The Daily Dive

Welcome to the Daily Dive: WEEKEND EDITION. This is a compilation of the most compelling stories of the week

Welcome to the Daily Dive: WEEKEND EDITION. This is a compilation of the most compelling stories of the week

Maria Butina admits to being a secret agent. The Russian gun rights proponent who cultivated close ties to the NRA and conservative political figures plead guilty to acting as an agent of the Russian government. She has agreed to cooperate with investigators which could help shed light on Russian spying and interference efforts. Kyle Cheney, Congressional Reporter for Politico, joins us to talk about Maria Butina, Russian secret agent. Next, Meat is experiencing an evolution. We have gone from grass-fed to lab-grown. When you hear about lab-grown meat it usually takes the form of a ground meat patty, but now an Israeli startup has made the world’s first lab-grown steak. This has been the holy grail of the lab-grown meat industry… to make a piece of steak that has the taste, texture, and mouthfeel of the real thing. Jason Bellini, video correspondent for the WSJ, joins us to discuss his trip to try the world’s first lab-grown steak and most importantly, how it tasted.

Michael Cohen, the President’s former attorney has been sentenced to 3 years in prison after implicating Trump in a hush-money scandal. Standing before the court, an emotional Cohen said that his weakness was blind loyalty to the Donald Trump and felt he had to cover up his dirty deeds. Laura Nahmias, reporter for Politico, was in the courtroom and break down what happened. Next, we are joined by David McCabe, technology reporter for Axios, to discuss the testimony of Google CEO Sundar Pichai before the House Judiciary Committee. Conservatives on the committee got into heated exchanges with Pichai over what they perceive as political bias baked into Google’s platforms. At the end of it all, Pichai acknowledged that there will be increased scrutiny on Big Tech and regulation on the way. Finally, just another way that local governments are trying to squeeze more money out of you. State regulators in California want to tax your texts. There is a vote scheduled for next month about charging a fee for text messages on mobile phones to help support programs that make phone service accessible to the poor. John Woolfolk, reporter for the Bay Area Newsgroup, joins us to talk about taxing your texts.

Today is all about the triple B’s. Border Drama, Biker gangs, and Baby Boomers. First, the President had a contentious meeting with Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer over averting a government shutdown. The central issue was funding the border wall. There was shouting and snarky remarks by all involved, but ended with the President saying he would be proud to shut the government down over the wall. Marissa Fernandez, reporter for Axios joins us for the fight and where progress on the wall is right now. Next, could the survival of the notorious biker gang, The Mongols, hinge on a trademark? The feds are hoping so. It’s an interesting tactic, take away their signature insignia and logo, and you strip them of their identity. They are in court now facing an array of racketeering charges. Joel Rubin, reporter for the LA Times, joins us to discuss how the feds are trying to take down the Mongols. Finally, Baby Boomers, more than ever, are aging alone and the resulting loneliness could be a public health threat. Researchers have found that loneliness can take a physical toll on a person resulting in many different health concerns. Janet Adamy, News Editor for the WSJ, joins us to discuss a generation of Americans entering old age and being the least prepared for it.

It might just be the Washington job that no one wants… but there is an opening for White House Chief of Staff. The President announced over the weekend that John Kelly would be leaving at the end of the year, and then next person in line, Nick Ayers, doesn’t want the job, not wanting to serve two years in the post. Daniel Lippman, reporter for Politico, joins us for who might be in line next for this important post. Next, it’s Google’s turn to get the Facebook treatment. After months of dodging requests to testify on Capitol Hill, Google CEO Sundar Pichai will be taking the hot seat today. The House Judiciary committee has signaled that it will not take it easy on Pichai and will be questioning him on privacy, how it handles user’s data, anti- conservative bias, and plans to bring Google back to China. David, McCabe, technology reporter for Axios, joins us for what to expect. Finally, imagine the next time you are on vacation… you look around and realize that all the other tourists around you are taking the same picture as you. There is a sense of “pics or it didn’t happen.” You’ve seen other people pictures on social media and decide, I want to go to that same exact place. Laura Mallonee, writer for Wired, joins us to help answer the question, why we all take the same travel photos.

It truly has become the midterm elections that never end. The race for the 9th district in North Carolina has been called into doubt over claims of electoral fraud. The North Carolina Board of Elections has decided not to certify the results of the election which has Republican Mark Harris in the lead with just over 900 votes. Ginger Gibson, political reporter for Reuters, joins us to explain the controversy and if a new election might be needed. Next, the future of lie detection may be here and it is focused on your eyes. A new technology is aiming to get rid of the standard polygraph test and poses itself as a more accurate, cheaper, and faster alternative. Mark Harris, journalist with Wired, joins us to talk about EyeDetect, how it works and where it is already being used. Finally, get ready for one of the worst gifts for the season, divorce for the holidays. Starting on January 1, new tax rules will go into place that will affect alimony payments and how they are taxed, which is causing a rush on getting your divorce finalized before the New Year. David McKay Wilson, reporter for LoHud.com, joins us for what to know about the new tax law and why you may want to address your divorce sooner rather than later.

