In the wake of President Barack Obama's major speech on American policy toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict after the Arab Spring and Binyamin Netanyahu's frosty reception of that address, Wonking Week's co-hosts Jessica Hilo and Tom Jacobs examine past Miller-McCune articles that shine a light on the peace process in the region. In the second session, Idea Lobby blogger Emily Badger reviews a recent book looking at global Muslim anger at the United States. She reports that the book finds the Islamic world feels both oppressed by a powerful U.S. and betrayed by a country that hasn't ... Read More

Higher oil prices in the United States have fueled efforts to shift to alternative fuels or increase domestic production, which in turn fuels a discussion about the issue by Jessica Hilo and Tom Jacobs. That conversation is followed by Idea Lobby blogger Emily Badger addressing the possibility of amending or trimming the onerous aspects of the USA Patriot Act. *** Audio portions for this week’s Wonking Week podcast were drawn from: Audio from our discussion on gas prices was taken from President Barack Obama’s weekly address. The outro to our discussion of gas prices was a speech by ... Read More

In this week’s audio newsletter, we discuss immigration reform as the lynchpin of making the United States more competitive in the global economy by keeping highly trained experts, suggesting that arguments over migrant laborers misses much of the the issue's real importance. In another segment, The Idea Lobby blogger Emily Badger looks at a proposed rule for the USAID, the organization that oversees much of the American government's foreign aid, that would allow tax dollars to be spent on religious structures in a move to build favor with other peoples. *** Audio portions for this ... Read More

In this week’s audio newsletter, we discuss the death of Osama bin Laden and the benefits, or lack of same, from the so-called "leadership decapitation" of terrorist combines. In addition, Emily Badger looks at WikiLeaks and the curious case of of its leader, Julian Assange. *** Audio portions for this week’s Wonking Week podcast include: - Audio from our discussion of bin Laden was taken from a speech by President Barack Obama. - Intro and outro music for our podcast interview with Emily Badger was Time Traveling Musician by Nickleus. Audio from our interview with Emily was an ... Read More

Wonking Week this week discusses school nutrition programs through the decision of the Los Angeles Unified School District to prevent food celebrity Jaime Oliver from visiting with his cameras in tow. Hosts Jessica Hilo and Tom Jacobs also take on the British royal wedding, while Idea Lobby blogger Emily Badger looks at cap-and-trade legislation and who is the little guy in the public relations campaigns surrounding pro- and ant-legislation advocates. *** Audio portions for this week’s Wonking Week podcast were drawn from: The outro to our discussion on Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution ... Read More

Ai Weiwei made headlines after the well-known artist and critic of China's authoritarianism was arrested by Chinese authorities on a host of ugly charges, a suspicious arrest given the country's palpable fear of a jasmine-type resolution. Miller-McCune's Jessica Hilo and Tom Jacobs discuss the case and the changes occurring in China. In addition, Emily Badger expounds on her Idea Lobby column on a government-run ID for cybersecurity. *** Audio portions for this week’s Wonking Week podcast were drawn from: - The outro to our discussion on Ai Weiwei was taken from an interview he had with ... Read More

Nature -- how we restore it and how we might patent it -- are the focus of this week's Wonking Week podcast. Novelist T.C. Boyle reflects on his latest novel about the restoration of habitat in the Channel Islands national Park, while Iea Lobby blogger Emily Badger discusses the ongoing debate over patenting human genes. Audio portions for this week’s Wonking Week podcast were drawn from: The outro to our discussion with T.C. Boyle was Exurb by Gurdonark. The outro to our interview with Emily Badger was taken from a recording of the 1980 Diamond vs. Chakrabarty court case. ... Read More

Emily Badger discusses the looming government shutdown in the United States and what it means to average Americans with Wonking Week host Jessica Hilo in this week's podcast. Badger's examination follows from her popular Idea Lobby post from earlier this week, "What Does a Government Shutdown Mean?" Opening this week's podcast, Hilo and Miller-McCune staff writer Tom Jacobs hold a wide-ranging discussion of technology in the wake of Amazon's announcement of its Cloud Drive personal online storage service. *** Audio portions for this week’s Wonking Week podcast were drawn from: The ... Read More

Audio portions for this week’s Wonking Week podcast were drawn from: - Samples from our first story on the events in Wisconsin were taken from citizen reporters at the following links: one, two and three. - The outro to our discussion of Wisconsin was taken from an election advertisement for Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. - The outro to our interview with Emily Badger was taken from a speech about collective bargaining in Poland given by President Ronald Reagan. ... Read More