Avsnitt
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Against a backdrop of nosediving car sales across Europe, China and the US, political activism that has seen its dealers set ablaze and in some cases shot at, and most recently the beginnings of institutional investors on Wall Street turning away from Tesla - retail investors continue to buy the stock at unprecedented levels. The question is... why?
Key words: Tesla, retail investors, Elon Musk, GameStop, financial fraud, meme stocks, cult of personalities
Articles:
The Independent (2025), Tesla’s year keeps getting worse - now short sellers have made $16bn from Musk’s firm: https://www.independent.co.uk/business/tesla-share-price-elon-musk-criticism-b2717107.html
The Economic Times (2025), 'I mean...': Elon Musk almost 'close to tears' in interview when asked about Tesla struggles: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/global-trends/us-news-elon-musk-tesla-shares-tank-i-mean-elon-musk-almost-close-to-tears-in-interview-when-asked-about-tesla-struggles-watch-video/articleshow/118896998.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=
The Financial Times (2025), $1.4bn is a lot to fall through the cracks, even for Tesla:
https://www.ft.com/content/62df8d8d-31f2-445e-bfa2-c171ac43db6e
The Graduate Press (2025), Saying Goodbye to Twitter Trust:
https://thegraduatepress.org/2022/11/21/saying-goodbye-to-twitter-trust/
Graphic News (2025), Meddling Musk sees Tesla sales crash and burn in Europe: https://www.graphicnews.com/en/pages/46754/business-tesla-sales-crash-and-burn-in-europe
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In a world where money is worshipped, one of the worst positions to find yourself in is having none. Or so we're told. In fact, there is a much worse fate - the fate of having all the money in the world, but never feeling enough.
Key words: status symbols, consumer behaviour, low self-worth, mindless consumption
Please send your thoughts and questions to [email protected].
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Saknas det avsnitt?
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Church is supposed to be the spiritual house we flock to for spiritual and psychological nourishing. However, modern congregations have become increasingly loathe to attend mass on a regular basis. What accounts for this? It is likely the language of the "inherent" sinful nature of human beings and other language that condemns us. It is also other glaring issues - a church with a large proportion of gay priests and lesbian nuns but a decidedly anti-gay stance. A church with limited participation of women in positions of leadership. Iconography that is white supremacist in its depiction of all-white angels and religious figures. The commodification of many aspects of worshipping. Unless these issues are resolved, the great exodus from church will continue.
Key words: modernising the church, faith and shame, inclusive Christianity, religion and self-worth, church reform ideas
Please send your thoughts and questions to [email protected].
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Citigroup's DEI initiatives has lasted for a shorter period of time than the company's invasion and occupation of Haiti. Beginning in the 1910s Citigroup, then known as the National City Bank of New York persuaded the US government to invade Haiti. Citigroup understood that by taking control of the country and of its central bank, it could make hundreds of millions of dollars by seizing the island nation's wealth for its own use. In 1915, Citigroup got its wish and the results were better than their wildest imagination could have conceived. Today, Citigroup stands as one of the largest bank in the US by assets. Are we to believe a few decades of appropriating hundred of millions of dollars from the Haitian people had nothing to do with it? Apparently so. Against this background it is no wonder the firm was never truly committed to DEI initiatives.
Key words: Citigroup, Haiti, DEI, corporate exploitation, Lehman Brothers, Volkswagen
Please send your thoughts and questions to [email protected].
Articles and resources:
Banking Dive (2025), Citi tosses diversity goals, DEI label:
https://www.bankingdive.com/news/citi-tosses-diversity-goals-dei-label-fraser-trump/740627/
Banking on Solidarity (_____), Citibank and Haitians: A Violent History
https://www.bankingonsolidarity.org/citibank-and-haitians-a-violent-history/
Debt Justice Haiti (_____),: Free from slavery, not yet free from debt: https://debtjustice.org.uk/countries-in-crisis/haiti-free-slavery-not-yet-free-debt
Hatian Times (2024), Citibank, a longtime player in Haiti’s finances, leaves the country: https://haitiantimes.com/2024/07/11/citibank-haiti/
The Nation (1920), Self-Determining Haiti: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/35025/35025-h/35025-h.htm
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The speed with which many corporations have aborted DEI initiatives that they were "committed to" only two months ago tells us two things: (1) they have no scruples and (2) they were never truly committed to DEI. If we are honest with ourselves, we could tell from their haphazard initiatives that often focused on virtue signalling over substance and at times, resulted in marginalised people caught in the crosshairs of their ill thought out DEI campaigns.
