What A Day

Ernest Johnson was executed in Missouri, yesterday. Johnson had been on death row for over 25 years after being convicted of the 1994 murder of three people. However, pleas for clemency from his supporters, including Pope Francis, intensified recently, saying Johnson’s intellectual disabilities made the execution unconstitutional and immoral.The FDA’s advisory committee will be considering more booster shots, next week, as well as Pfizer vaccines for young children. Also, the drug company Merck said that its pill to treat COVID-19 reduced the risk of hospitalization among high risk people by 50 percent in a clinical trial. And in headlines: a report found the French Catholic Church abused more than 200,000 minors over the last 70 years, Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen testified before the Senate, and a Russian film crew arrived at the International Space Station to make history.Show Notes:NY Times: “Missouri Executes Death Row Prisoner Despite Pleas From Pope and Others” – https://nyti.ms/3msq0nVBloomberg: “Everything You Need to Know About Merck’s Game-Changing Covid Pill” – https://bloom.bg/3mvGADgNY Times: “Who Is the Bad Art Friend?” – https://nyti.ms/2WJQ6tMFor a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram were offline for six hours yesterday in what’s been called the most sustained and the largest outage for the company in recent memory. It came a day after CBS aired an interview with a Facebook whistleblower, and on the same day the company filed a dismissal in an anti-trust lawsuit by the federal government.The latest Supreme Court term began, yesterday, and there is a lot to keep our eyes on with the current 6-3 conservative majority. The court is going to hear arguably the most important 2nd Amendment case since at least 2008, possibly the most impactful reproductive health ruling in decades, and more.And in headlines: union members of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees voted to authorize a strike, Senate Republicans vow to not raise the country’s debt ceiling, and Clint Eastwood won a $6.1 million lawsuit against a CBD company.Show Notes:Washington Post: “Facebook apps coming back online after widespread outage” – https://wapo.st/3BcQ3WuWall Street Journal: “​​The Facebook Whistleblower, Frances Haugen, Says She Wants to Fix the Company, Not Harm It” – https://on.wsj.com/3AcO8zEBalls and Strikes – https://ballsandstrikes.org/For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Wisconsin's 34-year-old Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes is one of the many Democrats running to beat Republican U.S. Senator Ron Johnson. Johnson's seat has been seen as one of the most likely to flip to Democratic hands next year. We interviewed Barnes about entering the primary with statewide name recognition and his overt effort to be the staunch progressive in next year's race.And in headlines: a 126,000 gallon oil spill hits the Southern California shores, a historically Black beach in L.A. is returned to its founders' descendants, and Ozy Media is shutting down.For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Congress approved a short-term spending bill to keep the government open until early December, but Democrats are still scrambling to strike deals on social policies and infrastructure.The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), the union representing thousands of workers in the entertainment industry, has been at a months-long impasse in contract negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers over issues like more time for rest and better wages. Today, union members begin to vote on strike authorization.And in headlines: the Department of Homeland Security issued new guidelines regarding immigrants who are undocumented, Facebook’s head of safety testified at a Senate hearing, and Shakira and her son were overrun by two wild hogs.Show Notes:KTVO: “UAW members gear up for strike amid contract negotiations with John Deere” – https://bit.ly/3utpMjVVote in Fat Bear Week – https://explore.org/fat-bear-weekFor a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Britney Spears' father has been suspended as conservator of her estate. Her lawyer requested that a separate hearing be set in 30 to 45 days, and #FreeBritney activists hope Spears will be free by her 40th birthday.Members of International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, the union that represents all kinds of people behind the scenes on TV and movie sets, will begin voting on a strike authorization tomorrow. The union and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers have been negotiating a new contract for the last four months. And in headlines: YouTube cracks down on the spread of vaccine misinformation, the U.S. government declared 22 animals and one plant extinct, and the NBA says players who miss games for not complying with vaccine mandates will not be paid for missed time.Show Notes:LA Times: “Hollywood union calls for strike authorization vote by crew workers” – https://lat.ms/3m5wLMiStatement: IATSE President Calls on Members to Authorize Strike – https://bit.ly/3ojVdfNFor a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