Welcome to the Daily Dive: WEEKEND EDITION. This is a compilation of the most compelling stories of the week

Welcome to the Daily Dive: WEEKEND EDITION. This is a compilation of the most compelling stories of the week

Baby It's Controversial Outside

The future is here… and robot cars are now officially a real business. Google offshoot Waymo has launched their commercial ride hailing service in Arizona and just like Uber or Lyft, you order your ride with an app, but the car will be doing all the driving. The cars still have someone behind the wheel and is not available to everyone just yet, but it soon will be. Russ Mitchell with the LA Times, joins us to talk about robots on the road. Next, in a story that has gotten national attention, a high school newspaper in a football town in Arkansas published an investigation into five football players’ transfers to a rival school. What happened next is what made headlines, the school district made the students take down their article and would not allow them to post again without approval because it was causing a disruption. Amber Jamieson, Buzzfeed News reporter joins us to discuss this journalistic controversy. Finally, more movement in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. He is recommending no prison time for former Trump National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. Flynn was such a great help to the investigation, no jail time was necessary. Lauren Meier, reporter at Axios, joins us for the biggest takeaways from Mueller’s sentencing memo.

There is a growing trend of people using a feature on the iPhone called AirDrop to send lewd pictures to unsuspecting strangers and its being called “cyber flashing.” It has become such a problem, that a bill was introduced last week by two members of the New York City Council that would punish people who send harassing and explicit photos with up to a year in jail or a $1000 fine. Issie Lapowsky, senior writer for Wired, joins us to discuss the AirDrop problem and how this law would even work. Next, CIA Director Gina Haspel has briefed Senators on their assessment that Saudia Arabia’s Crown Prince ordered and monitored the killing of journalist Jamaal Khashoggi, and they were not happy. Sen. Bob Corker said that if the crown prince was in front of a jury, he would be convicted in about 30 minutes. Gregg Hellman, defense reporter for Politico, joins us to discuss how we know the crown prince probably ordered the hit. Finally, microblogging site Tumblr has decided that it will delete all adult content from its platform and it has caused an uproar with the users who flocked to the site for its art positive and sex positive platform. This comes at a time when Tumblr has been removed from the Apple App store for some child pornography found on the service. My producer Miranda joins us for why some are saying this may be the end for Tumblr.

90 days… President Trump and President Xi JinPing have agreed to a temporary freeze to the ongoing trade war after a meeting at the G20 summit over the weekend. The US will not increase tariffs that were set to begin January 1 and China has agreed to buy up agricultural, energy, and industrial products from the US. Sabrina Rodriguez, trade reporter for Politico, joins us for how this sets up some intense negotiations and some gains in the stock market. Next, it has happened again in the NFL, a player got caught abusing a woman, but nothing happened until after TMZ released video of the incident. Kareem Hunt, running back for the Kansas City Chiefs, has apologized for his actions and has been cut from the team, but now serious questions have been raised about the investigation that the NFL has done in this case. Dan Beyer, Managing Editor for Fox Sports Radio, joins us to break down the latest NFL controversy. Finally, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, December and January are the two most common months for companies to lay off workers. General Motors just announced that it will lay off workers and close some plants early next year. So what do you do if you get this bad news? My producer Miranda joins us for some warning signs to look out for and a huge tip… don’t use that credit card!

George Herbert Walker Bush, 41st President of the United States passed away over the weekend, he was 94. He lived an extraordinary life, aviator in WWII, member of Congress, United Nations Ambassador, director of the CIA, VP, and President. He is remembered as a great statesman and as a man of great decency and kindness. Ginger Gibson, Political reporter for Reuters, joins us to talk about his presidency and his final days. Next, the average life expectancy for people in the US peaked in 2014 and has been dropping ever since. The average baby born in the US in 2017 is expected to live 78.6 years… a slight drop from 78.7 years. While that drop may not seem significant it is important to look at what is contributing to the decline. Dan Vergano, Science reporter for Buzzfeed news, joins us for what is driving the numbers, increased rates of suicide and drug overdoses from opioids. Finally, US government scientists will be testing an experimental birth control method for men. It’s not a pill or new condom, it is a gel that is applied to the back and shoulders. The gel is made to halt the production of sperm while maintaining the energy and libido benefits of testosterone. Michelle Fay Cortez, healthcare reporter for Bloomberg news, joins us to talk about the new male birth control.

Welcome to the Daily Dive: WEEKEND EDITION. This is a compilation of the most compelling stories of the week