Key words: DEI, Trump Executive Order, corporate retreat from DEI programs, Target, Bud Light, affirmative action in higher education, Asian Americans, African Americans
Please send your thoughts and questions to [email protected].
***Correction - Target no longer sells guns.
Articles and resources:
MSN (2025), Target put DEI on the chopping block. Then fewer customers showed up:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/target-put-dei-on-the-chopping-block-then-fewer-customers-showed-up/ar-AA1zHjbg
The guardian (2025), McDonald’s rolls back DEI programs, ending push for greater diversity:
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/jan/06/mcdonalds-diversity-programs
The Guardian (2023), Asian Americans spent decades seeking fair education. Then the right stole the narrative: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/apr/13/affirmative-action-asian-americans-us-universities
NBC (2024), Asian Americans see mixed results in enrollment after end of affirmative action:
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/affirmative-action-enrollment-asian-americans-rcna170716
Los Angeles Times (2023), Opinion: Affirmative action isn’t hurting Asian Americans. Here’s why that myth survives:
https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2023-06-14/affirmative-action-supreme-court-harvard-case-asian-americans
Vox (2016), White women benefit most from affirmative action — and are among its fiercest opponents: https://www.vox.com/2016/5/25/11682950/fisher-supreme-court-white-women-affirmative-action
USA TODAY, (____), White women benefit most from affirmative action. So why do they oppose it?: https://eu.usatoday.com/story/money/2023/06/29/affirmative-action-who-benefits-white-women/70371219007/
TIME (2013), Affirmative Action Has Helped White Women More Than Anyone: https://time.com/4884132/affirmative-action-civil-rights-white-women/
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Workplaces operate on unspoken rules that can make or break a career. This episode looks at the realities of office life: the critical importance of first impressions, the silent consequences of breaking social norms, and why hard work alone doesn’t guarantee promotions.
From navigating office politics to avoiding the pitfalls of workplace relationships, this "survival" guide breaks down how to succeed in any workplace.
Key words: unwritten rules, workplace politics, career progression, first impressions, corporate culture, workplace relationships, career advice
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Karma is another form of believing in cosmic justice - the idea that bad people will be punished for their misdeeds. And whilst that may make us feel good and prevent us from taking revenge into our own hands, it also means believing an ugly implication. That implication, no matter how you look at it, is that the poor, the sick and the misfortunate deserve their fate,
Key words: karma, poor people, sick people, misfortune, Catholic Church, politics, justice, activism
Please send your thoughts and questions to [email protected].
Articles and resources:
Theodosiadi, M. and Vavouras, E. (2023), Religion as a Means of Political Conformity and Obedience: From Critias to Thomas Hobbes, MDPI:
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/14/9/1180#metrics
Britannica (____), Karma: https://www.britannica.com/topic/karma
University of Manchester (2022), Corporations vs. Consumers: Who is really to blame for climate change?:
https://sites.manchester.ac.uk/global-social-challenges/2022/07/07/corporations-vs-consumers-who-is-really-to-blame-for-climate-change/
United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (____):
https://www.usich.gov/guidance-reports-data/data-trends
The Guardian (2020), Barclays, HSBC and Lloyds among UK banks that had links to slavery:
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/jun/18/barclays-hsbc-and-lloyds-among-uk-banks-that-had-links-to-slavery
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Like many people during January I completed "Dry January" - a detox we undertake yearly to check that we are still in control of the alcohol we consume (and not the other way around). Is alcohol a drug? Are we all addicted? Do we choose to become lifelong drinkers? A month of clarity helps us answer these questions honestly.
Key words: dry January, drinking culture, drugs, functioning alcoholism
Please send your thoughts and questions to [email protected].
Articles and resources:
Institute of Alcohol Studies (2020), Alcohol and Marketing: https://www.ias.org.uk/report/alcohol-and-marketing/
Huberman Lab, Episode 86: What Alcohol Does To Your Body, Brain & Health:
https://podcastnotes.org/huberman-lab/episode-86-what-alcohol-does-to-your-body-brain-health-huberman-lab/
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Just when we thought it couldn't get any worse it did - Elon Musk does the Nazi salute. Trump pardons January 6 Capitol building rioters, begins mass deportations, repeals Civil Rights-era legislation, and calls for focus on execution of imprisoned illegal migrants.
