The Daily Dive

The street takeover scene in Los Angeles is growing in popularity along with a growing backlash from residents demanding that law enforcement do more to crack down on these dangerous gatherings.  Often organizing on social media, people are blocking off streets to race and perform dangerous car stunts on city streets.  In the last 6 months, at least eight people have died at or near street takeovers.  Nathan Solis, reporter at the LA Times, joins us for how a lack of police resources make it tough to curb the events.

Next, it sounds like more and more infectious diseases are popping up every day.  Polio, monkeypox, Marburg virus and other infectious diseases are increasingly in the news for spreading around the globe.  It’s not just one thing that is causing this, but a combination of factors like our increased contact with animals, the pace of global travel, and climate change.  Hilary Brueck, health correspondent at Insider, joins us for what to know.

Finally, there’s a mysterious illness killing dogs in northern Michigan.  Officials are investigating, but they believe it could be a new strain of the parvovirus.  What’s complicating efforts is that while the symptoms are similar to parvo, some dogs are testing negative for it.  Layla McMurtrie, reporter at the Detroit Free Press, joins us for what to know about this illness affecting young and unvaccinated dogs.

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Are you friends with the people you work with?  After going through the Great Resignation or starting to work remote more and more are saying that work friendships are harder to form and are also less of a priority.  In a survey of U.S. employees, relationships with co-workers tied at the very bottoms as a factor for job satisfaction. Compensation and work-life balance ranked the highest.  What’s more, half of workers aged 18-25 said workplace friendship were not at all important.  Lindsay Ellis, careers reporter at the WSJ, joins us for how Americans are breaking up with their work friends.

Next, there’s one place in the country that is a constant factor in why airline travel can get so bad… Florida.  The airspace in Florida can serve as an obstacle course for airlines and the effects of delays cascade throughout the rest of the country, even if you’re not flying through the area.  Bad weather, military exercises, space launches, and being short-staffed at air traffic control, all contribute to the woes of flyers.  Micah Maidenberg, space and aviation reporter at the WSJ, joins us for why you can blame Florida for making air travel so miserable.

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The political fallout continues from the FBI’s raid on Mar-a-Lago as Republicans maintain it was all politically motivated government overreach.  Since the search, the FBI has come under increased scrutiny and threats of violence.  FBI Director Christopher Wray, who is trying to distance himself from the politics is reportedly “pissed” about the threats against his department.  Former President Trump on the other hand, is pressing for the unredacted release of the affidavit that led to the search warrant.  Julia Manchester, national political reporter at The Hill, joins us for the latest and a look at how Republicans are worried about their possible gains in the Senate.

Next, Inc. Magazine has released their list of the fastest growing companies in America. Among the top 500, the median revenue growth rate over the past three years has been 2,144% and of all the companies on the list, they have added about 1.2 million jobs.  Scott Omelianuk, Editor in Chief at Inc. Magazine joins us for the results of their CEO survey, what these companies reveal about the future of business, and a look at SnapNurse, the Uber of nursing and how it has reimagined medical staffing.

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This is a compilation of some of the most compelling stories of the week.

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This is a compilation of some of the most compelling stories of the week.

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What’s the better bargain, eating out or cooking at home?  As record high inflation continues to punish Americans, we are seeing the biggest gap between grocery stores and restaurants since the 70s.  Since last year, grocery prices have increased 13.1% while restaurant prices have gone up 7.6% and they are pushing out new deals showcasing the value over shopping at the grocery store.  Heather Haddon, restaurants reporter at the WSJ, joins us for what to know.

Next, the schools of the future are going to be looking a lot different than the current architecture.  Gone are the hallway and classroom models, start looking for flexible learning spaces with movable walls, wellness rooms, and better ventilation which will promote a “whole child” approach that focuses on small groups, collaboration, and hands on learning.  Jennifer Kingson, chief correspondent at Axios, joins us for what to know about the K-12 schools of the future.

Finally, have you even been ghosted in a relationship? Did it mess with your mind?  In a study of college students at Wesleyan University, some students admitted that they ghosted because they lacked the right communication skills to have an honest conversation.  Others said they did it to leave a toxic relationship.  Jhanelle Thomas, Master of Arts at Wesleyan University joins us to talk about how ghosting is linked to mental health.

