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Hey, we're two college students who have wide ranging conversations about sports, politics, philosophy and more while often having differing opinions about the subjects we discuss.
49 Episodes
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In light of the recent Taliban take over and chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan, we try to answer four questions about the longest war in US history: why did the US invade, why did we stay, why did we leave, and what happens now? Along with attempting to provide the answers, we analyze the logic of the choices made along the way, attempting to use both hindsight as well as what was known at the time the decisions were made.
After a long hiatus, the Golden Mean Podcast is back, and with a new format! We have moved to single subject episodes, which we hope will be more in-depth and shorter than previous episodes (although you wouldn’t know it from this first one). So to kick off the new style, what better to talk about than to catch up on all the NBA offseason news, from the Lakers’ Westbrook trade, the Bulls’ overhaul, and everything else that’s happened in the last two months… except the Warriors’ offseason, which will be the subject of its own episode in a few weeks.
This week we discuss the continuing good news on the COVID-19 front, as the US had the least number of new cases in a single day since last March and take the step of removing our ongoing counter from our podcast. We move on to discuss the mass shooting in San Jose at the Valley Transit Authority, which hits a little closer to home for the both of us. We also discuss the Republicans blocking the January 6th commission. Finally, the NBA playoffs are in full swing, especially in the West where every series is quite close.
We follow up on the Israel-Palestine conflict, as a ceasefire has been declared. We discuss the results of the 11 days of fighting and the potential outcomes of the peace negotiations being held by Egypt. We also talk about the potential January 6th commission that Democrats are pushing, but Republicans are gradually coming out against. To finish off the episode, we do an extended NBA segment. We discuss our disappointment at the Warriors not making it out of the play-in tournament and preview what series we think will end up being the most interesting. Also we make some NBA championship predictions that could end up looking really good or really bad.
The latest COVID-19 update brings us even more good news this week, with this week being among the best in the last 11 months! We’re really getting close to jinxing it territory here. We focus this week on the unbelievably complicated Israel-Palestine issue. We borrow heavily from Tervor Noah’s piece on it, as this conflict is hard to cover and we will undoubtedly have missed many, many important things. Overall, we give a quick overview about what has happened, a brief history of the last 70 years, and talk a little about what we see going on right now.
The good and bad news continued as new COVID-19 cases in the US dropped below 50k per day, but India’s cases and deaths continued to climb. Also, the CDC issued new guidelines for fully vaccinated individuals, which is a welcome sign. Our main story concerns Biden’s address to Congress and the revealing of his American Families Plan, which includes child tax credits, free community college education, and universal pre-K. We discuss the benefits and some potential drawbacks, as well as his planned methods to pay for it. Also, the NBA season comes to a close and we are excited!
Good news on the US COVID-19 front, as the recent increase in COVID-19 cases per day was promptly erased this week! This success is somewhat dampered by the news of a massive outbreak in India, leading to a new record for most worldwide COVID-19 cases in single day. The Derek Chauvin trial ended last week, so we comment on the guilty verdict, probable appeal, and upcoming sentencing. With the Democrats passing a bill to make Washington D.C. a state, we discuss whether or not this is an appropriate move. Also, the US has finally recognized the Armenian Genocide for the first time… well, technically the first at least.
This week’s episode focuses on a pair of police shootings as well as an update on the Derek Chauvin trial. We express our frustration at both the Daunte Wright and Adam Toledo shootings while discussing the circumstances surrounding each of them. We also discuss a proposal by some Democrats to expand the number of Supreme Court justices from 9 to 13. Finally, how about Steph Curry? The man is lighting the NBA on fire!
The theme of this episode seems to be following up on stories from last week. Biden announced part one of his infrastructure bill, the part that is actually focused on infrastructure. We also follow up on the Georgia voting bill, with several corporations, including Major League Baseball, voicing their displeasure with the bill. Matt Gaetz is under investigation for his terrible and illegal actions and the Warriors are still struggling.
After the COVID-19 relief bill, Biden’s White House moves on to its next big legislative priority: infrastructure. We discuss what’s in Biden’s proposal, why it’s misleading to call this just an infrastructure proposal, how we feel about the bill, and what its chances of passing are. We tackle the unfortunate news of yet another mass shooting and express our frustration that this can keep happening. Finally, we tackle Georgia’s new voting laws, which is generally bad for voting rights with some aspects being a natural response by Republicans but other aspects being downright terrible. Also, the Suez Canal is blocked, update on Myanmar and the NBA trade deadline.
