Elizabeth Holmes: Folk Hero of (Alleged) Fraud

Science and tech headlines:  Writing poetry, creating pictures, modeling proteins — the Beijing Academy of Artificial Intelligence’s latest artificial intelligence model appears to be a massive step forward for China’s AI efforts. Could machine learning help us understand (and speak to) whales? News items:  Benjamin Netanyahu, the longest-serving prime minister in Israeli history, is out. John explains why he thinks Bibi may be back, in the not-too-distant future. Election officials across the country are still getting death threats over imagined election fraud. John and Rebecca discuss why that probably won’t stop anytime soon.  Has Biden’s agenda hit a wall? John and Rebecca discuss why the split Senate makes passing an infrastructure bill – let alone anything more ambitious – so tricky.  Elizabeth Holmes swag is selling fast. Ahead of the Theranos founder’s trial in August, mugs, t-shirts, and even shower curtains are in high demand. Rebecca points out the undercurrent of misogyny behind the boom — and how P.C. culture may have led to Holmes’ ascent. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Om Podcasten

Ninety percent of the news out there tells you nothing about where the world is going — ten percent of it tells you everything. Every afternoon on the News Items Podcast with John Ellis, John and Rebecca Darst focus on that ten percent — news that’s interesting, important or both. The podcast is based on John Ellis’ News Items, an email newsletter that goes out to organizations including the Council on Foreign Relations, Samsung Next, and the Wall Street Journal. Tune in every Monday through Thursday afternoon to hear decades of journalistic experience packed into 20 or so minutes of insight, plus guest interviews on finance, U.S. politics, foreign affairs, science and technology. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.