Crash Course

The podcast explores the themes and impact of the movie Barbie, delving into art and commerce, gender identity, and corporate conformity. It discusses the financial success of the film and its influence as a cultural icon. The hosts also examine the potential impact of the movie in engaging new audiences and encouraging more stories for women and girls. They analyze the themes of self-acceptance and empathy in the movie, as well as its portrayal of gender expectations and corporate America.

The U.S. is now in the unprecedented position of having a man who has thus far been charged with 78 crimes being the clear front-runner for the Republican Party’s presidential nomination in 2024. There is a swamp of issues to unravel around all of this – including Trump’s legal perils, the character and policies of a Republican Party he owns, and the future of American democracy. Joining us today to make sense of all of this is Charlie Sykes. Charlie, a committed and confounded Republican, is the editor of the commentary site, The Bulwark, and host of the Bulwark Podcast. He’s also a political analyst for MSNBC and the author of several books, including “How the Right Lost Its Mind.”See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kenya is home to some of the planet’s most glorious – and most threatened – wildlife. Like everything else on Earth, the animals that once thrived in this Eden are suffering through the cataclysm of climate change. Long droughts interspersed with violent and irregular flooding have altered migration patterns and essential sustenance. Local farmers and semi-nomadic herders are struggling to preserve their livelihoods. East Africa’s droughts, the worst in at least 40 years, have already brought waves of famine. And the clock is ticking as increasingly formidable environmental challenges bear down. Spiking temperatures mean that much of what has made Kenya, Kenya, may eventually disappear. To explore all of this, Tim spoke with guides at two of Kenya’s conservancies: Tom Njogu, the head guide at the Lewa Safari Camp; and Dickson Kereto, a veteran guide at the Mara Naboisho Conservancy. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Americans bet about $165 billion a year, but here’s something Tim O’Brien worries about: When there’s billions of dollars on the line, how likely is it that your favorite sport is going to get corrupted? Gamblers and criminals have been trying to rig games since the Olympics first began – it still goes on all the time if you look for it. Enter SportRadar, where former intelligence operatives, police detectives, journalists, and computer geeks track 500,000 sporting matches around the world every year, on the hunt for potential fixes. We first published this episode around the Super Bowl as part of a three-part series about the past, present, and future of the multi-billion-dollar sports betting boom, and its impact on games, fans, and society. You can also listen to the other two episodes in the series: about the rise of mobile betting and the future of tribal casinos. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Elizabeth Rossiello, CEO of AZA Finance, shares her experiences and insights on the challenges faced by women in the competitive world of Wall Street. She discusses her background in finance, entrepreneurship, and her journey of starting her own company. The podcast also explores the challenges of balancing motherhood with professional aspirations and the importance of talent hubs in empowering individuals to achieve success.

Semiconductors allow for massive, accessible, and ubiquitous computing and they are such stuff as dreams are made on. They’re pivotal components of the burgeoning artificial intelligence industry, and they now power everything from cars and appliances to missile defense systems and nuclear weaponry. Chips are so central to the consumer world, the shape of economies, and national security that they also inform geopolitical maneuvering – and the head-butting between China and the US for global dominance. Chris Miller is the author of “Chip Wars: The Fight for the World’s Most Crucial Technology,” and a historian at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Every generation produces a financier or businessperson who personifies how easy it can be to part fools from their money, part smart people from their senses, and part the media from skepticism. There’s a long list of exhibits of that genre, from Charles Ponzi to Bernie Madoff. Does Sam Bankman-Fried belong in that pantheon? There’s lots of evidence suggesting he does. He – and the crypto-currency empire he built – are the subjects of sprawling fraud and money laundering probes. His company, FTX, is bankrupt and federal prosecutors in New York have indicted the 31 year-old former multi-billionaire for a range of financial crimes. SBF, as he’s known, maintains that he is innocent of any wrongdoing and he still gets to have his day in court. Hannah Miller covers crypto for Bloomberg News and is the host of a new podcast, “Spellcaster,” about the life and times of SBF. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Winemaking may seem entirely glamorous but it’s really just another version of farming: It’s hard, unpredictable work, and farmers everywhere are wrestling with the onslaught of climate change. Climate change may make some of the world’s most fertile wine regions inhospitable to grape production. Winemaking was a competitive and unpredictable business long before climate change’s escalating challenges arrived. Bottling great wine requires as much art as science. During a recent trip to South Africa, Tim visited one of the world’s most spectacular wine regions – the Stellenbosch, outside of Cape Town, South Africa – and one of the area’s oldest vineyards, Rust en Vrede, where he spoke with the owner, Jean Engelbrecht.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When British voters decided back in June 2016 to end their 43-year membership in the European Union, it seemed the most surreal political and economic event imaginable. The European Union was a statement of purpose as much as a trade relationship: It symbolized European countries putting centuries of hostility and two world wars behind in the interest of economic cooperation, and it represented European countries recognizing they had a more muscular global trade profile competing together rather than separately against powerhouses like the US. Brexit turned that on its head. It revealed the Tory Party as captive to its far right constituency, and put issues like immigration, regulation, globalization, and the identities of both Europe and the UK up for grabs. Joining Crash Course is Adrian Wooldridge, a Bloomberg Opinion columnist and an erudite, contrarian, and delightful observer of political economy and England. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The podcast explores the power crisis in South Africa, discussing the challenges faced by the electricity provider and the impact on daily life. It highlights the unequal access to electricity, the consequences of power outages on citizens, businesses, and economic growth, and the financial impact of neglecting non-financial risk factors. The podcast also delves into the problems of unreliable electricity generation and its potential implications for other countries.