After Senate Republicans blocked a bill that would have funded the government and raised the debt ceiling, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told Congress it would be catastrophic if lawmakers didn’t raise that ceiling. Additionally, the House is supposed to vote on the infrastructure package tomorrow. Crooked Media’s Editor-in-Chief Brian Beutler joins us to break down all of the Congressional news. And in headlines: U.S. defense officials testified before the Senate, Alabama state lawmakers plan to use the state’s COVID relief funds to build new prisons, and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem is under scrutiny for her nepotism.For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

After decades of allegations and investigations, a jury convicted R. Kelly, marking the end of a six-week federal trial. He was found guilty of all nine counts that he faced, including charges of sex trafficking and racketeering.Republicans who claim the 2020 presidential election was stolen suffered a humiliating defeat in Arizona. But instead of admitting they were wrong, the Stop the Steal movement is leaning even more into its false, outrageous, completely-made-up claims that Trump actually won. And in headlines: Pfizer tests an oral antiviral drug that could prevent COVID-19 infections, children today will live through three times as many climate disasters as their grandparents, and Facebook delays its plan to launch an Instagram for kids.Show Notes:NY Times: “Goldman Sachs, Ozy Media and a $40 Million Conference Call Gone Wrong” – https://nyti.ms/3AZv35aFor a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

As many as one in five people who became ill with COVID-19 have reportedly developed long-term symptoms that last well after they’ve recovered from the initial infection. Informally called “Long COVID,” the condition is associated with chronic fatigue, brain fogginess, headaches, and more. We interview Dr. Ashish Jha from the Brown School of Public Health, who’s launched a new study to look at Long COVID’s effects on people, health care, workplaces and more.And in headlines: Germany holds a parliamentary election, the World Health Organization resuscitates the investigation into COVID-19’s origins, and Biden gets an even bigger victory margin in Arizona’s GOP-led 2020 election audit.Show Notes:Brown School of Public Health: “Global Epidemics: Long COVID” – https://bit.ly/3ibhiJlFor a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A CDC advisory board unanimously said that people 65 and older should be allowed to receive a booster shot of the Pfizer-BiONTech COVID vaccine. It also agreed that younger people who might be at high-risk could get a booster as well, but NOT those who are at high risk of being exposed to COVID at their jobs. Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, epidemiologist and the host of America Dissected, joins us to breakdown vaccine news. And in headlines: the U.S. special envoy to Haiti resigns, New York City lawmakers move to protect and establish rights for delivery workers, and the White House prepares for a government shutdown.For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In addition to Gabrielle Petito’s tragic murder, we discuss the horrific rates of people of color who’ve gone missing in America. For example in Wyoming, where Petito’s body was found, 710 Indigenous people went missing between 2011 and 2020, and over half of them were women. In COVID news, President Biden pledged to donate 500 million vaccine doses to lower income countries. The FDA also authorized a Pfizer-BioNTech booster vaccine for people 65 and older and for those at risk of severe disease.  And in headlines: nearly 1,000 Haitian migrants in Del Rio, TX, were released into the United States, bipartisan Congressional negotiations on a sweeping police reform bill broke down, and Trump filed a lawsuit against his niece and reporters at The New York Times.Show Notes:Wyoming Department of Victim Services: “Missing and Murdered Indigenous People” – https://wysac.uwyo.edu/wysac/reports/View/7713Associated Press: “#NotInvisible: Why are Native American women vanishing?” – https://bit.ly/3i0H5UBNPR: “With A Spotlight On Gabby Petito, The Parents Of 2 Missing Black Men Call For Action” – https://n.pr/3zCPt2yBlack and Missing – https://blackandmissinginc.com/NY Times: “Pressure Grows on U.S. Companies to Share Covid Vaccine Technology” – https://nyti.ms/39rlGznFor a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.