World News of the Week (WNW) with Maya and Dad

Since September, French high school students have been protesting about the conditions within their schools, but the movement has broadened to include trade unionists, university students and citizens with concerns about affordability. Millions have protested peacefully but some protests have turned violent. What is going on in France and where might this movement go? 

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From the archives...

We need to catch up on our sleep and you might need to as well! Why? We lost an hour. Why do this to ourselves? Why have that one cranky and even dangerous weekend a year, where car accidents go up and people miss appointments? It is not because farmers need more time in their fields! It is because... well... listen to this episode and learn more! And, find out what is being done to return to sanity! And... tell some friends about the show and celebrate our thirtieth show with us soon...

From the archives...

Cocoa shortage. Sugar Prices surging. Transportation costs rising. Could this be a spooky Halloween with less chocolate? And, who might be happy about that? Get reading to scream Halloween Apples (???) and to learn why this could be a very different Halloween!

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Last week, President Trump took on the first amendment of the constitution! Yes, he really did! Trump banned three major news outlets from the White House and, while those outlets fought him in court, other outlets backed those that were banned and refused to cover Trump. This situation puts media hungry Trump in a bind, lacking coverage weeks before the midterm elections. And, ironically, Trump did this during a week when Chinese President Xi, a man who jails journalists, arrived in Washington, DC with his own state-controlled media. In short, the world flipped upside down last week and we...

This week, Macklemore made headlines for criticizing Israel, while opening for Ed Sheeran. Macklemore, already credibly accused of anti-semitism from an ugly incident in which he mocked religious Jewish people in 2014, ran into a worthy foe - Robert Kraft. Kraft refused to let Macklemore play at the venue he owns, Gillette Stadium, and rallied others to prevent Macklemore from spreading his one-sided message. We discuss all of the stakeholders, Kraft, Sheeran, Macklemore, Jewish concert-goers, all concert-goers and more and discuss the nature of free speech and cancellation. This is a packed 15 minutes of WNW! 

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Season four begins! This summer, you may have heard the term, "Democratic Socialist" - In the past, you may have heard of AOC and more recently, Mayor Mamdani. Who are these Democratic Socialists? Are they gaining steam? Are they good news for Democrats? Republicans? We answer these questions and more on Word News of the Week!

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Two years ago, we covered the bankruptcy of Red Lobster. It is commonly held that Red Lobster went broke due an endless shrimp promotion, but as we learned then, the story is much more complicated. In this episoide, we revisit why Red Lobster actually went broke, but more importantly, we cover how its new CEO, thirty-something Damola Adamolekun, is trying to revive the chain. And, we felt that we had to see the turnaround in person so... we drove to the nearest location, in Hartford, CT, to do in-person research. Part restaurant review and part business story, WNW is...

Olivia Rodrigo. The World Cup. Even a touring production of Les Mis. Ticket sales have become a global business, and the local concert goer is often buying more expensive tickets on the resale market. Maybe this good for consumers who have access to events they want to go to and know that they are getting verified tickets? Maybe it is not so good.... more expensive tickets mean that consumers budgets are focused on fewer shows! We discuss the pros, the cons and what some bands, provinces and countries are doing to bring costs down on this week's WNW! 

Make America Healthy Again!?! It sounds pretty appealing but what is this movement really about and why does it seem to be coming to an abrupt end? Maya and Dad discuss the evolution of the movement, the good and not so good beliefs/outcomes and the reasons for its (word of the week) schism, which may  threaten Donald Trump's chances in the midterms and consequently open the door to a world of problems for him. On this episode, one thing is certain, we are making WNW WNW again!

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Our one word reviews... The Melania Movie was (dad) "appalling" and (Maya) "wasteful." Yes, we saw the Melania movie in an all but empty theatre on a Tuesday night and we did our best to view it thoughtfully and critically, but Melania made it impossible. in this episode, we discuss the controversies surrounding the film itself and we discuss the substance of the film or the lack thereof.

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Last week, we asked, "What just happened in Venezuela?" This week, we as the same but of Iran. For weeks, unprecedented protests have been raging in repressive Iran. On this WNW, we delve into the history of Iran, the reality on the ground, the risks people are taking for freedom, and the challenges of intervening in the country. Another real time WNW!

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This morning, we woke up to the news that United States had invaded and forced regime change in... Venezuela? Who is Nicolas Maduro? Why was Donald Trump so threatened by him that he needed to use military force to arrest/depose him? Was any of this legal or necessary? What are the ripple effects? Where do Venezuela and the US go from here? We discuss all of this today on the first WNW of the new year! Enjoy! 

