Adults Under 30 Now Living With Parents, Study Finds (HuffPost)

It often seems that what happens means less to many people than who it happens to, so James Keys and Tunde Ogunlana discuss how public polarization outpaced investigation with the shooting of Jacob Blake (01:44) and some of the positive and negative things we have seen in the aftermath of the tragedy (16:07).  The guys also try to make sense of the reports that our intelligence services will be restricting the information provided to Congress about ongoing threats to disrupt the 2020 election (38:43). 

Material Discussed:

Police in Wisconsin shoot Black man in back multiple times, sparking protests

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jacob-blake-kenosha-shooting-wisconsin-police-black-man-protesters-gather/

A visual timeline of violence in Kenosha after police shooting of Jacob Blake

https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/graphics/2020/08/27/jacob-blake-kenosha-police-shooting-two-killed/3442878001/

17-year-old charged with murder in Kenosha, Wisconsin, shootings

https://www.vox.com/2020/8/26/21402951/kyle-rittenhouse-jacob-blake-kenosha

Why the NBA Wildcat Strike Is So Important

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/ep47pj/why-the-nba-wildcat-strike-is-so-important

NBA Playoffs Will Resume, League and Players Announce New Social Justice Initiatives

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/08/nba-teams-strike-for-black-lives.html

Dems outraged as Trump administration scales back election security briefings

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/08/29/odni-to-scale-back-election-security-briefings-404919

Our intelligence community is sounding the alarm, so James Keys and Tunde Ogunlana react to the release of the final volume of the Senate Intel Committee’s Bipartisan Russia Report (01:08),  discuss the ongoing information warfare campaign being waged against Americans and the “Firehose of Falsehood” propaganda model as explained by the RAND Corporation (09:24), and speak on the 100 anniversary the 19th Amendment which prohibited gender based voting restrictions (50:12).

Material discussed:

Rubio Statement on Senate Intel Release of Volume 5 of Bipartisan Russia Report
https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/press/rubio-statement-senate-intel-release-volume-5-bipartisan-russia-report

Senate Intel Committee Releases Bipartisan Report on Russia’s Use of Social Media
https://www.burr.senate.gov/press/releases/senate-intel-committee-releases-bipartisan-report-on-russias-use-of-social-media-

The Russian "Firehose of Falsehood" Propaganda Model
https://www.rand.org/pubs/perspectives/PE198.html

QAnon, the scarily popular pro-Trump conspiracy theory, explained
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/8/1/17253444/qanon-trump-conspiracy-theory-4chan-explainer

Women’s suffrage was a giant leap for democracy. We haven’t stuck the landing yet.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/lifestyle/100-years-of-womens-suffrage-whats-changed/

The push to defund the U.S. Postal Service is needlessly self-destructive, so James Keys and Tunde Ogunlana discuss their issues with the efforts to politicize the operations of the U.S. Postal Service (01:24).  The guys also consider the extent to which the coronavirus has killed the free market (24:34) and discuss a recent discovery of a (literal) caveman’s bed from 200,000 years ago (44:50).

Trump Brags That He's Trying to Sabotage the Postal Service to Rig the Election
https://gizmodo.com/trump-brags-that-hes-trying-to-sabotage-the-postal-serv-1844717679

Postal workers are sounding the alarm as mail sorting machines are removed from processing facilities
https://theweek.com/speedreads/931215/postal-workers-are-sounding-alarm-mail-sorting-machines-are-removed-from-processing-facilities

How does vote-by-mail work and does it increase election fraud?
https://www.brookings.edu/policy2020/votervital/how-does-vote-by-mail-work-and-does-it-increase-election-fraud/

Donald Trump keeps blasting 'universal' mail voting. But few states are planning that in November
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2020/08/15/donald-trump-slams-universal-mail-voting-few-states-planning/3333957001/

Barr warns Democrats 'playing with fire' over 'grossly irresponsible' mail-in voting push
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/william-barr-democrats-mail-in-voting

Tomlinson: Coronavirus killed the free market. The Federal Reserve has taken charge.
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/columnists/tomlinson/article/coronavirus-killed-the-free-market-fed-reserve-15476077.php

Scientists Found a 200,000-Year-Old Human Bed Made From Grass and Ash
https://gizmodo.com/scientists-found-a-200-000-year-old-human-bed-made-from-1844715920

Governments and large companies around the world are making high stakes, chess style moves over control of who has access to your sensitive data, and James Keys and Tunde Ogunlana discuss the President’s executive order that seeks to ban TikTok in the U.S. (01:20) and the discomfort some have expressed following Blackstone’s acquisition of genealogy company Ancestry (21:14).  The guys also discuss their takeaways from recent findings on how dogs process and understand human language (35:11).

Trump issued an executive order effectively banning TikTok if it doesn’t sell in the next 45 days
https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/7/31/21350072/trump-tiktok-executive-order-ban-microsoft-sale-bytedance-china-security-concerns

A Private Equity Firm Bought Ancestry, and Its Trove of DNA, for $4.7B
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/akzyq5/private-equity-firm-blackstone-bought-ancestry-dna-company-for-billions

Dogs understand praise the same way we do. Here's why that matters. ​
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2020/08/dogs-praise-brains-human-language/