9.14 | Reality acknowledgment

Mary Reichard (0:00)

All right, we're getting very close now. We're in our 15th anniversary year of The World and Everything In It. And sometime this week, we think we've got a great shot at crossing the 100 million download mark.

Nick Eicher (0:11)

And we want you to be part of the celebration. We have designed a commemorative The World and Everything In It sticker, and we want to send you one with our compliments.

Mary Reichard (0:19)

Just go to theworldandeverythinginit.org/sticker and tell us where to send it.

Nick Eicher (0:24)

Yeah, there's a link in the show notes. Just make sure you get your order in by September 30th. The printer is standing by. He just needs to know how many gallons of stickum he's going to need.

Mary Reichard (0:40)

Good morning. A university professor mocks his school's land acknowledgement template and finds out how much dissent is too much in the modern academic environment.

Gabe Walters (0:49)

If we can't do it there, as Americans, you know, where really can we do it? Like, that's the point of an education.

Nick Eicher (0:54)

That's Ahead Today on Legal Docket. Also today, the Monday Money Beat economist David Bahnsen is standing by. We'll talk about two new, very expensive Republican spending programs.

And later, the world history book, A Legendary Comeback.

Jonathan Ige (1:10)

His story was about so much more than boxing.

Nick Eicher (1:12)

Muhammad Ali's last big win.

Mary Reichard (1:21)

It's Monday, September 14th. This is The World and Everything In It from Listener Supported World Radio. I'm Mary Reichard.

Nick Eicher (1:28)

And I'm Nick Eicher. Good morning.

Mary Reichard (1:33)

Now, news. Here's Kent Covington.

Kent Covington (1:36)

Gulf state leaders are talking with Iran, trying to get oil flowing again in the Middle East. But the Iranian foreign minister says Tehran will not cooperate until Washington agrees to Iran's terms. In the meantime, it continues to choke traffic in the Strait of Hormuz. And Saudi Arabia lost its main backup route on Friday for getting oil out of the country when drones knocked out a pipeline around the strait. And last week, Iran-backed Houthi rebels captured a Yemeni port and an island at the gate to the Red Sea. That is, three ways to move oil out of Saudi Arabia, all squeezed.

A senior official with Yemen's government says Yemeni forces will return to the Red Sea coast and fight back against the Houthi rebels.

Meantime, American forces destroyed another Iranian tanker on Sunday, the 8th, in 10 days. And President Trump told reporters.

Donald Trump (2:28)

Iran wants to make a deal so badly.

They are calling constantly. They want to make a deal. They got to make a deal right now. I'm not going to make a deal that's no good.

Kent Covington (2:37)

No one has taken responsibility for the Saudi pipeline attack, but US and Saudi officials believe the drones came out of Iraq in an area where Iran-backed forces operate. The Saudis are holding their fire in Iraq at Baghdad's request, but according to the Houthi rebels, that is not the case in Yemen, where they say Saudi jets have hit them well over 100 times in two days. Riyadh, though, has not confirmed that.

Meantime, diesel prices set another record in the US on Sunday at $6.20 a gallon, but President Trump says the Middle East turmoil is not the main cause of that. In Ireland on Sunday, Trump said he told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Stop knocking out diesel fuel in Russia.

Donald Trump (3:23)

Let him go after targets, but not diesel fuel, because he's causing a shortage of diesel. This isn't done by the Middle East. This is done by what's happening with Russia and Ukraine.

So we spoke to Mr. Zelenskiy about it. There are plenty of other targets. Don't hit diesel fuel.

Kent Covington (3:38)

The International Energy Agency says Gulf and Russian refineries supplied almost half of the world's seaborne diesel in February. Ukraine hit two more Russian refineries over the weekend.

The CEO of a major artificial intelligence company says his own industry is moving too fast. Dario Amadei runs the AI company Anthropic, the makers of the Cloud AI platform. He's calling on companies to slow down and let safety catch up. He warns that within six to twelve months, AI could be capable of leading a swarm of programs capable of taking over much or even all of the Internet.

Amadei wants outside reviewers inside the big AI companies with the right to publish their findings. And Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, makers of ChatGPT, says his company is also on board with that. White House Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett says he thinks industry leaders are stepping up.