The Tweets Won't Stop: Big Problems We Can't Solve While Focused on Trump's Tweets
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On most days, you can bank on the news being brought to a grinding halt by a tweet from the President. Today we discuss all of the problems we aren’t solving because we are fixated on his 140 character musings.
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The Pearls
Sean Spicer is out, and Anthony Scaramucci is in. We struggle to care about that, but we do get a little fired up about "the Mooch" making sexist comments about new Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
Surprise! There's more stuff that Jared Kushner left out of required disclosures. We try to put the constant barrage of information in perspective.
We'd love to offer a nuanced analysis of the healthcare bill that will be voted on this week. If only we knew what's in it.
Listener Leslie compliments Senators Rand Paul and Kamala Harris.
The Suit
We're as guilty as anyone of focusing too much on the President's tweets. But there's a giant world of problems that we aren't solving because of this obsession. We start making that list.
We think that the country's opiate crisis requires all hands on deck. Sarah recommends The House We All Live In. We also talk about our caregiving crisis and new ways to think about death.
Technology is changing everything. We don't seem to be adapting our principles rapidly enough to affirmatively decide what kind of world we want to live in. What do we want from artificial intelligence? (Beth references this quote.) How do we adapt our educational systems to a post-industrial society? (We detour a little to discuss multipotentialites, why college isn't for everyone, and the limitations of valedictorians).
Thanks to our listeners and patrons Meg (educational inequality), Aaron (inefficient military spending), and Katy (foster care as punishment) for contributing to our conversation. We ultimately think that on a lot of these issues, we need to go back to the drawing board.
The Heels
We discuss the music festival Beth worked on this weekend (check out The Flower Man) and Sarah learning to water ski.