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Vasectomies have been growing in popularity recently as a form of contraception and it’s not the middle-aged dads you might think, younger child-free men have been scheduling more appointments with their urologists and even posting about their experiences on social media.  Alisha Haridasani Gupta, reporter at the NY Times, joins us what for could be driving this… the economy and a more restrictive family planning landscape.

Next, it was expected, but Rep. Liz Cheney lost her primary in Wyoming to the Trump-backed Harriet Hageman, 66% to 29%.  It all went downhill for Cheney politically after she voted to impeach Trump and for her part in leading the Jan. 6 hearings.  Lachlan Markay, politics reporter at Politico, joins us for the loss and what’s next for her, she could be gearing up for a 2024 presidential run.

Finally, Pfizer’s Covid antiviral drug Paxlovid is leaving a bad taste in a lot of people’s mouths.  It’s a side effect of the drug called dysgeusia that people say tastes like a mouthful of dirty pennies or even rotten milk.  In some cases, it’s so bad, people have said they want to discontinue taking the treatment, which doctors don’t recommend.  Alex Janin, personal health reporter at the WSJ, joins us for what to know about Paxlovid mouth.

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“The Flash” star Ezra Miller has released a statement saying they are seeking treatment for “complex mental issues.” Miller has been in the news recently for all the wrong reasons as they have faced a series of legal issues and assault and abuse allegations.  Warner Bros. has spent $200 million on the movie so far and looks like the remain committed to a theatrical release in 2023.  Brent Lang, executive editor at Variety, joins us to discuss whether this will be enough to squash Miller’s PR mess.

Next, all eyes were on a signature verification process in Los Angeles to see if the recall of LA’s DA George Gascon would be put on the ballot. On Monday the numbers came in and the effort failed to provide enough valid signatures.  Many signatures were thrown out for being duplicates or the person not being registered to vote.  Jeremy White, CA politics reporter at Politico, joins us for what this does for the progressive prosecutor movement.

Finally, the pandemic took a big toll on movie theaters causing closures and worries across the industry, but we are seeing with recent releases that people still love going out to theaters for blockbusters.  Studio execs are also committing to the big screen and readjusting their priorities to continue releases.  Erich Schwartzel, reporter at the WSJ, joins us for how movie theaters are back.

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Streaming companies continue to be frustrated by customers who subscribe to their service, watch the shows they want, then cancel and go to another platform.  Competition is stiff for the streamers, but price-conscious customers looking for more content are following specific shows rather than staying loyal to any one service.  Sarah Krouse, streaming reporter at the WSJ, joins us for how customer loyalty is declining at the top streaming services.

Next, as we continue to see low job satisfaction and high burnout rates among workers and changing policies and priorities from leaders, middle managers are stuck with pressure from both sides and are having a hard time keeping everything on track.  Especially hard is implementing return to work plans and dealing with turnover.  Julia Herbst, senior editor at Fast Company, joins us for why no one wants to be a middle manager anymore.

Finally, on the ballot this November, one Southern California county will ask its residents if they want to secede from the state.  Feeling like they aren’t getting enough funding, San Bernardino County will ask voters if they want them to “to study all options to obtain its fair share of state and federal resources, up to and including secession. “  Dani Anguiano, reporter at The Guardian US, joins us for how residents feel and the hard road ahead to actually break away.

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Former President Trump had a very tumultuous time last week as his home at Mar-a-Lago was raided by the FBI.  There they seized 11 sets of classified documents, some that were labeled top secret.  Latest reports say that in his final days in office, he was so preoccupied with trying to overturn the election, that he failed to properly prepare to leave the White House leaving aides to just throw everything into boxes. Trump now faces three separate criminal investigations.  Julia Manchester, national political reporter at The Hill, joins us for what to know about the raid, how Republican leaders are reacting, and two primaries to watch out for this week.

Next, stick shift cars may soon be a thing of the past.  Of the hundreds of new car models for sale in 2022, only 30 can be purchased with a manual transmission.  A couple of reasons why the manual is on its way out, is that new car technology has become too good and the rise of electric vehicles, which have no gear boxes, continues to push them out.  Still, many car drivers love the connection they feel when controlling the car and lament how they may no longer be, myself included.  Ian Bogost, contributing writer at The Atlantic, joins us for the end of the manual transmission.

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