Key words: Elon Musk, Donald Trump, Nazi salute, mass deportations, Great Replacement conspiracy theory
Please send your thoughts and questions to [email protected].
Articles and resources:
The Guardian (2025), ‘The gesture speaks for itself’: Germans respond to Musk’s apparent Nazi salute: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/jan/21/the-gesture-speaks-for-itself-germans-divided-over-musks-apparent-nazi-salute
The Rolling Stone (2024), Elon Musk all but endorses Great Replacement conspiracy theory:https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/elon-musk-great-replacement-conspiracy-theory-1234941337/
The NewYorker (2024), J. D. Vance and the Right’s Call to Have More Babies: https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/j-d-vance-and-the-rights-call-to-have-more-babies
Al Jazeera (2025), The January 6 pardons: Who has Trump ordered to be released?: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/1/23/the-january-6-pardons-who-has-trump-ordered-to-be-released
Yes We Are Native (___), You never gave a straight answer, yes or no are Mexicans native American Indians: https://www.wernative.org/ayr-questions/yes-or-no-are-mexicans-native-american-indians
Truthout (2017), Are Mexicans Indigenous?: https://truthout.org/articles/are-mexicans-indigenous/
The Brookings Institution (2019), Trump and racism: What do the data say?: https://www.brookings.edu/articles/trump-and-racism-what-do-the-data-say/
NBC News (2024), Elon Musk's transgender daughter, in first interview, says he berated her for being queer as a child:https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/elon-musk-transgender-daughter-vivian-wilson-interview-rcna163665
The Guardian (2017), How Trump’s political playbook evolved since he first ran for president in 2000: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/feb/05/donald-trump-reform-party-2000-president
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Bonnie Blue burst onto the national stage with her provocative marketing strategies for her OnlyFans account - recruiting young university students for filmed sexual acts. Most recently she became the internet's most infamous sensation when she allegedly had sex with 1,057 in just twelve hours. Often we are told women who engage in these kinds of extreme actions of self abuse are broken women who come from sad backgrounds. But what if women are not just victims of their circumstances but active participants in others' exploitation?
Key words: predatory women, OnlyFans, sex work, online fame; rage bait content
Please send your thoughts and questions to [email protected].
Articles and resources:
NewsWeek (2025), Who is Bonnie Blue's Ex-Husband? OnlyFans Star Breaks Sex Record with Help:
https://www.newsweek.com/who-bonnie-blues-ex-husband-onlyfans-star-breaks-sex-record-help-2017089
DailyMail (2025), I waited in line alongside 1,000 other balaclava-clad men to have sex with Bonnie Blue - but when it was my turn, I couldn't go through with it:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14289533/I-waited-line-alongside-1-000-balaclava-clad-men-sex-Bonnie-Blue-turn-it.html
DailyMail (2025), The reasons why Bonnie Blue must be 'lying' about sleeping with 1,000 men revealed:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-14287465/Bonnie-Blue-lying-sleeping-1-000-men-revealed.html
Police1 (2024), America’s most notorious female criminals:
https://www.police1.com/crime/articles/americas-most-notorious-female-criminals-31lgbUkw3xFw1ohu/
The Guardian (2019), Woman in India admits poisoning six family members with cyanide:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/oct/07/woman-in-india-admits-poisoning-six-family-members-with-cyanide
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Surrogacy is booming—but at what cost? This episode looks at the dark side of the industry: the economic coercion of vulnerable women, exploitation in poorer countries, and the shocking ways in which surrogate mothers are treated by commissioning parents and surrogacy agencies.
Do couples who can't have children for whatever reason have the right to them? Even when surrogacy isn't commercialised or for-profit, is the choice by women to subject their bodies to pregnancy and birth the ultimate act of love, or a dystopian commodification of women’s bodies?
Key words: surrogacy, infertility, economic disparity, feminism, gay male couples, reproductive rights, celebrity surrogacy
Please send your questions and thoughts to [email protected].
