Didactic Synapse
hip-hop, politics, education, movies, books, killer robots, and video games
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It’s been a really long time since I’ve done a podcast, and I appreciate all the kind words of encouragement (and demands) that I’ve gotten. Here, finally, is the new show! (Yay.)
DS#98: A Huge Explosion of News
Top Links + Action
- Forbes: Wall Street Costs The Economy 2% Of GDP Each Year
- Wall Street’s threat to the American middle class
- What I Want People To Understand About Why Teachers Are Frustrated
- Take Action:Â Free Raif!
Current Events
- Baltimore riots: the fire this time and the fire last time and the time between
- Rachel Dolezal
- It Isn’t Crazy to Compare Rachel Dolezal With Caitlyn Jenner, But They’re Very Different
- Dolezal on MSNBC
- An American Kidnapping (This is the story that should be getting the media’s attention!)
- Scott Walker!
- Fracking!
- High levels of benzene found in fracking waste water
- Documents Reveal EPA’s National Fracking Study Halted by Industry Pressure
- EPA Study of Fracking Finds ‘No Widespread, Systemic’ Pollution (Be sure to read the article above for important info about what’s not in the EPA study.)
- Oil & gas execs ‘pressured’ Oklahoma geologists not to reveal fracking-quakes link
- Upstate New York towns consider secession after state bans fracking
- Florida Lawmakers Pass Bill That Arrests Local Efforts To Ban Fracking
- Small amounts of fracking chemicals found in Pennsylvania drinking water
- Ebola: Early calls for help ‘ignored’ says MSF
Economics
- Walmart to give 500,000 employees pay raises, improve scheduling and training programs
- Classic Wall Street Villain to Haters: “Bite Me”
- Reflections on Stress and Long Hours on Wall Street
- A father’s heartbreaking essay about the untimely death of his 22-year-old Goldman Sachs analyst son
- Banks Prep Defense for Anti-Wall Street Campaigns
- Barack Obama advances rule hitting Wall Street, financial advisers
- We Thought Our Pay Would Be Higher, Wall Streeters Say in Poll
- HFT satire from The Onion: Wall Street Firm Develops New High-Speed Algorithm Capable Of Performing Over 10,000 Ethical Violations Per Second
- SkyMall Files for Bankruptcy
Education
- NPR: Where Have All The Teachers Gone?
- NPR: How Do You Motivate Kids To Stop Skipping School?
- BW: News Corp.’s $1 Billion Plan to Overhaul Education Is Riddled With Failures
- An Open Letter to Governor Walker
Killer Robots, Etc
- These military-funded robots learn by watching YouTube
- Japanese bank introduces robot workers to deal with customers in branches
Hip-Hop
Lupe Fiasco: “Mural”
It’s been months, but this show is worth the wait. Over two hours of didactic goodness! We’re covering everything from Iraq to Edward Snowden to people pretending to be US Department of Energy spokesmen. Plus — as always — we give you the latest on fracking and high-frequency trading, with a visit from everyone’s favorite cigar-sucking businessman.
Enjoy!
Top Links
- Amazing Grace: Woman in Iran halts the execution of her son’s murderer
- Video:Â Glenn Greenwald and Paul Rieckhoff on Real Time with Bill Maher
- Video: Posing as US Officials, Yes Men Announce Renewable Energy Revolution at Homeland Security Congress
Take Action
Current Events
- Video:Â Neil DeGrasse Tyson on race, gender, science, and society
- The Yes Men
- DN: Extended interview with the Yes Men
- Yes Men fake DoE speech
- Trailer: The Yes Men Fix the World
- Net Neutrality
- Fracking
- Dave Zirin on LA Clippers owner Donald Sterling
- Amazing Grace: Mother of Oklahoma murder victim asks for clemency
Economics
- Millionaire survey: Higher taxes, please
- For the Love of Money
- Strike at Chinese factory supplying Adidas and Nike
- Michael Lewis: “Wall Street has gone insaneâ€
- BW: Companies choose profits over productivity
- Video:Â Joseph Stiglitz on Tavis Smiley
- Video:Â William Easterman on Tavis Smiley
- Video:Â Matt Taibi on DN
- UK “aid†is financing a corporate scramble for Africa
- McDonald’s CEO says We provide “real careersâ€
Education
- NPR: What is quality pre-K education?
