Daily Signal

Mixed messages about COVID-19 from the media, politicians, and public heath officials have left many Americans questioning what information they can trust. 

Across the nation, some political leaders and health experts continue to push for individuals to be vaccinated. We now know, however, that those who are vaccinated still may be infected by the coronavirus and contract COVID-19, although they remain far less likely to be hospitalized or die than those who are unvaccinated and contract COVID-19.

Vaccination data tells a positive story and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention should relay all the facts to Americans, says Kevin Dayaratna, who is principal statistician, data scientist, and research fellow at The Heritage Foundation, parent organization of The Daily Signal.

“The safety and the efficacy of the vaccines was tested last year. And we are continuing to see data and there are overall overwhelmingly no serious effects,” he says.

Dayaratna and Norbert Michel, director of Heritage’s Center for Data Analysis, just released a new report examining the effectiveness of the vaccines against the delta variant. The report, “A Statistical Analysis of COVID-19 Breakthrough Infections and Deaths,” dives deep into the data and facts about the spread of the virus and the efficacy of the vaccines. 

Dayaratna joins “The Daily Signal Podcast” to explain what you need to know. 

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As Afghanistan continues to dominate the news cycle, we learn more about what led to the end of America’s longest war. But sometimes lost in the discussions about strategy and tactics is the human element of the story.

Retired U.S. Army Gen. Don Bolduc served 10 tours in Afghanistan and knows what daily life was like for our troops.

"This was lost at the higher levels ... unfortunately the Afghan government and military and national police have responsibility here, but not the men and women that served in our military for 20 years and went over there repeatedly," says Bolduc. "They did their job, they did it well, they did it with honor and the sacrifice out there. Their friends and family members did not go in vain despite what you're seeing today."

Bolduc joins "The Daily Signal Podcast" to discuss his experiences on the ground, and what we can do for our troops coming home.

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The Bible and the Torah have served as sources of inspiration and guidance throughout the ages. Accounts in the Book of Genesis of the Tower of Babel and the Garden of Eden are among those that have helped people from ancient times to understand God and to navigate personal issues.

Michael Eisenberg, an Israeli venture capitalist and author of the upcoming book “The Tree of Life and Prosperity: 21st Century Business Principles from the Book of Genesis,” says he believes these stories contain nuggets of wisdom just as applicable today as they were back then.

"Wow, this is super-relevant for modern times and modern challenges, this kind of timeless wisdom," Eisenberg says about the Torah, which encompasses the first five books of the Hebrew Bible. "It has a modern feel to it, despite its nature as an ancient text."

Eisenberg joins "The Daily Signal Podcast" to talk about his book and some of the lessons we can take from the Book of Genesis.

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The Afghanistan War appears to be over. After nearly 20 years of fighting, America's longest conflict has come to a bitter conclusion. Afghanistan's capital city, Kabul, fell to the Taliban in fewer than 72 hours. This came on the heels of a weeklong blitz that saw city after city capitulate to the Taliban.

How did this happen?

"This was an insurgency that for the past two decades was unable to capture even one of the 34 provincial capital cities in Afghanistan, but then out of nowhere, they sweep across the whole country and they're setting in the presidential palace in Kabul," says Luke Coffey, a veteran of the Afghanistan War who directs The Heritage Foundation's Douglas and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign Policy. "It's an utter disgrace and an extreme loss of prestige [for] the United States that President Biden allowed this to happen."

Coffey joins "The Daily Signal Podcast" to help explain how the situation in Afghanistan deteriorated so quickly and what the implications are.

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Vivek Ramaswamy calls himself a proud father, a loyal husband, and a grateful son. His parents emigrated to America from India. A Hindu, he made his mark as a successful biotech entrepreneur.

Ramaswamy has joined forces with the Philanthropy Roundtable to narrate a compelling video as part of the organization’s True Diversity campaign—pushing back against the left’s narrow and divisive view of diversity and inclusion.

Debi Ghate, vice president of strategy and programs at the Philanthropy Roundtable and host of the "Can We Talk About It?" podcast, joins me on “The Daily Signal Podcast” to discuss the real meaning of diversity.

"At the Roundtable, we believe an individualized approach is better for achieving true diversity," Ghate says. "What we mean by that is looking for the strengths that each person brings to the table, their values, their passions, their experiences, their background, their skills, and even more."

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Americans have felt the effects of ballooning inflation as a direct result of government-mandated shutdowns of the economy. Prices on essential goods, including food and gas, have risen steadily over the past few months, leaving many wondering about the economic health of the nation.