Materials you might find helpful:
CBC Network (2018), Gay rights and surrogacy wrongs: say “no” to wombs-for-rent:
https://cbc-network.org/2018/07/gay-rights-and-surrogacy-wrongs-say-no-to-wombs-for-rent/
Al Jazeera (2023), Surrogacy: Human right, or just wrong?:
https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/opinions/2023/9/8/surrogacy-human-right-or-just-wrong
The Standard (2020), Ignore the propaganda: surrogacy is not a gay rights issue – it is a women’s rights issue:
https://www.standard.co.uk/comment/comment/surrogacy-is-not-a-gay-rights-issue-it-is-a-women-s-rights-issue-a4568716.html
The Guardian (2015), Commercial surrogacy is a rigged market in wombs for rent:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/feb/20/commercial-surrogacy-wombs-rent-same-sex-pregnancy
The Critic (2024), The love that can’t be erased:
https://thecritic.co.uk/the-love-that-cant-be-erased/
The Guardian (2014), Child abuse convictions of Gammy's father prompt investigation:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/05/gammy-father-child-abuse-convictions-investigation
The Guardian (2016), All surrogacy is exploitation – the world should follow Sweden’s ban:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/feb/25/surrogacy-sweden-ban
The Guardian, (2005), One in 25 fathers is not biological parent – study:
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2005/aug/11/childrensservices.uknews
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In the early hours of 4 December 2024, 26-year old Luigi Mangione walked up behind UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson and shot him dead. What followed was a five-day manhunt for Mangione. What made this case stand out in the public's imagination were many factors - an attractive and wealthy perpetrator from a powerful family, the theatre of the killing (a 3-D printed gun and silencer, engraved bullets, a manifesto railing against a broken healthcare system and corporate greed) and the public's jubilant support of the killer. But is Luigi the people's hero or a common terrorist?
Please send any thoughts and comments to [email protected].
Materials you might find helpful:
Mangione Indictment – final as filed:
https://manhattanda.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Mangione-Indictment-FINAL-as-filed.pdf
BBC (2024), Tracing the powerful family roots of suspected killer Luigi Mangione:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/crl3jkjxp75o
BBC (2024), Who was Brian Thompson, healthcare CEO gunned down in New York?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvgpl2qn7l5o
ABC News (2024), What we know about Luigi Mangione, Ivy League grad charged in CEO's murder:
https://abcnews.go.com/US/unitedhealthcare-ceo-shooting-suspect/story?id=116460289
CNN (2024), I never got the impression he would self-destruct:’ Friends of suspect in fatal CEO shooting left in shock:
https://edition.cnn.com/2024/12/09/us/luigi-mangione-what-we-know-monday/index.html
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OnlyFans describes itself as a revolutionary platform that gives its creators the freedom to produce highly personalised content for their fans. It should describe itself as a platform for prostitution that lures young women into engaging in activities that will ruin their lives, stigmatise them and trap them in poverty. The stats are clear - the average OnlyFans creator makes $150-180 per month and approximately 80% of creators make less than $100 per month. Lily Philips and others like her are the exception that proves the rule.
Please send any thoughts, questions and comments to [email protected].
Materials you might find helpful
The New York Time (2022), “The ‘E-Pimps’ of OnlyFans”. Accessed online:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/16/magazine/e-pimps-onlyfans.html
Delacosta, F. and Alexander, P. (1988), Sex Work: Writings by Women in the Sex Industry.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sex-Work-Writings-Women-Industry/dp/0860681548
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The TikTok ban will come into effect on the 19th of January 2025. Right now, it seems its fate is sealed – the House of Representatives has almost unanimously agreed to pass it under “national security” concerns, Congress has given it the rubber seal of approval, and President Biden has signed off under executive privilege. Despite public opinion being united in their opposition to the passing of the bill - the people will not have a say. TikTok is scrambling to find a legal avenue to challenge the decision, but the outlook doesn’t look good – it has already lost its appeal in the federal appeals court to pause the ban until the Supreme Court reviews TikTok’s case.
Is the app really Chinese owned? Does the Chinese government have the capacity to influence the platform? Is this ban part of the US’s cold war against China? Is Meta (Facebook) and other Silicon Valley Big Tech behind this ban? Will TikTok sell its US operations? This episode discusses all the above.
Please send your thoughts, opinions and questions [email protected].
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Often the first thing we want to do is share our good news and accomplishments with the people around us. However, the response we receive is sometimes unexpected - we can be met with ambivalence or negativity where we anticipated praise and encouragement. Recognising that people - even our loved ones - can be limited by their own insecurities, envy and self-limiting beliefs teaches us that sometimes the best way to achieve our dreams is to not share them at all.
