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POLITICO
The POLITICO Tech podcast is your download on the disruption that technology is bringing to politics and policy. New episodes on Thursdays.
Episodes
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May 17, 2022 • 13min
Is this the end for Madison Cawthorn?
Today, primary voters in North Carolina's 11th Congressional District will decide whether their representative has become more trouble than he's worth. Once a rising conservative star, Cawthorn is now mired in controversy, facing the very real possibility his electoral career might end as quickly as it began. Michael Kruse reports.
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May 16, 2022 • 11min
The millions of tons of grain stuck in Ukraine
A growing number of U.S. lawmakers are pressing the Biden administration to establish a humanitarian corridor in the Black Sea, to help transport millions of tons of grain from Ukraine to the world food supply. But doing so is complicated — and could provoke retaliation from Russia. Meredith Lee reports.
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May 13, 2022 • 12min
Biden pilots new rural resources program
President Joe Biden and Democrats have pushed through billions of dollars in new funding for rural development. But now comes the hard part — working through a federal bureaucracy that makes it almost impossible for local leaders in the smallest, poorest areas to figure out how to get the money. Ximena Bustillo reports on a new system that hopes to solve the problem.
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May 12, 2022 • 13min
Post Roe, what's next for birth control?
Blue-state governors and lawmakers from California to New York are vowing to turn their states into sanctuaries for people seeking abortions. Plus, the years-long push for over-the-counter birth control is ramping up inside the FDA in the wake of a potential Supreme Court decision rolling back abortion rights. Lauren Gardner reports.
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May 11, 2022 • 12min
Bitcoin's drop renews risk concerns
The debate over Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies took on a new dimension last month when Fidelity Investments, one of the world’s largest asset managers, announced that it would soon allow participants in its 401(k) plans to invest some of their retirement savings in Bitcoin. Last Wednesday, that led Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Tina Smith, D-Minn., to send Fidelity a letter challenging the decision. Ben Schreckinger reports.
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May 10, 2022 • 12min
'RINO' versus 'political prostitute' in West Virginia
A bitter GOP primary in West Virginia has turned into one of the most hard-fought Republican primaries of the midterms, testing everything from Trump’s influence and the potency of ideological purity to small government to whether a GOP congressman can sell his primary voters on the merits of a bipartisan compromise in a hyper-polarized climate. Ally Mutnick reports.
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May 9, 2022 • 14min
Leaked Ukraine intelligence complicate US involvement
Last week, speculation spread that the U.S. provided intelligence to Ukraine that helped target Russian generals and Russia’s Moskva warship. Alex Ward explains why these leaks created such a firestorm.
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May 6, 2022 • 1h 6min
Lifting the curtain on SCOTUS with a POLITICO reporter who broke the Roe story
Presenting Playbook Deep Dive: This week on Playbook Deep Dive, POLITICO’s Peter Canellos talks with our own Josh Gerstein, who broke this week’s massive news that the Supreme Court’s conservative majority has drafted an opinion to overturn Roe v. Wade. Peter and Josh nerd out on everything from the history of the court, to potential implications of the draft opinion — both for the country and the judiciary itself.Peter Canellos is POLITICO's managing editor for enterprise.Josh Gerstein is POLITICO's senior legal affairs reporter.Kara Tabor is a producer for POLITICO audio.Brook Hayes is a producer for POLITICO audio.Adam Allington is senior producer for POLITICO audio.Jenny Ament is executive producer for POLITICO audio.
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May 5, 2022 • 11min
The push to modernize clinical trials
Clinical trials have long been plagued by inefficiency, lack of diversity and the inability to leverage data. The pandemic increased the need to modernize trials, which pushed many trials to lean on technology to conduct trials remotely. Ben Leonard explains why money is pouring into the space and why many clinical trials are still stuck in the previous century.
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May 4, 2022 • 11min
How repealing Roe would rewind Michigan abortion law to 1931
According to an initial draft majority opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito circulated inside the court and obtained by POLITICO, the Supreme Court has voted to strike down the landmark Roe v. Wade decision, kicking abortion policy to the states. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer filed a lawsuit last month challenging her state’s 1931 law banning abortion, which would go into effect when Roe is struck down. Alice Miranda Ollstein reports.
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