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PODCAST

Let"s Know Things

A calm, non-shouty, non-polemical, weekly news analysis podcast for folks of all stripes and leanings who want to know more about what"s happening in the world around them. Hosted by analytic journalist Colin Wright since 2016. letsknowthings.substack.com

news news commentary

All Episodes

19:24

Compounded Semaglutide

Let"s Know Things ·

2024/09/10

This week we talk about Wegovy, Eli Lilly, and HIMS.We also discuss pig pancreases, beneficial side-effects, and shortages.Recommended Book: The Death Café Movement by Jack FongTranscriptIn the 1970s, a pair of researchers looking into possible ways to address duodenal ulcer disease were studying the way we secrete different hormones while eating, and that led to an experiment in which they pumped a hormone called glucagon-like peptide 1, or GLP-1, extracted from pigs, into pig pancreases to see

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0:54

Sick Week

Let"s Know Things ·

2024/09/03

Friends!It looks like Covid got me (my girlfriend is just getting over her own Covid-y week, and we live together—so despite our best efforts this was maybe unavoidable).In accordance with my policy of aggressively resting when I get sick, I’ll be taking the week off to sleep, feel generally sore and uncomfortable, and consume alarming quantities of ibuprofen.Sorry about the gap in programming, but unless something unexpected and worrying happens I’ll be back to my usual publishing schedule

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20:18

The Boeing Starliner

Let"s Know Things ·

2024/08/27

This week we talk about the Falcon 9, the Saturn V, and NASA’s bureaucracy.We also discuss Boeing’s mishaps, the Scout system, and the Zenit 2.Recommended Book: What’s Our Problem? by Tim UrbanTranscriptIn 1961, the cost to launch a kilogram of something into low Earth orbit—and a kilogram is about 2.2 pounds, and this figure is adjusted for inflation—was about $118,500, using the Scout, or Solid Controlled Orbital Utility Test system of rockets, which were developed by the US government in

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28:55

Ukraine Invades Russia

Let"s Know Things ·

2024/08/20

This week we talk about Kursk, asymmetric warfare, and Russian politics.We also discuss HIMARS, supply lines, and Kyiv.Recommended Book: The Disappearance of Rituals by Byung-Chul HanTranscriptAbout two and a half years ago, on February 24, 2022, Russia invaded neighboring Ukraine.This invasion had been forecasted for a while, as Russian forces had at times surreptitiously, at times more overtly supported separatist factions in the eastern and southeastern portion of Ukraine for about a decade,

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24:47

UK Riots

Let"s Know Things ·

2024/08/13

This week we talk about Taylor Swift, knife attacks, and immigration politics.We also discuss immigration rationales, riffraff, and terrorist plots.Recommended Book: AI 2041 by Kai-Fu Lee and Chen QiufanTranscriptAmerican musician, singer, and songwriter Taylor Swift, at age 34, recently became the world's first music industry billionaire who's primary source of income is their music—as opposed to side-businesses, work, and royalties in adjacent or completely disconnected industries.A lot of that

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23:46

Venezuelan 2024 Election

Let"s Know Things ·

2024/08/06

This week we talk about Chávez, Maduro, and Bolivarianism.We also discuss authoritarianism, Potemkin elections, and the Venezuelan refugee crisis.Recommended Book: Nuclear War by Annie JacobsenTranscriptVenezuela, a country with a population of about 30.5 million people, has lost something like 7 to 9 million people, depending on which numbers you use, to a refugee crisis that began about a decade ago, in 2014, and which has since become the largest ever in the Americas, and one of the top ten

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19:04

Bangladesh Protests

Let"s Know Things ·

2024/07/30

This week we talk about student protests, curfews, and East Pakistan.We also discuss Sheikh Hasina, Myanmar, and authoritarians.Recommended Book: The Identity Trap by Yascha MounkTranscriptBangladesh is a country of about 170 million people, those people living in an area a little smaller than the US state of Illinois, a hair over 57,000 square miles.It shares a smallish southeastern border with Myanmar, and its entire southern border runs up against the Bay of Bengal, which is part of the Indian

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22:47

July Surprises

Let"s Know Things ·

2024/07/23

This week we talk about assassination attempts, presidential drop-outs, and October Surprises.We also discuss election narratives, the frictions of age, and brief attempts at unity messaging.Recommended Book: The Day the World Stops Shopping by JB MacKinnonTranscriptOn October 7 of 2016, The Washington Post released a video from 2005 in which Presidential Candidate Donald Trump bragged about how you can get away with sexually assaulting women if you're famous.That same day, Wikileaks released

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25:27

The Great Green Wall

Let"s Know Things ·

2024/07/16

This week we talk about protectionist policy, solar panels, and rare earths.We also discuss Chinese business investment, EVs, and extreme weather events.Recommended Book: Meet Me By the Fountain by Alexandra LangeTranscriptThe Great Green Wall—the one in China, not the one meant to span the Sahel region, straddling the upper portion of Africa—is officially called the Three-North Shelter Forest Program, and was initially implemented by the Chinese government in 1978.This program is scheduled to be

