We speak with former EPA regional administrator Judith Enck about her new book, The Problem with Plastic: How We Can Save Ourselves and Our Planet Before It’s Too Late.
“Scientists have found microplastics in our blood, our kidneys, our lungs,” says Enck. “They’ve been found in heart arteries, and if it’s attached to plaque, you have an increased risk of heart attack, stroke, premature death.” Enck says plastic is a “political” issue shaped by the powerful “chemical, fossil fuel, plastics industry — and consumer brands.”
What do you do on Dec. 25 if you don’t celebrate Christmas? For Jewish Americans, the answers range from takeout to filling a shift for Christian colleagues.
A leaked memo by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi directs the Justice Department and FBI to compile a list of groups that may be labeled “domestic terrorism” organizations based on political views related to immigration, gender and U.S. policy. The memo was obtained by independent investigative journalist Ken Klippenstein, who joins us to discuss how it expands on President Donald Trump’s NSPM-7 directive following the assassination of Charlie Kirk, which ordered a national strategy to investigate and disrupt groups the administration claims could incite political violence. Bondi’s effort targets “not just the left,” but “anyone who isn’t a Trump supporter,” says Klippenstein of the sweeping order, which identifies targets as entities expressing “opposition to law and immigration enforcement,” support for “mass migration and open borders,” “radical gender ideology,” or views described as anti-American, anti-capitalist or anti-Christian, as well as “hostility towards traditional views on family, religion, and morality.” People who report extremists may be financially rewarded, and the FBI is reviewing records from the past five years, as well as the present.
Recent news reports highlighted how the Fed technically has a third mandate – moderate long-term interest rates. An economist explains how the objective is already baked into the other two.