The Daily Dive

Hurricane Ida made landfall in Louisiana on Sunday exactly 16 years after hurricane Katrina. Coming in as a category 4, residents are bracing themselves for a days-long event hoping that the levees hold up, and watching out for storm surges and flooding. The other concern is hospitals maintaining power as Covid patients fill ICUs. Ginger Gibson, deputy Washington digital editor at NBC News, joins us for more on Ida and also updates on Afghanistan. The evacuation deadline is Tuesday as we saw drone strikes against ISIS-K and President Biden meet with families of the fallen service members of last week's attack.

Next, a new generation of companies have made big strides in the science of smell and a device that looks like a big purple nipple could be the digital nose of the future. This device will be used by Anheuser-Busch to measure how beverages aromatic notes are perceived and try to enhance flavors. In some airports, the device will be used for bomb detection, and it will also be used with a different company to detect traces of marijuana on people suspected of driving under the influence. Zach Schonbrun, contributor at Bloomberg Businessweek joins us for how this device is trying to replicate our sense of smell.

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

President Biden has condemned ISIS-K attacks in Kabul that killed at least 13 U.S. service members, over 60 Afghans, and injured many more. He also vowed to hunt them down and make them pay. This comes as evacuations continue amid a looming deadline. Jessica Donati, reporter at the WSJ and author of Eagle Down: The Last Special Forces Fighting the Forever War, joins us for how the CIA and other troops are conducting missions outside of Kabul to extract Americans.

Next, as the Delta variant continues to infect so many people, the demand for at-home Covid tests is going up. The only problem with that, is that the test manufacturers can’t keep up and they are becoming harder to find online and on pharmacy shelves. These antigen tests have faced questions of reliability, but work best on people who are shedding lots of virus particles and provide quick results. Brianna Abbot, health reporter at the WSJ, joins us for more.

Finally, NFTs are all the rage in the art market right now with about $2.4 billion worth of NFTs being traded in the second quarter alone. But with all this money comes scammers and hackers taking advantage of people by selling fake art, stealing credit card numbers, and even spreading viruses that can drain crypto wallets of all their funds. Kelly Crow, art reporter at the WSJ, joins us for why you should be wary of NFT scams.

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One of the most recognizable album covers in music is the subject of a new lawsuit alleging it constituted child pornography. Spencer Elden is suing over Nirvana’s “Nevermind” album cover in which he is pictured as a naked baby 30 years ago. In his lawsuit, Elden said that having him swim toward a dollar on a fishhook makes him look like a sex worker. Chris Willman, features editor at Variety, joins us for how that album cover came to be and the new lawsuit.

Next, Delta Air Lines has upped its game in the vaccine pressure campaign. Stopping short of a mandate, Delta has said that unvaccinated employees will have their health insurance premiums increased by $200 a month. They cited the high cost of treating employees who have been hospitalized which averages out to $50,000 per person. Leslie Josephs, airline reporter at CNBC, joins us for more.

Finally, the intelligence community has provided President Biden with a report on the origins of Covid-19 and it was inconclusive. Furthermore, the WHO team that was also looking into the start of the pandemic warned that time is running out and it could soon be biologically impossible to obtain the data needed to nail down the cause. Betsy McKay, senior writer at the WSJ, joins us for ongoing delays into the search for the pandemic origins.

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President Biden has said the U.S. will stick to the August 31 deadline to evacuate from Afghanistan despite calls to stay longer. Biden said there has been over 70,000 evaluations since August 14 and also cited threats from groups like ISIS-K as reasons to not extend the timeline. While the deadline seems firm, Biden said it all depends on the actions of the Taliban. Julia Manchester, national political reporter at The Hill, joins us for the latest on the race to get out before the end of the month.

Next, the recall election of CA Gov. Gavin Newsom is under way with a deadline of September 14 for mail-in ballots. Recent polls have shown that the recall is closer to passing than Democrats would like and a lot of it comes down to voter enthusiasm. Without Trump as a foil are enough Democrats paying attention and energized to vote to defeat the recall? David Siders, national political correspondent at Politico, joins us for more.

Finally, after throat cancer surgery in 2015 left actor Val Kilmer without his natural voice he turned to UK-based software firm Sonantic for help. With audio from old movies and artificial intelligence, they were able to digitally restore his voice. While in this case the technology was used for a benefit, there are some critics that say it could be misused and affect other voice actors. Dalvin Brown, innovations reporter at The Washington Post, joins us for how AI gave Val Kilmer his voice back.

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The FDA has finally granted full approval to the Covid-19 vaccine made by Pfizer to those 16 and older. Children under 11 are still not approved and those ages 12-15 can get the vaccine under emergency use authorization. With this approval, the hope is that some hesitant people might now get their shots, but also that more businesses and local governments might mandate them. Andrew Joseph, reporter at STAT News, joins us for what to know about Pfizer’s full approval.

Next, to help with the evacuations of Americans and Afghans from Afghanistan, the Pentagon has active a little-used program called the Civil Reserve Air Fleet, which compels airlines to provide aircraft to help in emergencies. 18 aircraft will be provided from some major airlines and it is not expected to impact operations here at home. Leslie Josephs, airline reporter at CNBC, joins us for this and also the coming vaccine mandates from airlines.

Finally, over 75% of pregnant people have not been vaccinated and doctors are reporting that they are seeing more young and healthy pregnant women ending up in hospitals on ventilators or delivering babies prematurely because of Covid. There are also some extra precautions needed in treating pregnant patients like making sure their oxygen levels are higher. Shira Stein, reporter at Bloomberg Law, joins us for more.

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The evacuations of Americans and Afghans continues in Kabul as the situation in Afghanistan remains tense. To help with the effort, the Pentagon has enlisted the help of commercial airlines to help transport people from other temporary bases. In the meantime, new polls show that President Biden's approval ratings have dipped below 50% and our allies around the world have also expressed disapproval of what is happening. Ginger Gibson, deputy Washington digital editor at NBC News, joins us for more fallout from Afghanistan and how it might impact Biden's domestic agenda as he receives criticism from both Republicans and Democrats.

Next, people with dissociative identity disorder have taken their lives to YouTube and the community has tons of fans. Formerly known as multiple personality disorder, people with DID are sharing what it is like to live with the condition as well as letting their alternative personalities or "alters" come forward to be seen and answer questions.  Experts in the field who treat those with DID have expressed concern about putting their lives on YouTube but those those with DID have found community and support by sharing their stories. Lizzie Feidelson, contributor at NY Magazine, joins us for a look at Wyn, a Youtube content creator with DID.

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.