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Intersectionality politics tells us that coalitions united around a shared goal are not free of internal power dynamics. It also teaches us that victimhood is complicated - it is possible to be simultaneously both a victim and the oppressor in certain contexts. This episode takes a look at some of those complexities as well as the parallels between the transgender and transracial movements.
Please send your thoughts and comments at [email protected].
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The upside of growing up in unsafe environments as a child is that people often grow up to be discerning adults who have a highly attuned ability to read the hidden meanings behind what people say and do. Sometimes this is useful in simply being able to recognise red flags that indicate certain people don't wish us well. Other times this skill serves to keep us safe and to keep danger at bay.
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Sometimes we find ourself in a series of bad friendships. We form friendships with people who take from us, treat us poorly, are unkind, or, in the extreme, who that don't wish us well. Although it's easy to play the victim, the truth is more complicated - in some ways we cultivate these friendships and keep these types of friends close because they fulfil some other need we have. That could be the need to be needed, to play the hero or martyr or perhaps to feel superior in some way.
Please share your thoughts and comments at [email protected] and they will addressed in a future episode.
Materials you might find helpful:
https://captainawkward.com/?s=friend+
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Elon Musk is a professional exaggerator and liar. From lying about founding PayPal and Tesla (he didn't), to lying about the death of his son and divorce from his second wife. Looking at his family history we get a little insight into the man - his father had two children with the stepdaughter he raised since she was four years old. What really defines Elon Musk though, is his capacity to wield his enormous wealth to sway public opinion and influence the democratic process.
Materials you might find helpful:
The Guardian, 2024. Elon Musk expected to join Trump administration as an adviser, 9 November. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/nov/09/elon-musk-trump-administration [Accessed 10 November 2024].
The Guardian, 2024. X (formerly Twitter) stock drops following Elon Musk's controversial statements, 2 January. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/jan/02/x-twitter-stock-falls-elon-musk [Accessed 10 November 2024].
NBC News, 2024. A timeline of Trump’s shifting positions on abortion. Available at: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trumps-many-abortion-positions-timeline-rcna146601 [Accessed 10 November 2024].
Rolling Stone, 2023. The big list of Elon musk’s hyperbole, evasions, and outright lies. Available at: https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-lists/elon-musk-twitter-zuckerberg-lies-1234808808/ [Accessed 10 November 2024].
Financial Times, 2024. Musk, Thiel and the shadow of apartheid South Africa. Available at: https://www.ft.com/content/cfbfa1e8-d8f8-42b9-b74c-dae6cc6185a0 [Accessed 10 November 2024].
Truthout, 2024. Musk pledged $6 billion to solve world hunger, but gave it to his own foundation instead, Truthout. Available at: https://truthout.org/articles/musk-pledged-6b-to-solve-world-hunger-but-gave-it-to-his-own-foundation-instead/ [Accessed 10 November 2024].
Mamamia, 2023. Errol Musk started looking after his stepdaughter when she was four. Now they have two kids together. Available at: https://www.mamamia.com.au/errol-musk/ [Accessed 10 November 2024].
New Yorker, 2023. J.D. Vance and the Right’s call to have more babies, New Yorker. Available at: https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/j-d-vance-and-the-rights-call-to-have-more-babies [Accessed 10 November 2024].
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The saying goes that there's no such thing as a free lunch - if you are not paying, usually it is because you are the product. Every day we interact with platforms to read articles, share thoughts, upload our posts, make purchases, conduct research or otherwise just leisurely scroll. These platforms often have required billions of dollars of investment and many years of hard work by the brightest minds to be developed, yet we pay nothing to use them. If you have ever thought this is too good of a deal to be true - you are correct. "Free" apps and services exploit our personal data, often without us fully realising the consequences on our privacy, autonomy and decision-making.
Materials you might find helpful:
Thompson, S.A. & Warzel, C., 2019. How Your Phone Betrays Democracy. The New York Times, 21 December. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/12/21/opinion/location-data-democracy-protests.html [Accessed 3 November 2024].
Wylie, C., 2020. Mindfuck: Inside Cambridge Analytica’s Plot to Break the World. Paperback ed. London: Profile Books:
BBC News, 2023. How WhatsApp became the 'app for everything' in Brazil. BBC News, 17 August. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c8j7nrppny2o [Accessed 3 November 2024].
- Visa fler