- DN: Jim Crow in the classroom
- ProPublica: Segregation Now
- InBloom shuts down amid concerns over privacy
Killer Robots, Etc
- Google’s Robot-Buying Binge
- The Bureau of Investigative Journalism: Covert Drone War
- Glenn Greenwald describes Edward Snowden’s background and why he leaked the NSA documents
- BW: The Flu tricked Google. Can Wikipedia do better?
- AdWeek: Waiting in line: You’re stupid
- Trailer:Â Drone: The Movie
- Pepper the robot knows when you’re sad, will give you a hug
Hip-Hop
I’m postponing the discussion of hip-hop for a special episode coming soon. Stay tuned!
Big long show this time. Lots of stuff about education! Enjoy.
DS#90: A Leaning Tower of PISA Stories
Top Links
- Major General Michael Lehnert calls for closing Guantanamo Bay prison base
- Fort Worth: A case study in fracking’s bad side
- Got Dough? How Billionaires Rule our Schools
- Take Action:Â Congress must investigate drones
Current Events
Economics
- Japan is showing the world that stimulus works
- A Hard lesson from Motown: They will steal your pension
- DN: Detroit bankruptcy
- Demos Report on Detroit
- Fast food CEOs take in taxpayer-subsidized pay
- Fast food workers of the world unite
- Pope 1, Wall Street 0
Education
- Diane Ravitch responds to Bill Gates
- Vanity Fair on Microsoft and “stacked rankingâ€
- PISA!
- Shanghai teens top international education ranking, OECD says
- Jiang Xueqin, deputy principal of Tsinghua University High School in Beijing, responds
- The Guardian on PISA results
- WSJ: Two cheers for Shanghai
- Jan 2013:Â Class a major factor in PISA results
- The fetishization of international test scores
- WSJ: Let’s end the education arms race
- Forbes: Education is working just fine
Killer Robots, Etc
- Debbie Morris is an amazing person
- Our government has weaponized the internet. Here’s how they did it.
- Why Chaucer said ‘ax’
Hip-Hop
Mantra
I got dismissed from the jury, so I’m one happy man! (Like 12 Angry Men, only I’m just one man and this free time makes me happy.) This week we’ve got lots of culture and ruminations, but still plenty of news too. Enjoy!
DS#88: Shut Up, Burnout Hippie Dork!
Top Links
Malala Yousafzai on The Daily Show
Current Events
- Malala is awesome
- “Victory in France†as law banning fracking is upheld
- South Sudan child scrap metal diggers blown up by unexploded ordnance
- Mismanagement highlighted in East Timor
Economics
Education
Killer Robots, Etc
Hip-Hop
After an insanely long hiatus, we’re back! And we’ve got a special guest: Avner Vengosh! (Yes, the Avner Vengosh!)
DS #87: An Evening with Avner Vengosh
Top Links + Action
- NY Principal of the Year Carol Burris responds to Common Core Test Results
- Elizabeth Warren schools CNBC dorks
- Russian man turns tables on credit card contract
- Take Action:Â Indonesian government: Say sorry for 1965!
Current Events
- Israel uses white phosphorous, we don’t mind
- Tricia Rose on Tavis Smiley
- Chelsea Manning gets 35 years, comforts his lawyer
- The Murder of Christopher Lane
- Antoinette Tuff is totally awesome
- RIP Helen Thomas
- Cameroon gay rights activist found tortured and killed
- Dear Malala: This is Why We Shot You
- Burka Avenger
- Bone marrow ‘frees men of HIV drugs’
- EPA’s Abandoned Wyoming Fracking Study One Retreat of Many
- Fracking
- Teenager dies after being tasered in Miami
- Rand Paul on the Republican Party
- The Fifth Estate
Economics
- Detroit files for bankruptcy
- Stronger labor law in Bangladesh
- Ha Joon Chang: Corporations, complexity, and crime
- McDonalds tells workers to get a second job and turn off the heat
- BW: Debt-Ceiling brink has speed traders drooling
Education
- Who benefits from school closings?
- Jeb Bush’s education record becoming a liability
- Indiana won’t change school grades (previous superintendent fiddled with numbers)
- Slate: Parents left behind
Killer Robots, Etc
Hip-Hop
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