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What is a lame duck and is Donald Trump one? Why is there so much infighting in the Republican party right now? Why did one conspiracy theorist, Marjorie Taylor Greene, leave Congress and why is another particularly racist conspiracy theorist, Nick Fuentes, being embraced? Is this the beginning of the end of MAGA? We discuss on WNW!

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As the government shutdown, Donald Trump went to the supreme court to avoid paying for the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP). What is SNAP? What do the 42 million Americans who receive SNAP benefits get? And, who qualifies and on what conditions? Why would anyone want to take that away? Find out on this week's WNW with Maya and Dad. 

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Maya and Dad went to the Boston No Kings Rally and so did... 150,000 others! (Our estimate on the show was WAY off!). On this show, we share our journey to the rally, our favorite signs and other observations and then the highlights of Maya's 32 interviews! (Don't worry - Maya only excerpted a few!)  

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This week, Secretary of Defense… or should we say Secretary of War (!) Pete Hegseth, called 800 Generals into Washington to lecture them…. Why? What was his message? Why was he talking about beardos and hefty generals? We did a podcast on this and still don’t know why he did this, but maybe you can figure this out… on this week’s WNW with Maya and Dad!

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There is a portmanteau (word of the week!) out there that is on the verge of killing our democracy! And, on that note, welcome to season 3 of WNW with Maya and Dad. Today, we discuss the implications of Texas' redistricting, California's reaction and what this means for voters going forward! This episode is sponsored by waves and salamanders! 

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WNW is now on its summer hiatus. We quickly discuss the many headlines dominating the news today - the US/Israel joint effort to destroy Iran's nuclear capabilities, the administration forcing the national guard into CA, the mysterious potential outcomes of the big beautiful bill and more... Have a great summer! 

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It seems that huge stories quickly dominate the news cycle and quickly disappear - weeks ago it was a US takeover of Greenland or Canada; then it was JD Vance yelling at Vladimir Zelensky in the White House; then it was the signal scandal and recently the tariff wars have been quite real and dangerous and justifiably flooded out all other news. Still, there are many (many!) "smaller" stories that many are missing - FEMA being defunded, cancellation of visas for those from Afghanistan, South Sudan and Cameroon, a master crypto grift, intimidation of government workers, defunding of mental...

Tariffs - all over the news! What are they? Who is paying them? How do people think they work and how do they actually work? What are the countries that are being "tariffed" doing about it? We answer these questions and more on this week's WNW! (Thank you to Charlotte and Matt for suggesting this topic!!!)

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In recent years, there has been a explosion in Anti-Semitism, and that only accelerated after October 7th. During the Superbowl this year, Kanye West spent $8 million on anti-Semitic propaganda and, in our backyard, the Massachusetts Teacher's Association has been providing flagrantly anti-Semitic resources to educate its teachers on Israel and Gaza. We were so fortunate to have Sara Colb, Deputy Director of the ADL New England as our guest, to share her insights on the hot button issues and to help us understand both what is going on and what we can do to combat anti-Semitism. 

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Huge sports fans, Conor and Eamon are back, but in this case, we are talking about the game that is not on the court! Sixty-percent of 18-22 year olds gamble regularly on sports - 10% are pathological gamblers. What is driving this boom? Wasn't this all illegal a few years ago? Are there guardrails? Where does this go? We take on the tough issues on WNW with Maya and Dad and Conor and Eamon! 

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Today is my Co-host and Dad, Jeremy's birthday! On this episode of WNW, we have a returning guest, Margaux, as well as many new interviewees! We talk about the history of birthdays, different birthday traditions around the world, and send many birthday wishes his way! 

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Pardons are as old as the state - even older in fact - and they are often controversial. Today, with return guest, Uncle Zach, we delve into controversial pardons from Washington Pardoning those involved in the Whisky Rebellion to Clinton Pardoning Marc Rich to Biden pardoning Hunter to Trump pardoning those who tried to subvert democracy to a January 6'er who refused a pardon! Pardon us? Indeed! 

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Donald Trump has been barking about taking over Greenland and the Panama Canal and Canada joining the US as the "51st state." Would either party even want this? How much are each worth? Is there an ulterior motive in introducing such extreme ideas? Listen to WNW to find out more!

