Twice on Sunday for the last week in July, 2022:
Our guest today is the returning Alexander Salter, an economist and research fellow at Texas Tech and Young Voices contributor. With headlines full of economic news and a White House trying to define what a recession is/isn't while also explaining inflation, cost of living, and other issues, Alexander helps us turn down the noise and get to the terminology and language of economics that is vital to understanding what is going on in this unique environment. Alexander also delves into the odd economics of having low unemployment but a labor issue and inflation, the path that got us here, and the bipartisian habit of fiscal ill responsibility that shows no signs of changing anytime soon. We also put him on the spot as to whether the latest economic data is the peaking of the worst, or if the summer of discontent will run into the fall and winter.
Our guest today from Young Voices UK is Lettice Bromovsky. We take a deep dive and review of UK Conservative Party leadership contest, and get into the background, credentials, and prospects of Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss as they contend to be the next Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Lettice walks us through how the leadership contest is structured, the last days of Boris that brought it about, and what we can expect in the next 6 weeks of convincing the party who should be the next leader. Also, we talk through the also-rans, who rose in prominence, who lost standing, and what it means for the future of the Conservatives.
Our guest today is freelance journalist and head of the Happy Warrior substack and podcast Peter Pischke. Peter joins to talk about two platforms that have tremendous influence in American culture and media: Reddit and YouTube. Peter details from writing he has done how the case of popular Youtuber Act Man is an example of the good, the bad, and the ugly of content moderation on one of the worlds biggest, most dynamic, and ever-growing media platforms. Also, Peter explains the influence of Reddit, and how even the mostly free-for-all subreddits are starting to have to be reigned in by the parent company, stoking debates on censorship, fair use rules, and what should and shouldn't be content that can be held as liable against a platform.
Joining us on Heard Tell guest Cassandra Shand returns to the program to talk about the current crisis in Cuba, from the fuel and food shortages that are plaguing most of the world, to the healthcare system collapse and crackdown on protests that are becoming all too familiar again. Cassandra also talks about the newest wave of the very old problem of migrants and exiles fleeing Cuba and trying to get to America, and whether or not America's current policy from embargo to official status to immigration rules needs reviewed and adjusted.
Our guest today is Nolan Gray, author of the book Arbitrary Lines: How Zoning Broke the American City and How to Fix It joins to explain beyond just the internet arguments how zoning and planning affect not just our cities and communities, but also the cultural and political debates we have about everything from property rights, to taxes, to quality of life. Nolan breaks down the nomenclature of what zoning is and isn't, compares cities like Houston who has little zoning to other cities like Minneapolis, Fayetteville, and Hartford who have varied and different zoning issues. Nolan also explains that while zoning is often citied as need to improve cities, it is usually the chief obstacle to building more affordable, vibrant, equitable, and sustainable cities. Also, Nolan breaks down a real world example of the how zoning laws and political ideology clash using the umbiquitous American zoning product - the stripmall.
Guest Roy Mathews returns to Heard Tell to talk about Kazakhstan, and how the ancient crossroads between the East and the West once again finds themselves between world powers. Roy explains the situation of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev from publicly confronting Putin, to internal questions about legitimacy, and what his background and motivations are in trying to position his country in a shifting world with China on one side and Russia on the other, and is there an opening for the west to make inroads. Plus we'll talk how China's increasing trade and financial influence complicates not just geopolitics, but the ordinary Kazakh citizens including the largest diaspora of Uyghurs along with other ethnic Turkic groups who know all too well China's human rights violations.
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