Jackson Water Crisis, PA Midterms, CNN Shakeup, Veganism

Ravi recounts what he’s been seeing on the ground in Jackson as well as the raw frustrations of the many people there who feel their government has profoundly failed them.

Rikki explains how a new regime at CNN is trying to change the network’s identity and tilt coverage toward a non-partisan angle. She and Ravi discuss the state of cable news and how CNN might figure into that landscape in the future.

Ravi goes over his pre-midterms trip to Pennsylvania, talking through the dynamics of the two key races – Fetterman vs. Oz and Shapiro vs. Mastriano – and how voters are looking at the candidates before them. 

Rikki and Ravi then take issue with a recent piece in The Atlantic making an increasingly popular argument: that veganism is not in fact the most environmentally sustainable diet. 

Jackson Water Crisis [1:30]

Jackson, Miss., Residents Have Little to No Drinking Water. Here’s Why. (Wall Street Journal, 8/31)
Water Crisis in Jackson, Miss., Drags Into Third Day (Wall Street Journal, 8/31)
‘You Can’t Bathe. You Can’t Wash.’ Water Crisis Hobbles Jackson, Miss., for Weeks (New York Times, 3/22/21)
Jackson’s sewer dumped 44.7 million gallons of waste into the environment in 4-month span (WLBT, 5/10)
Mayor tells EPA Jackson can’t meet consent decree deadline due to City Council (Jackson Jambalaya, 11/18/2016)
Bickers tried to influence contracts in Miss., feds allege (Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 3/18)

CNN [13:10]

CNN management intent on changing perception of the network (The Associated Press, 8/26)
Why CNN’s efforts to appease democracy’s enemies will backfire (Los Angeles Times 8/23)
Licht’s Hearts and Minds Campaign (Puck, 8/3)
Why billionaire John Malone’s shadow looms over CNN (Vox, 8/26)
Lost Debate Ep. 41: Musk Buys Twitter, CNN+, Florida vs. Disney, Gun Deaths, Cottontroversy (4/26)

Pennsylvania Midterms  [21:00]

Who’s ahead in the Pennsylvania Senate race? (FiveThirtyEight, 9/1)
Who’s ahead in the Pennsylvania governor race? (FiveThirtyEight, 9/1)
Pennsylvania 2022: Fetterman Holds Four-Point Lead Over Oz for US Senate; Shapiro Leads Mastriano by Three (Emerson College Polling, 8/25)
Senate Control is a Toss Up, Rating Changes in Pennsylvania, Colorado and Utah (Cook Political Report, 8/18)
Oz stumbles fuel Democratic hopes in Pennsylvania (The Hill, 8/30)
Mehmet Oz’s crudité video gave opponent John Fetterman a golden opportunity (NBC News, 8/19)
Oz Mocks Fetterman’s Health in Spat Over Pennsylvania Debate (Bloomberg, 8/30)

Veganism =/= Green? [29:30]

Veganism Might Not Be the Most Sustainable Diet (The Atlantic, 8/21/2022)
Your Diet Is Cooking The Planet (The Atlantic, 4/6/2021)
New estimates of the environmental cost of food (Science, 6/1/2018)
Veggie-based diets could save 8 million lives by 2050 and cut global warming (Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences, 3/22/2016)
“We Are The Weather” by Jonathan Safran Foer (2019)
Why People Go Vegan: 2019 Global Survey Results (Vomad, 3/4/2019)
Meat and the Environment (PETA)
The Coming Obsolescence of Animal Meat (The Atlantic, 4/16/2019)
The New Secret Chicken Recipe? Animal Cells. (New York Times, 2/15)