What I learned From Listening To Podcasts This Week

Podcasts are convenient, time-saving, and enjoyable. They enable me (and I hope, you) to be entertained, to think in different ways about the world, and to assimilate new knowledge. 

 So here's what I learned this week by listening to my podcast feed in the week ending 7/24/2021. (Note: Because of the volume of podcasts I listen to as a reviewer, I may not always be referencing the latest episode of a podcast.)

 Cautionary Tales -- Do Not Pass GO! -- May 28, 2021 

-- Charles Darrow is credited with being the inventor of the popular board game Monopoly in 1934. In fact, Lizzie Magie invented the game around the turn of the 20th century, calling it the Landlord's Game. The board game was designed as a protest against the business titans, or monopolists, of the time -- Carnegie, Rockefeller. Magie filed a legal claim for the game concept and design in 1903. Magie designed the game to be played competitively or collaboratively.

 
Curiosity Daily -- Letting Wounds Breathe -- July 23, 2021

In the age-old philosophical debate about putting a bandage on a wound or letting it breathe, this daily podcast credits sources from the Journal Of Wound Care and verywellhealth.com and JAMA to advocate for allowing a wound to breathe. A bandage can create a scab and interrupt the delicate moisture balance a wound requires to heal properly and promptly. Further, there's evidence that use of petroleum jelly instead of neosporin can be just as effective at protection from infection.

 
The Business With Kim Masters -- Barry Diller On The Rise Of Streaming -- July 24, 2021 

Netflix showed a loss of 400,000 subscribers in the United States, while HBO and HBO Max grew by 2.9 million subscribers. HBO Max now has 65.7 million subscribers after a slow start in streaming, and is now offering a cheaper monthly fee for subscribers willing to endure ads.

Netflix did still post a slight gain in overall subscribers worldwide and now has more than 200 million (209) subscribers throughout the world.

The COVID lockdown interrupted Netflix's production schedules, and their existing content hasn't caught fire with subscribers.

Streaming services like Disney Plus, Paramount Plus, and Peacock have massive vaults of content to pump into the streaming pipeline, and it remains to be seen what streaming trends will emerge for the rest of 2021 and beyond.
 
 Land Of The Giants -- Who's Driving Whom? -- July 6, 2021

Gig workers in California have been trying to get classified as employees of companies such as Uber and Lyft and food delivery services such as GrubHub and DoorDash for several years. But in November 2020, Proposition 22 was passed as a ballot initiative  with 59 percent of the vote and granted app-based transportation and delivery companies an exception  by classifying their drivers as "independent contractors," rather than "employees. " 

The California proposition did provide drivers new protections, such as 120 percent of the local minimum wage for each hour a driver spends driving (with passenger or en route), but not time spent waiting, a health insurance stipend for drivers who average more than 15 hours per week driving and a prohibition on workplace discrimination while requires these companies to develop sexual harassment policies, conduct criminal background checks, and mandate safety training for drivers

Drilled -- Plastic Pipelines / Don't Mess With Texas -- July 16, 2021

Citizen advocate Diane Wilson pursued Taiwanese PVC maker Formosa for environmental violations, specifically for dumping plastic pellets from its plant into the bay near Port Comfort, Texas. 

In 2019, the company was fined $50 million for such egregious actions, as stated by U.S. District Judge Hoyt, who ruled that Formosa violated its state-issued water permits and the federal Clean Water Act.

 

 ********

What did you learn this week from podcasts? Let me know by commenting on this article.