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23:44

Project 2025

Let"s Know Things ·

2024/07/09

This week we talk about the Heritage Foundation, Agenda 47, and the Democrats in turmoilWe also discuss Christian Nationalism, France’s surprising election outcome, and authoritarianism.Recommended Book: Filterworld by Kyle ChaykaTranscriptThe world is awash with interesting elections this year—there are a record number of people participating in democratic activities, from Indonesia to the EU's 27 governments—and we've just seen the UK's citizenry topple their long-governing Conservative Party in

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18:49

Chevron Deference

Let"s Know Things ·

2024/07/02

This week we talk about the APA, the Supreme Court, and Marbury v. Madison.We also discuss the Chevron Doctrine, government agencies, and the administrative state.Recommended Book: A City on Mars by Kelly and Zach WeinersmithTranscriptThe Supreme Court's 1803 Marbury v. Madison decision was pivotal to US legal theory and practice because it established the concept of judicial review, which essentially said that US courts could assess laws passed through the typical legislative system, through

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18:45

Axis of Disorder

Let"s Know Things ·

2024/06/25

This week we talk about China, Russia, and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.We also discuss BRICS, North Korea, and the post-WWII global world order.Recommended Book: Supercommunicators by Charles DuhiggTranscriptThe Shanghai Cooperation Organization, or SCO, is a defense and economic alliance that was started by China and Russia back in 2001, and which has since expanded to become the largest regional organization in the world in terms of both land area and population, encompassing something

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17:48

France's Snap Election

Let"s Know Things ·

2024/06/18

This week we talk about the National Rally, Macron, and the European Union.We also discuss Marine Le Pen, elections, and the French National Assembly.Recommended Book: Pockets by Hannah CarlsonTranscriptThe first week of June 2024, the EU held its parliamentary election, the tenth since it began holding such elections in 1979, and this one was notable in part because the number of MEPs—Members of European Parliament—increased from 705 to 720, due to population changes in the bloc, those new seats

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27:43

Google AI Overviews

Let"s Know Things ·

2024/06/11

This week we talk about search engines, SEO, and Habsburg AI.We also discuss AI summaries, the web economy, and alignment.Recommended Book: Pandora’s Box by Peter BiskindTranscriptThere's a concept in the world of artificial intelligence, alignment, which refers to the goals underpinning the development and expression of AI systems.This is generally considered to be a pretty important realm of inquiry because, if AI consciousness were to ever emerge—if an artificial intelligence that's truly

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22:43

Trump's Conviction

Let"s Know Things ·

2024/06/04

This week we talk about secret documents, hush-money payouts, and federal court cases.We also discuss polling, independents, and post-presidential felonies.Recommended Book: The Final Empire by Brandon SandersonTranscriptIt's a weird time in American politics for many reasons, including but not limited to the increasing polarization of the two main parties, the difficulty in finding bipartisan opportunities to work together, the concomitant tendency for Congress, and lawmakers at other levels of

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16:55

UK General Election 2024

Let"s Know Things ·

2024/05/28

This week we talk about the Tories, Labour, and the UK Parliament.We also discuss the House of Commons, the House of Lords, and Rishi Sunak’s gamble.Recommended Book: Like, Literally, Dude by Valerie FridlandTranscriptThe government of the United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy led by a Prime Minister and their cabinet, the Prime Minister attaining their position through the primacy of their party in the country's key legislation-passing body, its Parliament.So the Prime Minister runs

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28:32

Gaza Conflict Update

Let"s Know Things ·

2024/05/21

This week we talk about Israel, the Palestinian Territories, and Hamas.We also discuss Egypt, the Rafah Crossing, and Netanyahu’s motivations.Recommended Book: Going Zero by Anthony McCartenTranscriptIsrael, as a country, was founded as a consequence of, and in the midst of, a fair bit of conflict and turmoil.It was formally established in mid-1948 after years of settlement in the area by Jewish people fleeing persecution elsewhere around the world and years of effort to set up a Jewish-majority

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17:28

La Niña 2024

Let"s Know Things ·

2024/05/14

This week we talk about ENSO, El Niño, and attribution science.We also discuss climate change, natural disasters, and the trade winds.Recommended Book: Titanium Noir by Nick HarkawayTranscriptThe field of attribution science, sometimes referred to as "extreme event attribution," focuses on figuring out whether and to what degree a particular weather event—especially rare weather disasters—are attributable to climate change.Severe floods and tornadoes and hurricanes all happen from time to time,

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18:56

GPS Jamming

Let"s Know Things ·

2024/05/07

This week we talk about APT28, spoofing, and hybrid warfare.We also discuss the Baltics, Tartu airport, and hacking.Recommended Book: The Middle Passage by James HollisTranscriptIn early May of 2024, the German government formally blamed a Russian hacking group called APT28 for hacking members of the governing German Social Democratic Party in 2023, and warned of unnamed consequences.Those consequences may apply just to APT28, which is also sometimes called "Fancy Bear," or they may apply to the

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25:12

TikTok Ban

Let"s Know Things ·

2024/04/30

This week we talk about Huawei, DJI, and ByteDance.We also discuss 5G infrastructure, black-box algorithms, and Congressional bundles.Recommended Book: The Spare Man by Mary Robinette KowalNote: my new book, How To Turn 39, is now available as an ebook, audiobook, and paperback wherever you get your books :)TranscriptIn January of 2024, Chinese tech giant Huawei brought an end to its years-long US lobbying effort, meant to help mend fences with western politicians.In mid-2019, then US President

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