The Daily Dive

Amazon has taken its "Go" technology used in its small convenience stores and opened up a large cashierless grocery store. As you walk into the store you scan in with your Amazon app, shop for anything you want, and simply walk out. You will be charged automatically for everything you took. Amazon hopes that the new grocery store will demonstrate how well the new technology works so that it can sell the system to other businesses. My producer Victor Wright joins us for how Amazon is increasingly getting into the the food business.

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In 2016, nearly 100 million eligible Americans did not cast a vote for president. These are the non-voters, a huge number of voters that could be influential if they mobilized, but they choose not to. The Knight Foundation has now released the results of “The 100 Million Project,” the largest survey of chronic non-voters. In a nutshell, these people are less white, less educated, poorer, younger, and more likely to be women. Evette Alexander, Director of Learning and Impact at the Knight Foundation, joins us for why so many people choose not to vote, and if they were to vote, who would benefit the most for their turnout.

Next, we will talk about the strange world of cheerleading music. With the success of the Netflix Docuseries Cheer, more people are taking a look into the world of cheerleading and one thing that stands out is the music accompanying the high flying routines. Gone are the days of simple rhyming chants, modern cheer squads are performing to club-like tracks full of EDM drops, pump-up raps, and laser beam samples. Cheer music still has to abide by copyright laws and music licensing and it has spurred a whole new industry that makes original music for top cheer teams. Duncan Cooper, music journalist and former editor of the Fader, joins us for the world of cheer music.

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Are you ready for that dream job? NASA is hiring new astronauts for its Artemis moon mission program. NASA wants the first person to reach the South Pole of the moon to be a woman and applications open on March 2. The mission here is to see what it would be like to work in space and set up a moon base, which would be a precursor to making our way to Mars. It is a tough lift however to be an astronaut, My producer Victor Wright joins us for all the qualifications need to get into space.

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Harvey Weinstein has been found guilty in his sexual assault trial in New York on two charges, but acquitted on three others including some of the more serious charges of being a sexual predator. The next phase is sentencing which will happen on March 11 where he faces a possible sentence of 5-25 years. Shayna Jacobs, courts reporter at the Washington Post, joins us for the verdicts and also how it’s not over just yet, Weinstein still faces charges in LA.

Next, Congress is getting ready for its next fight, the clash over surveillance reforms. Lawmakers have a March 15 deadline to figure out how and whether to reauthorize provisions of the USA Freedom Act, including the controversial records program known as Section 215. Lawmakers may even want to work in changes to the FISA court. Jordain Carney, Senate reporter at The Hill, joins us for more.

Finally, Target’s delivery app, Shipt, is getting some pushback from its workers. Some are describing a culture of retaliation after speaking up on Facebook groups dedicated to being a helpful community for Shipt shoppers. Some have complained about the new algorithmic pay model the app uses now and are even being deactivated for speaking up. Lauren Gurley, staff writer at Vice’s Motherboard, joins us for more on what it’s like to work in the delivery app gig economy.

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Popular Science has compiled a list of seven mysterious sounds that science has yet to solve. Everything from odd cannon-like sounds near upstate New York’s Seneca Lake, to weird radio transmissions coming from Russia, to singing sand in the desert, which could be a result of grains of sand rolling down the dunes. To go through some of these unknown audio mysteries, we speak to Rachel Feltman, articles editor at Popular Science

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After winning by a wide margin in the Nevada Caucuses, Bernie Sanders has cemented his frontrunner status in the Democratic nominating process so far. The fight moves on to South Carolina and Super Tuesday, but in the meantime, establishment Democrats are nervous that Sanders may be too far to the left and could not defeat President Trump in a general election. Ginger Gibson, political reporter for Reuters, joins us for this and more disagreement between the administration and the intelligence community.

Next, lifesaving organs, mostly kidneys, that are scheduled for transplants are trashed each year and many are critically delayed after being shipped on commercial airlines. There is no national system to transfer organs from one region to another and is instead left to 58 non-profit organizations to collect the organs and package them. From there, if the organ needs to make a trip, they rely on commercial couriers and airlines to get it to its destination. And missed connections and delays could endanger the use of the organ if it doesn’t arrive in time. JoNel Aleccia, senior correspondent at Kaiser Health News, joins us for how some organs go missing in transit.

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This is a compilation of the best stories of the week.

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This is a compilation of the best stories of the week.

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You see it happening all over the place, plastic bag bans at super markets and plastic straw bans at bars and restaurants. While it can be an inconvenience for some, many say that it is worth it to help save the environment. But what if it is actually just a waste of money and harmful to the environment in other ways? We wanted to offer you another viewpoint on this discussion and speak to John Tierney, contributing editor to City Journal, for what he describes as a plastic panic.

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Roger Stone, sentenced to 40 months in prison for crimes that include obstruction of justice, lying to Congress, and witness tampering, but the big question is whether he will serve all that time. Looming over the whole case is whether the President will get involved. He has said that Stone “has a very good chance of exoneration.” Ursula Perano, reporter at Axios, joins us for the sentencing details.

Next, there has been a recent string of beehive heists in California’s Central Valley. There is a booming demand for honeybees used for pollination rather than their honey and bee keepers are making the trip to make money. But also on the lookout are thieves looking to steal them and make a profit. Oliver Milman, reporter at the Guardian, joins us for more on these hive heists.

Finally, the Nevada Democratic debate gave us a ton of fireworks! First-time on the stage, Michael Bloomberg took the majority of the heat from candidates. Turning in what many saw as a poor performance, he had to field criticism over stop-and-frisk, his taxes, sexist comments he has made, and even non-disclosure agreements he had with some women. Zach Montellaro, campaign reporter at Politico, joins us for a full breakdown.

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