This week we have three major topics, starting with the horrendous shooting at the Atlanta spas. We discuss the emotional impact of the shooting, the underlying racism and the consequences of dangerous rhetoric. We move on to an effort to recall California’s Governor Newsom, which appears to be successful in getting a recall election. We discuss the reasons for it and the likelihood of the recall effort removing him from office. Finally, Swan gives an update on the coup and subsequent resistance in Myanmar.
We are back after missing the last two weeks, and we have quite the episode to catch up on. COVID-19 is fading for the first time in a long while and while it's definitely not over yet, the decrease in cases along with the vaccine rollout progress certainly bodes well. Our main discussion this episode centers around HR 1, which would massively overhaul the US federal election system. We discuss the good, bad and okay of the bill before moving onto the massive Texas storm and NBA All-Star game.
This week on the Golden Mean, there continues to be relatively good news for COVID compared to previous months. In politics, we cover how Biden has continued his first 100 days and catch up on some executive orders that we missed. We also talk about Trump’s second impeachment and how it turned out the way we expected, even as the final vote was more bipartisan than any impeachment has ever been. Also, the Mavericks wanted to stop playing the national anthem before they were promptly told not to by the league and Steph Curry has been ballin!
Myanmar had a coup last week, with the military removing Aung San Suu Kyi and installing the military commander in chief as leader of the country. We talk about the impact this will have on the people of Myanmar and the international community. Also, the Senate passed a budget reconciliation that would allow Biden to bypass the filibuster and pass the COVID relief bill without any Republican support. We examine the process by which this happened and what it means going forward.
In a bit of a surprising twist, COVID-19 is actually looking up this week. While the numbers are still way too high, there is marked improvement over the last few weeks. After missing last week, we discuss the good, the okay and the bad of actions Joe Biden has taken since taking office, having issued over 40 executive orders. Trump’s impeachment trial is next week and he doesn’t really have a defense team yet and some stock market shenanigans around GameStop made headlines this last week.
One week after Trump supporters stormed the Capitol, Donald Trump became the first president to be impeached twice, with the House charging him with inciting an insurrection. We discuss why he was impeached and the chances he is convicted. We also cover COVID-19 yet again, as well as the massive James Harden trade that shook up the NBA. And please stop comparing the violence on Jan. 6th with the violence that happened during the BLM protests over the summer. They are not the same.
Last week, armed supporters of Donald Trump stormed the Capitol building to try to forcibly overturn Joe Biden’s election. We spend almost the entire podcast analyzing all of the terrible things that happened Wednesday, from the attempt to not certify the election results, the storming of the Capitol itself, Donald Trump’s awful response and the response of many social media platforms. Also, Democrats won in Georgia, COVID-19 is at its worst point yet and Steph dropped 62 but we barely get to talk about all that because well, you know.
Happy New Year! We ring in the new year with our first podcast of 2021 and it is quite packed! COVID-19 sadly is still going strong in the new year. This week, the Senate runoff elections in Georgia are underway which, as of our recording, are way too close to call. Congress is voting to certify the election results on Wednesday with many Republican representatives and senators vowing to object. A representative filed a lawsuit trying to allow the Vice-President to essentially be able to determine the president regardless of the election results. And it's only week one of 2021.
After taking two weeks off for finals and Christmas, we are back and COVID has continued to get worse, putting up mind-numbing statistics. Trump also issues a ton of controversial pardons, well above that of a normal president. The one thing they have in common? The pardoned people have connections to Trump and/or did favors for him. Also, we discussed how it looked like Trump was going to pocket veto the COVID relief bill and the government funding bill and the implications of that, only for him to sign both an hour after we finished recording.
The unchecked rise of COVID-19 cases and deaths continues, with the US suffering a new daily high in cases and deaths, with daily deaths approaching the same number as the 9/11 tragedy. These case increases bring about new restrictions, especially in California where Governor Newsom enacts strict regional stay-at-home orders reminiscent of March. We discuss why these orders, why now and if they will make a difference. Also, Trump threatens to veto a defense spending bill over Section 230, Attorney General Barr says there is no voter fraud and the House votes to decriminalize marijuana.
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