POLITICO Tech

The POLITICO Tech podcast is your download on the disruption that technology is bringing to politics and policy. New episodes Mondays and Thursdays.

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Politics
Daily News
426
Inside FEMA’s biased flood program
A new investigation from Politico’s E&E News has pulled back the curtain on FEMA’s unfair flood grant programs, which for years have favored wealthy and white areas. Tom Frank reports.
12 min
427
How big of a threat is monkeypox?
Governments warn against panicking, but they are planning for the worst outcome. Carmen Paun reports.
12 min
428
How 'Made in America' worsened the formula crisis
Due to a combination of Food and Drug Administration regulations and trade policy, 98% of the infant formula consumed in the United States is made here. But the current nationwide shortage of infant formula is proving a cautionary tale. Doug Palmer reports.
9 min
429
The big midterm questions answered today
What’s next for Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp? Will the national fight over abortion lead to Rep. Henry Cuellar’s (D-Texas) defeat in the primary? Scott Bland shares his burning questions ahead of tonight's primaries.
12 min
430
McConnell takes on MAGA over Ukraine aid
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is determined to stamp out an isolationist, pro-Trump wing of his party that has pushed back on $40 billion in aid to Ukraine — and U.S. support more broadly. Andrew Desiderio reports.
11 min
431
Kamala Harris wants to get out of D.C.
The Vice President has cast more tie-breaking votes than all but two predecessors. It’s starting to frustrate some staff. Eugene Daniels reports.
12 min
432
How Fetterman could shake up cannabis policy on...
Legalizing weed isn’t the top priority for most voters, but Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman — who clinched the Dem nom for Senate — is betting that it could help draw people to the polls. Natalie Fertig reports.
13 min
433
Ghana finally has enough Covid shots. But many ...
When friends and family got sick last year, people across Ghana scrambled to get shots. But there weren’t enough. Now, many say they don’t want the jab. Local volunteers are struggling to change their minds. Erin Banco reports.
13 min
434
Is this the end for Madison Cawthorn?
Today, primary voters in North Carolina's 11th Congressional District will decide whether their representative has become more trouble than he's worth. Once a rising conservative star, Cawthorn is now mired in controversy, facing the very real possibility his electoral career might end as quickly as it began. Michael Kruse reports.
13 min
435
The millions of tons of grain stuck in Ukraine
A growing number of U.S. lawmakers are pressing the Biden administration to establish a humanitarian corridor in the Black Sea, to help transport millions of tons of grain from Ukraine to the world food supply. But doing so is complicated — and could provoke retaliation from Russia. Meredith Lee reports.
10 min
436
Biden pilots new rural resources program
President Joe Biden and Democrats have pushed through billions of dollars in new funding for rural development. But now comes the hard part — working through a federal bureaucracy that makes it almost impossible for local leaders in the smallest, poorest areas to figure out how to get the money. Ximena Bustillo reports on a new system that hopes to solve the problem.
11 min
437
Post Roe, what's next for birth control?
Blue-state governors and lawmakers from California to New York are vowing to turn their states into sanctuaries for people seeking abortions. Plus, the years-long push for over-the-counter birth control is ramping up inside the FDA in the wake of a potential Supreme Court decision rolling back abortion rights. Lauren Gardner reports.
13 min
438
Bitcoin's drop renews risk concerns
The debate over Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies took on a new dimension last month when Fidelity Investments, one of the world’s largest asset managers, announced that it would soon allow participants in its 401(k) plans to invest some of their retirement savings in Bitcoin. Last Wednesday, that led Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Tina Smith, D-Minn., to send Fidelity a letter challenging the decision. Ben Schreckinger reports.
11 min
439
'RINO' versus 'political prostitute' in West Vi...
A bitter GOP primary in West Virginia has turned into one of the most hard-fought Republican primaries of the midterms, testing everything from Trump’s influence and the potency of ideological purity to small government to whether a GOP congressman can sell his primary voters on the merits of a bipartisan compromise in a hyper-polarized climate. Ally Mutnick reports.
11 min
440
Leaked Ukraine intelligence complicate US invol...
Last week, speculation spread that the U.S. provided intelligence to Ukraine that helped target Russian generals and Russia’s Moskva warship. Alex Ward explains why these leaks created such a firestorm.
13 min
441
Lifting the curtain on SCOTUS with a POLITICO r...
Presenting Playbook Deep Dive: This week on Playbook Deep Dive, POLITICO’s Peter Canellos talks with our own Josh Gerstein, who broke this week’s massive news that the Supreme Court’s conservative majority has drafted an opinion to overturn Roe v. Wade. Peter and Josh nerd out on everything from the history of the court, to potential implications of the draft opinion — both for the country and the judiciary itself.
66 min
442
The push to modernize clinical trials
Clinical trials have long been plagued by inefficiency, lack of diversity and the inability to leverage data. The pandemic increased the need to modernize trials, which pushed many trials to lean on technology to conduct trials remotely. Ben Leonard explains why money is pouring into the space and why many clinical trials are still stuck in the previous century.
11 min
443
How repealing Roe would rewind Michigan abortio...
According to an initial draft majority opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito circulated inside the court and obtained by POLITICO, the Supreme Court has voted to strike down the landmark Roe v. Wade decision, kicking abortion policy to the states. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer filed a lawsuit last month challenging her state’s 1931 law banning abortion, which would go into effect when Roe is struck down. Alice Miranda Ollstein reports.
11 min
444
Why the U.S. is worried about the Solomon Islands
The Biden administration is scrambling to counter China’s new security pact with the Solomon Islands and a possible military base in the South Pacific nation. Phelim Kine reports.
12 min
445
FDA warned about infant formula plant months be...
Months before two infants died and another was hospitalized from bacterial infections, a whistleblower alerted senior FDA officials to what he said were "lax practices, including regulatory violations" at an Abbott Nutrition infant formula plant last October. But it was still months before the FDA investigated and formula was recalled. Helena Bottemiller-Evich reports.
12 min
446
Beltway, stars want an invite: How Tammy throws...
Presenting Playbook Deep Dive: The White House Correspondents’ Dinner is back for the first time since 2019. Journalists, A-list celebrities and Washington’s power players will pack the cavernous ballroom at the Washington Hilton. That means brunch is back too. On this week’s episode, Playbook co-author Ryan Lizza gets a tour from Tammy Haddad at the site of her annual garden brunch, one of the most sought after invites of the weekend. Plus, insights from comedian and WHCD alum Elayne Boosler and Ed Solomon of Anthony's Tuxedos in Georgetown.
40 min
447
FDA poised to ban menthol cigs
The FDA may propose a rule banning menthol cigarettes as early as today, a decision 10 years in the making. Katherine Foley reports.
12 min
448
Elon Musk’s collision course with D.C.
The world’s richest man has a lot of experience getting his way in Washington. But doing it as Twitter's owner may be different. Rebecca Kern reports.
12 min
449
Why you should care about the spectrum fight
Federal regulators are just beginning to tackle a technical flaw that threatens to hold back the United States’ next giant leap in communications: Many of our radios suck. John Hendel reports.
13 min
450
'Modern day slavery' for some farmworkers in Ge...
An alleged human trafficking ring in Georgia highlights many of the loopholes found in the H-2A agricultural visa program, renewing calls for an overhaul. Ximena Bustillo reports.
12 min