Freakonomics Radio, episode 542
Source: Freakonomics
“Is a Museum Just a Trophy Case?” (08/21/26)
https://freakonomics.com/podcast/is-a-museum-just-a-trophy-case-update/
Author: Thomas L. Knapp
Another Trump-Kim Carnival?
Source: Antiwar.com
by Jeffrey Robertson
“A Trump-Kim summit would be a spectacle like no other. A carnival extravaganza with the Korean Peninsula holding center stage, and every handshake, expression, seating arrangement, and stray remark dissected by troupes of North Korea pundits across the world’s news networks. But like any great traveling carnival, a few days later ticket holders will be left with an uncomfortable queasiness and a sense that they’ve somehow been cheated. Spectacle, not strategy.” (08/21/26)
https://original.antiwar.com/jeffrey_robertson/2026/08/20/another-trump-kim-carnival
Myanmar: Fourteen killed in strike on monastery
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“Fourteen people were killed in military air strikes at a monastery in Myanmar early on Friday, opposition fighters and a local rescue worker have said. All of those killed were elderly and a number of monks were also injured, the rescue worker told BBC Burmese, adding that the site was struck twice. … Civilians had reportedly gathered at the site for a meditation retreat to mark Buddhist Lent. Myanmar’s military has not commented.” (08/22/26)
If everything’s a conspiracy, nothing’s a conspiracy
Source: Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression
by Adam Goldstein
“How a Reconstruction-era law built to crush the Klan, and tested against the Mafia, ended up silencing people for journalism and memes.” (08/21/26)
https://www.fire.org/news/if-everythings-conspiracy-nothings-conspiracy
Trump Urges Court to Reject BBC’s Discovery Subpoenas in Frivolous Defamation Case
Source: US News & World Report
“President Donald Trump has urged a federal judge to reject the BBC’s request for the court’s help in securing testimony and documents from three family members in response to his $10 billion [frivolous] defamation lawsuit against the British broadcaster. The BBC is trying to gain ‘politically-driven leverage’ over Trump by serving subpoenas on daughter Ivanka Trump, son-in-law Jared Kushner and son Donald Trump Jr., personal lawyers for the Republican president argued in a court filing Friday. U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Kuntz in Miami did not immediately rule on the dispute.” (08/22/26)
The Daily Blast With Greg Sargent, 08/21/26
Source: The New Republic
“Trump’s Rage Darkens as MTG Drops Midterm Bombshell: GOP Is Toast.” (08/21/26)
https://newrepublic.com/article/214581/trump-rage-darkens-mtg-drops-midterm-bombshell-gop-toast
The Telephone and the Brief Episode of “Imperfect” Competition (1894–1906)
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Joshua Mawhorter
“Many mistakenly assume that, on a free market, high barriers to entry and start-up costs so privilege the monopolistic incumbents that it would be virtually impossible for other firms to compete. In such an environment, competition is said to either be improbable or impossible, or—where competition could presumably exist—it is said to be inconvenient or duplicative. Hopefully the reader can see the question-begging in such claims and how the conclusion is presupposed against competition—there is either said to be no competition or there is said to be too much competition. Thus, the public goods argument for ‘public utilities’ and the myth of ‘natural monopoly’ combine to argue that the state ought to provide certain services to prevent market failure and monopoly.” (08/21/26)
https://mises.org/mises-wire/telephone-and-brief-episode-imperfect-competition-1894-1906
CA: Newsom signs controversial “Stop Nick Shirley Act” into law
Source: New York Post
“Gov. Gavin Newsom signed California’s controversial ‘Stop Nick Shirley Act’ into law on Saturday, just days after a radical [sic] left-wing [sic] operative [sic] crashed the journalist’s Capitol interview and launched a crude personal attack on him. Assembly Bill 2624 expands California’s Safe at Home program to employees of nonprofits that serve people navigating the immigration system. Critics have blasted the measure as a way to intimidate people ‘trying to shine light on bad behavior.’ The law takes effect Oct. 1, 2027. … Shirley, an independent journalist and YouTuber, has made videos following immigrant workers and accusing them of fraud. … On Wednesday, Shirley was conducting a sidewalk interview outside the California State Capitol in Sacramento when Terry Schanz, chief of staff to Democratic Assemblywoman Tina McKinnor, allegedly barged into the encounter. … He held up a printed flyer and asked: ‘Did you guys hear that Nick Shirley has a small penis allegedly?'” (08/22/26)
What Would a Brutally Honest Man Look Like?
Source: Brownstone Institute
by Filipe Rafaeli
“iogenes was one of the most iconic philosophers of ancient Greece. He roamed the streets of Athens in broad daylight carrying a lit lantern. When asked why he was performing such an unusual scene, Diogenes would reply that he was looking for an honest man. He never found one. More than two thousand years later, Diogenes’ questioning remains just as valid and relevant as much of the teachings of the ancient Greek philosophers.” (08/21/26)
https://brownstone.org/articles/what-would-a-brutally-honest-man-look-like/
Somali pirates hijack oil tanker off Yemen in latest attack
Source: ABC News
“Somali pirates hijacked an oil products tanker off Yemen, a Somali maritime security official said, the latest in a resurgence of piracy that has seen six commercial vessels seized since April across the Gulf of Aden and western Indian Ocean. Six armed pirates hijacked the Eritrean-flagged M.T. Sibu 1 on Thursday about 136 nautical miles (252 kilometers) east of al-Mukalla, Yemen, and took it toward Somalia’s Puntland coast, the official, who has knowledge of the incident, told The Associated Press on Friday. He spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not allowed to discuss the matter publicly. The Sibu 1, managed by the UAE-based Qatrat Alnada Almasi Ship Management, was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department last year for allegedly belonging to an Iranian ‘shadow fleet’ used to transport petroleum products seeking to evade U.S. sanctions.” (08/22/26)