World News of the Week (WNW) with Maya and Dad

Last week, President Trump took on the first amendment of the constitution! Yes, he really did! Trump banned three major news outlets from the White House and, while those outlets fought him in court, other outlets backed those that were banned and refused to cover Trump. This situation puts media hungry Trump in a bind, lacking coverage weeks before the midterm elections. And, ironically, Trump did this during a week when Chinese President Xi, a man who jails journalists, arrived in Washington, DC with his own state-controlled media. In short, the world flipped upside down last week and we have the details of the story1 

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This week, Macklemore made headlines for criticizing Israel, while opening for Ed Sheeran. Macklemore, already credibly accused of anti-semitism from an ugly incident in which he mocked religious Jewish people in 2014, ran into a worthy foe - Robert Kraft. Kraft refused to let Macklemore play at the venue he owns, Gillette Stadium, and rallied others to prevent Macklemore from spreading his one-sided message. We discuss all of the stakeholders, Kraft, Sheeran, Macklemore, Jewish concert-goers, all concert-goers and more and discuss the nature of free speech and cancellation. This is a packed 15 minutes of WNW! 

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Season four begins! This summer, you may have heard the term, "Democratic Socialist" - In the past, you may have heard of AOC and more recently, Mayor Mamdani. Who are these Democratic Socialists? Are they gaining steam? Are they good news for Democrats? Republicans? We answer these questions and more on Word News of the Week!

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Two years ago, we covered the bankruptcy of Red Lobster. It is commonly held that Red Lobster went broke due an endless shrimp promotion, but as we learned then, the story is much more complicated. In this episoide, we revisit why Red Lobster actually went broke, but more importantly, we cover how its new CEO, thirty-something Damola Adamolekun, is trying to revive the chain. And, we felt that we had to see the turnaround in person so... we drove to the nearest location, in Hartford, CT, to do in-person research. Part restaurant review and part business story, WNW is deliciously good this week!   

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Olivia Rodrigo. The World Cup. Even a touring production of Les Mis. Ticket sales have become a global business, and the local concert goer is often buying more expensive tickets on the resale market. Maybe this good for consumers who have access to events they want to go to and know that they are getting verified tickets? Maybe it is not so good.... more expensive tickets mean that consumers budgets are focused on fewer shows! We discuss the pros, the cons and what some bands, provinces and countries are doing to bring costs down on this week's WNW! 

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Make America Healthy Again!?! It sounds pretty appealing but what is this movement really about and why does it seem to be coming to an abrupt end? Maya and Dad discuss the evolution of the movement, the good and not so good beliefs/outcomes and the reasons for its (word of the week) schism, which may  threaten Donald Trump's chances in the midterms and consequently open the door to a world of problems for him. On this episode, one thing is certain, we are making WNW WNW again!

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Our one word reviews... The Melania Movie was (dad) "appalling" and (Maya) "wasteful." Yes, we saw the Melania movie in an all but empty theatre on a Tuesday night and we did our best to view it thoughtfully and critically, but Melania made it impossible. in this episode, we discuss the controversies surrounding the film itself and we discuss the substance of the film or the lack thereof.

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Last week, we asked, "What just happened in Venezuela?" This week, we as the same but of Iran. For weeks, unprecedented protests have been raging in repressive Iran. On this WNW, we delve into the history of Iran, the reality on the ground, the risks people are taking for freedom, and the challenges of intervening in the country. Another real time WNW!

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This morning, we woke up to the news that United States had invaded and forced regime change in... Venezuela? Who is Nicolas Maduro? Why was Donald Trump so threatened by him that he needed to use military force to arrest/depose him? Was any of this legal or necessary? What are the ripple effects? Where do Venezuela and the US go from here? We discuss all of this today on the first WNW of the new year! Enjoy! 

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What is a lame duck and is Donald Trump one? Why is there so much infighting in the Republican party right now? Why did one conspiracy theorist, Marjorie Taylor Greene, leave Congress and why is another particularly racist conspiracy theorist, Nick Fuentes, being embraced? Is this the beginning of the end of MAGA? We discuss on WNW!

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