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A unique confluence of events just led to a notorious dictator, Bashar Assad, fleeing Syria. Why was Assad, trained as an ophthalmologist, there in the first place? What role did Russia, Syria, Israel and Inflation play in ridding Syria of Assad? And, who is HTS, a terrorist group which is in power for now? What are their plans? A complicated WNW sponsored by rocks and tea.  

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The world has gone BANANAS, but maybe Maurizio Cattelan has not? He did the only rational thing an artist could do - he duct taped a banana to a wall and charged $120,000 for his art and that was only the beginning. In this WNW, we discuss all of the actors - the artist, the buyer, the banana merchant, the auction house and even Lucille Bluth! It’s a good one!

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We are tipping on more and more services and even products at times now. Is this going to slow down or accelerate? We imagine that if tips are made exempt from taxes, we will see a whole an explosion in tip requests and a big shift in the way workers ask for compensation. Find out more on WNW! 

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So many promises have been made on immigration, tariffs, Ukraine and pardons - some promises have not been made on women's health. What will the next four years look like? We try to predict the awfully unpredictable....

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Cocoa shortage. Sugar Prices surging. Transportation costs rising. Could this be a spooky Halloween with less chocolate? And, who might be happy about that? Get reading to scream Halloween Apples (???) and to learn why this could be a very different Halloween! 

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Brought to you by Rubyscuits.com our unpaid sponsor - another kid run enterprise! 

We live in VT and MA - two states that presidents ignore because they always go Blue. But, there have to be Republican voters or Trump supporters in our neighborhoods, right? Well, we hit the streets, interviewed strangers and were surprised at the range of responses in our own backyard! 

Big shoutout to Maya who edited this entire podcast! 

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After a long hiatus, we are excited to be back for Season 2! In our first episode, we look past the election and imagine what would happen if a winner were declared on election night? Could we expect Kamala to concede the election and do her vice-presidential duty and preside over a congressional session where she certifies herself as the loser? Can we expect a Jan 6th sequel from Donald Trump? Would he run again? We explore these questions and more in our exciting first episode of WNW!!!!

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WNW is going on summer vacation! Maya is off to camp and, let's face it, Maya carries the team!  So, we look back on our favorite of 35 episodes - our favorite guests, our favorites shows, our toughest shows, some stats on the many countries where we have listeners and more. We will see you in late August! 

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Donald Trump became the first ex-president to be convicted of a crime and in this case he was found guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records...  What does that even mean? What are the consequences? What does Trump do now? How did pundits spin the verdict and does this even matter to voters? We ask these questions and more on WNW!

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Beleaguered Red Lobster was once an innovator, bringing seafood to landlocked America. It expanded to 700 locations and is alleged to have gone bankrupt due to a misguided "All You Can Eat" shrimp promotion, but there is more to the story...and we cover it on this week's WNW!

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Students protests are national news with students living in camps on many campuses. We decided that we would learn more about what they stood for and journeyed to Harvard and MIT to interview as many as we could. Instead, we found Harvard Yard closed to the public and the protestors impossible to access and then we found an MIT campus open to the public but afraid to speak to a ten year old and her dad. It was our most memorable podcast yet - we hope you will listen!

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For months, aid for Ukraine and Israel has languished in the House. Finally, House Speaker, Mike Johnson saw the light and agreed to let the House vote... what happened? Why now? And... why support Israel and Ukraine altogether? What difference does it make to the United States? We discuss this and more on WNW!

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For our 30th episode, we invited friends of the pod to present their  alternatives to Trump and Biden and many guests did just that! Huge  thanks to Uncle Michael Shinewald, Uncle Andrew Cohen, Cousin Alex Garfinkle, Dear friend of the pod Dara Grossman, Margaux "the Goose" Shinewald, Jason Merker, Uncle Zach Sheinberg and Jeremy Wein  for all of their creativity and energy! This was a very fun way to celebrate our 30th! 

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Beyonce ain't no grizzled old Willie Nelson (we do love Willie!) and she is shaking up country music! We discuss Texas Hold'em, Cowboy Carter and Beyonce's message about and to country music. So, hold onto your cowboy hats, folks, and call all the single ladies. We don't have Beyonce on the podcast, but maybe we have the next best thing!

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*(With apologies, Maya's audio cut out near the end!)

Conor and Eamon are back on the pod! And, they were all too ready to talk about the big business and also the changing business that is college basketball! Players are getting paid! Female stars are smashing records! College superstars are staying in college longer! Fantastic Ep and at the end, Eamon generously promises to share the winnings from his perfect bracket with the WNW podcast! We need more friends like that! 

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