Robot F. Kennedy

In this episode, we explore one of ur-symbols of the American Dream: homeownership. In the United States, home ownership is a symbol of the prosperity Americans are promised. It’s been a status symbol separating the middle classes from the poor for much of American history. Why? And how does one tax policy, the home mortgage interest deduction, play upon our collective dreams of Americanism. In this episode, we talk about vacation homes, reparations, Mark Twain, returns on investments, writing letters to curry favor with racists, and guillotines. This is Robot F. Kennedy. SHOW NOTES Six Policies Economists Love (And Politicians Hate), Planet Money Podcast http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2012/07/19/157047211/six-policies-economists-love-and-politicians-hate Does High Home-Ownership Impair the Labor Market?, Peterson Institute for International Economics https://piie.com/publications/wp/wp13-3.pdf Study: Higher levels of homeownership can kill jobs, Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/w

This is the third of a multi-part series on climate change, the President’s withdrawal of the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement, and the politics and rhetoric that surround it. This week: where are we headed? What scenarios are likely to play out in the decades ahead, as the climate becomes the arch-issue of the future? In this episode we talk about body heat, globalism, the Cretaceous coastline, healthy debt-to-GDP ratios, and Apple CEO Tim Cook. This is Robot F. Kennedy. SHOW NOTES Paper: “Global risk of deadly heat”, NATURE CLIMATE CHANGE https://www.nature.com/nclimate/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nclimate3322.html Right now, about 30 percent of the world’s population is exposed to deadly temperatures at least 20 days out of the year. By 2100, that number could reach 74 percent if greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise, or 48 percent with drastic cuts to global emissions. Articles ”A new book ranks the top 100 solutions to climate change. The results are surprising.”, Vox.com https:/

This is the second of a multi-part series on climate change, the President’s withdrawal of the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement, and the politics and rhetoric that surround it. This week: what are we seeing today? Who are the leading voices on climate action in the public, private, and religious spheres? In this episode we talk about Gaia from Captain Planet, Carl Sagan, a couple of popes, and Elon Musk. This is Robot F. Kennedy. SHOW NOTES Elon Musk's Unbelievably Simple 12-minute Killer Break Down on Climate Change: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKCuDxpccYM Musk concluded that if we wait to make the transition, we could see “more displacement and destruction than all the wars in history combined”. He then described civilization as being designed to be “super sensitive to climate change” due to the popularity of coastal cities. Laudato Si, Pope Francis, Climate Change, and Economics https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jun/18/guardian-view-on-laudato-si-pope-francis-cultur