"This past year and a half, we also saw a very sharp economic decline, larger in a single quarter than we have seen in any of our lifetimes, unless you were around back in the 1930s," says Joel Griffith, research fellow in financial regulations at The Heritage Foundation.

Griffith joins us today on "The Daily Signal Podcast" to talk about the latest inflation numbers and how good fiscal policy can help us right the ship.

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In response to The New York Times' controversial “1619 Project,” Bob Woodson, founder of the Woodson Center, launched an alternative, 1776 Unites. 

Woodson's initiative includes a series of essays and a school curriculum that recount the facts and stories of America’s founding and black history. It is from these essays that inspiration came for Woodson’s new book, “Red, White, and Black: Rescuing American History from Revisionists and Race Hustlers.” 

The stories and facts in the book, which was released in May, are important “for all people to know, to get an accurate understanding of America's past—the good, the bad, and the ugly,” Woodson says. 

He adds that the “message of the book to America is, if blacks could achieve these great things of creating their own railroad, if we were able to build our own Wall Streets, if we were able to achieve in schools, and reduce the income gap … then we need to apply these old values to a new vision.” 

Woodson joins “The Daily Signal Podcast” to share some of his favorite true stories of American blacks' success detailed in the book and to share a bit of his own personal story. 

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A high quality children's TV series that teaches children concepts such as economic freedom and personal responsibility didn't exist a year ago. But now, "Tuttle Twins" is redefining pro-American entertainment for children.

The TV version of "Tuttle Twins" is inspired by the beloved book series of the same name by Connor Boyack. The TV series takes viewers on exciting adventures with siblings Ethan and Emily Tuttle and their freedom-loving grandma, who just happens to have a time-traveling wheelchair.

The vision for the crowdfunded series is "to mix the humor of shows like 'The Simpsons' and 'Phineas and Ferb' with the family friendliness and educational value of something like 'The Magic School Bus,'" says Daniel Harmon, the show's creator.

In the first episode, Ethan and Emily travel back in time to learn from famous French economist Frederic Bastiat as well as "the French Revolution that was going on around that time, and how rights are so needed to be protected by the government," Harmon says.

"Tuttle Twins" is also meant to be entertaining for parents. In the same way as "Pixar makes movies for kids, but that adults really enjoy as well," he says, "that's what we're trying to do with this."

Harmon joins "The Daily Signal Podcast" to talk about the mission of his new children's series and how families can begin enjoying "Tuttle Twins.”

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Congress is forging ahead with a $1.1 trillion infrastructure bill. The measure has received bipartisan support, but many conservatives warn that now is not the time to put America in even more debt. 

The government has increased America’s national debt by $5.2 trillion just since the start of 2020, but “adding to that with two more multitrillion-dollar spending packages over and above what they've already spent, that threatens to return us to the kind of inflation that we haven't seen in decades,” says David Ditch, a policy analyst in The Heritage Foundation’s Center for the Federal Budget. 

In addition to the $1.1 trillion infrastructure bill, Democrats are also striving to pass a $3.5 trillion reconciliation package, which includes funding for universal day care, tuition-free community college, and climate change initiatives, among many other things.

“It's important to understand the $3.5 trillion package … would be the largest piece of legislation in the history of the world,” Ditch says. 

Ditch joins "The Daily Signal Podcast” to explain what’s in each bill and the effect such aggressive spending will have on the American people. 

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Schools across America—both public and private—are embracing the left's radical ideas at an alarming rate. These ideas have found their way into curriculum, sometimes subtly and other times overtly.

Many parents have had enough. They're taking action and speaking out—winning seats on school boards, demanding transparency from teachers, and insisting that their kids learn the foundational values that made America the greatest country on earth.

Now, thanks to Hillsdale College, there’s a curriculum that parents can use to ensure their children are getting the education they deserve. Matthew Spalding, Hilldale's vice president of Washington operations and dean of the Van Andel Graduate School of Government, joins "The Daily Signal Podcast" to talk about the curriculum and why it’s needed now more than ever.

"It's important for us to realize that while we might think this is merely a debate about different opinions about history," Spalding says, "this is about debate between history on the one hand—good, accurate history and we can have some disagreements here and there, but generally speaking, there's a broad consensus about that—and an ideological approach, which is using history merely as a foil to fight current battles."

Listen to my interview with Spalding on the podcast or read a lightly edited transcript below. You may learn more about the Hillsdale 1776 Curriculum on the school's website and access other K-12 resources there as well.

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