Call It Like I See It

James Keys and Tunde Ogunlana discuss the ongoing measles outbreak in the southwest United States and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s apparent about face on the importance of the measles vaccine (01:22).  The guys also consider whether the rise in caffeine consumption, whether through energy drinks or coffee and tea products, and the deaths that seem to be arising out of that, is something that society needs to take a closer look at (29:21).   Health secretary RFK Jr. endorses the MMR vaccine — stoking fury among his supporters (NPR) Trump begins mass layoffs at FDA, CDC, other US health agencies (Reuters) Colorado sues HHS, RFK Jr. over funding cuts as measles case hits (Axios)   All That Caffeine You’re Drinking May Be Doing More Harm Than Good — Men’s Health (Apple News) 'Workout Queen,' 28, Who Loved ‘the Buzz’ from Caffeinated Energy Drinks Has Heart Attack, Suffers Fatal Brain Damage (People)  

James Keys and Tunde Ogunlana discuss a few things that stood out in Martin Gurri’s 2014 book “The Revolt of the Public and the Crisis of Authority in the New Millennium,” which looks at how digital technology has ushered into a new era of information access altered the power balance between the public and elite institutions in societies around the world.  The guys also consider the extent to which the perspective it offers still holds true over 10 years after its initial publication.   The Revolt of the Public and the Crisis of Authority in the New Millennium (Stripe Press)

James Keys and Tunde Ogunlana react to the numbers that suggest that young men are having a tough time holding down romantic relationships, at least relative to historic trends (01:16).  The guys also try to make sense of the rise in what look like apologist attitudes and conversations about Hitler and the Nazi’s we have seen recently coming from figures on the political right. (29:22).   Why are young men so hopeless at dating? (Vox) Teens Are Forgoing a Classic Rite of Passage (The Atlantic)   Antisemitism Rears Its Head on the Right, Too (WSJ) Yes, Musk repost misleadingly claimed 'Stalin, Mao and Hitler didn't murder millions of people' (Snopes) Elon Musk’s daughter says father’s rally gesture was ‘definitely a Nazi salute’ (The Guardian) This Has Got to Be the Most Hitler-Curious Administration in U.S. History (Slate)  

James Keys and Tunde Ogunlana take a look at the growing consensus that appears to be forming that the Covid-19 virus originated from scientific research and was accidentally released from a lab in Wuhan, China (01:25).  The guys also break down the overwhelming evidence that firing employees deemed as low performing doesn’t work boost overall productivity in workplaces, particularly in light of talk now in corporate America and in government about cutting workers and growing efficiency (26:24).   German spy agency concluded COVID virus likely leaked from lab, papers say (Reuters)   The surprising truth about low performers (Business Insider)  

James Keys and Tunde Ogunlana take a look at the ongoing global AI development race and consider in light of its recent development technologies like DeepSeek and Manus, whether China may be poised to overwhelm the US from a capability standpoint.   New Chinese AI agent draws DeepSeek comparison (Axios) The west is already losing the AI arms race (The Guardian) Billionaire investor Ray Dalio warns the U.S. won’t ‘be competitive in manufacturing with China in our lifetime’ (Yahoo! Finance)