Make Me Smart

Just as we were getting used to the idea of a European COVID-19 mutation spreading to the states, scientists in California have found a new, domestic mutation of the virus: CAL.20C. We’ll talk about it, plus Parler fallout, Clubhouse and fireworks.

Here’s everything we talked about today:

“New California Variant May Be Driving Virus Surge There, Study Suggests” from The New York Times

“Judge refuses to reinstate Parler’s Amazon account” from The Verge

“Facebook Refers Trump Account Suspension to Oversight Board” from The Wall Street Journal

And, of course, this ode to Janet Yellen

Speeches were made, the parade’s all done and President Joe Biden got to work this afternoon, signing 17 executive orders and other memos. But who pays for all the festivities on Inauguration Day, especially with the heightened security just two weeks after the pro-Trump siege at the Capitol? That’s just one of the questions we’re answering on this Whadda Ya Wanna Know Wednesday. Plus: Clubhouse and Section 230.

Here’s everything we talked about today:

“Will Capitol attack hike security costs for Biden inauguration?” from Marketplace

“How Much Will the Inauguration Cost, and Who’s Paying?” from the New York Times

“Speech on the internet: The First Amendment and Section 230 are different” from Marketplace

President-elect Joe Biden says his administration will administer 100 million COVID-19 vaccines in his first 100 days in office. As of today, about 31 million vaccines have been distributed but only 12 million Americans have received the first dose. So what’s realistic? On today’s show, Johns Hopkins University health economist Dan Polsky gives us the lay of the land and tells us what needs to happen. Plus, a listener makes us smart about the 1954 shooting of the U.S. House of Representatives.

No, not for the president, but his supporters who filmed themselves charging into the Capitol and posted it online. Do they have a “right to be forgotten”? What about accountability for Facebook, where some of those extremists planned the Jan. 6 insurrection? And, oh yeah, what about for the officials at the helm when the water was poisonous in Flint, Michigan? We’re talking about all those stories today, plus Jerome Powell’s Zoom background and the Secret Service’s $3,000 toilet.

Here’s links to everything we talked about today:

The right-wing social media app Parler has been banned by the major app stores and online hosting services over fears of more violence in the lead-up to President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration. Still, it’s looking like the company is trying to restart itself, and we have a listener wondering what’s next. We’ll talk about it on this Whadda Ya Wanna Know Wednesday. Also on the docket: savings rates, stagflation, and “Ted Lasso.”

Here’s everything we talked about today:

Disinformation expert Nina Jankowicz says conspiracy theories like QAnon are like giant balls of lint, picking up everything in their path: baseless claims of voter fraud, 5G, Hunter Biden, anti-vaccination fiction … and last Wednesday that huge ball rolled straight from President Donald Trump’s rally to the Capitol, thanks in part to Trump’s allies in the media and Congress who legitimized it. So what now? Can we unring that bell? We’ll talk about it, and why Jankowicz says there’s reason to be optimistic.

Here’s everything we talked about today:

Jankowicz’s latest for Foreign Affairs: “The Day the Internet Came for Them”

And her last appearance on Make Me Smart

“Disinformation’s big win” from Axios

“Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal Has Tested Positive for COVID” from The Cut

“Republicans Weigh Trump Censure, Impeachment” from The Wall Street Journal

“Fox News to Add Another Hour of Right-Wing Talk as Biden Takes Office” from The New York Times

That’s how Molly describes the lawmakers who still voted against certification of a free and fair election. That’s right: We’re back from our break and still assessing the fallout of last week’s insurrection, egged on by the president, at the Capitol building. On today’s show, we’ll talk about Trump’s few remaining supporters in Congress, the military people who were on the ground that day, the potential for further violence and how corporate America is reacting. Plus on Make Me Smile … more of the same.

Here’s everything we talked about today:

“FBI memo warns law enforcement across U.S. of possible armed protests at 50 state capitols” from NBC News

“Coca-Cola Suspends Political Donations After Capitol Violence” from Bloomberg

“Officer resigns as Army investigates her involvement in Washington rally that led to U.S. Capitol riot” from CBS News

“JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs join U.S. corporations halting political donations after Capitol riot” from CNBC

Molly has been searching “No fly list” on Twitter

And finally, this video.

Correction: This episode describes viral videos taken out of context. The videos do not necessarily depict people who are on a no fly list. Additionally, one of the videos appears to be recirculated from 2018.

We were planning to come back anyway, honestly. After pro-Trump insurrectionists broke into the Capitol, egged on by the president, we decided to cut short our holiday break. Then about five minutes before today’s taping, Twitter announced it was banning Donald Trump from his preferred platform. This whole week was a collision of the things we’ve talked about for years: disinformation radicalizing social media users, the offline consequences of online behavior, the peril of private companies acting as a check on a norm-shredding president. It’s been a huge week, and on today’s show, you’ll hear our raw reaction to it.

By the way, here’s the Twitter thread Kai mentioned today.

Thanks to everyone who joined us live on YouTube today! Subscribe to our channel so you don’t miss the next one.

Hey smarties! We’re on a break for the holidays, so we’re revisiting some favorite episodes from 2020. We want to say a big thank you for being part of the Make Me Smart family this year — every voicemail, question and donation makes a huge difference. None of us is as smart as all of us, and we couldn’t do this show without you. There’s still time to donate here. Thanks, happy new year and we’ll be back soon!

Virginia became the 38th state to ratify the equal rights amendment to the constitution last week, giving the ERA the support it needs … about three decades after it expired. Many people, some 80% according to one poll, think the U.S. Constitution already includes equal protections for women’s rights, but it doesn’t. On today’s show, we’re going to look more at how we got to this point and what “equal rights” really means for the women’s movement and the economy overall. Here to guide us through is CUNY professor Julie Suk. Her book about the ERA, “We the Women: The Forgotten Mothers of the Equal Rights Amendment,” is out this summer.

Hey smarties! We’re on a break for the holidays, so we’re revisiting some favorite episodes from 2020. We want to say a big thank you for being part of the Make Me Smart family this year — every voicemail, question and donation makes a huge difference. None of us is as smart as all of us, and we couldn’t do this show without you. There’s still time to help us raise $500,000 for Marketplace before the end of the year! Donate here. Thanks, happy holidays and we’ll see you in the new year!

Does debt matter? For an individual, a household or even a generation, sure it does. But what about a nation? Modern Monetary Theory says no. To help us understand MMT and why it matters in this crisis is Stephanie Kelton. She’s a professor of economics and public policy at Stony Brook University, and she served as an adviser to Sen. Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign.

Here are links to what we talked about today:

“The Economist Who Believes the Government Should Just Print More Money” in the New Yorker

“Is modern monetary theory nutty or essential?” in The Economist

“Stephanie Kelton: ‘They’re going to have massive deficits. And it’s fine’ ” in the Financial Times

“Dr. Fauci says NFL season is feasible” in the L.A. Times

“Twitter Will Allow Employees To Work At Home Forever” in BuzzFeed

“Uber Technologies Makes Takeover Approach to Grubhub” in The Wall Street Journal