How Is This Better?

Denny Carter joins me to break down the wave of gambling in sports – from the scores, to the stats, to the moment-to-moment plays. We also talk about prediction markets and celebrities who are getting in on the action. We're looking at you Lebron James and Sydney Sweeney. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What happens when AI starts to feel like something you can talk to... confide in even? Akilah Hughes talks to tech and culture podcaster Bridget Todd about the surprisingly common phenomenon of AI intimacy, and why laughing at people with AI boyfriends might mean we're missing the bigger story.  Check out Bridget's new audiobook, Love at First Prompt: AI and the Future of Intimacy and her amazing podcast, There Are No Girls on the Internet Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After you watch/listen to this, check out this video from Aidin Robbins. Original description: Last year, Donald Trump’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) sent a letter to 1000 probationary National Parks staff – firing them – only to reinstate them weeks later. Pretty INefficient…   But that wasn’t just a distraction. It wasn’t just a fumble. It was the opening salvo for a plan, laid out in Project 2025, to dismantle protections for National Parks.  It’s all got Akilah Hughes wondering – if she wants to cross going to Yosemite off her bucket list…is it now or never? Guests: Kristen Brengel, Senior Vice President of Government Affairs, ⁠National Parks Conservation Association ⁠ Steven Beissinger, Professor of Conservation Biology and A. Starker Leopold Professor of Wildlife Ecology, UC Berkeley ⁠Adam Auerbach⁠, conservation non-profit leader, former RMNP Ranger Follow this show wherever you get your podcasts. ⁠Apple⁠ | ⁠Spotify⁠ | ⁠COURIER YouTube⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ariana Grande has asked everyone to stop talking about her body. But now everyone is just talking about… how we shouldn’t talk about her body. Perhaps we’re missing the larger discussion. Have GLP-1s reinforced a beauty standard we thought we had overcome with the body positivity movement?  Akilah examines. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hollywood used to feel like a place where anything could happen. Akilah Hughes talks to Stinson Carter about the strange magic of 2000s Hollywood, the Chateau Marmont, Entourage, and whether the Hollywood dream still exists. Check out Stinson's piece for Esquire, "Bartending at the Edge of Fame." And subscribe to How Is This Better? wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices