Name: Can This Snorer’s Marriage Be Saved? Yes, With Mouth Tape. by ThisMorning
Duration: 4 min 22 s
Description: Can a small piece of tape save your marriage? Stu Woo from the Wall Street Journal takes us behind the headline.

On this SELECTED SHORTS host Meg Wolitzer presents two works by the dazzling writer Joan Didion, whose essays, novels, and memoirs have been beloved by generations of readers.  This sophisticated, knowing artist placed herself squarely in her reportage, telling her own story vividly and courageously.  We’ll hear excepts from two of her best-known works, The White Album, in which she reports on her own mental collapse in the madness of California in the 1960s, and Goodbye to All That, in which her youthful self falls in, and out of, love with New York City.  Jill Eikenberry performs The White Album and Mia Dillon shares Goodbye to All That.

A Didion Duo

Laura Kusisto of Wall Street Journal explains how Republican-leaning states, with new power to regulate abortions, face a choice between incremental restrictions or broken bans.

Abortion Opponents Consider How Far to Press After End of Roe v. Wade

Japan’s prime minister from 2006-07 and 2012-20 <a href="https://www.economist.com/asia/2022/07/08/the-shooting-of-abe-shinzo-a-former-prime-minister-stuns-japan?utm_campaign=a.io&amp;utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&amp;utm_source=theintelligence&amp;utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&amp;utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">died</a> after being shot at a campaign event. Our Tokyo bureau chief analyses the implications for the country and its politics. The <a href="https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2022/06/30/a-resurgence-of-regional-rivalries-imperils-eastern-congo?utm_campaign=a.io&amp;utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&amp;utm_source=theintelligence&amp;utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&amp;utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">resurgence</a> of a particularly well-armed militia in the Democratic Republic of Congo threatens to reignite deadly regional tensions. And we introduce you to the <a href="https://www.economist.com/britain/2022/06/30/which-vegetable-is-the-easiest-for-a-robot-to-pick?utm_campaign=a.io&amp;utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&amp;utm_source=theintelligence&amp;utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&amp;utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">robots</a> that may soon pick your vegetables.For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here <a href="http://www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer</a> &#10;&nbsp; <hr>See <a style='color: grey; ' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for privacy and opt-out information.

Tragedy in Japan: the killing of Abe Shinzo

Read by Fred Sanders

From Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Will Bunch, the epic untold story of college—the great political and cultural fault line of American life

"This book is simply terrific." —Heather Cox Richardson, publisher of the "Letters from an American" Substack

"A must-read." —Nancy MacLean, author of Democracy in Chains

Today there are two Americas, separate and unequal, one educated and one not. And these two tribes—the resentful “non-college” crowd and their diploma-bearing yet increasingly disillusioned adversaries—seem on the brink of a civil war. The strongest determinant of whether a voter was likely to support Donald Trump in 2016 was whether or not they attended college, and the degree of loathing they reported feeling toward the so-called “knowledge economy of clustered, educated elites. Somewhere in the winding last half-century of the United States, the quest for a college diploma devolved from being proof of America’s commitment to learning, science, and social mobility into a kind of Hunger Games contest to the death. That quest has infuriated both the millions who got shut out and millions who got into deep debt to stay afloat.

In After the Ivory Tower Falls, award-winning journalist Will Bunch embarks on a deeply reported journey to the heart of the American Dream. That journey begins in Gambier, Ohio, home to affluent, liberal Kenyon College, a tiny speck of Democratic blue amidst the vast red swath of white, post-industrial, rural midwestern America. To understand “the college question,” there is no better entry point than Gambier, where a world-class institution caters to elite students amidst a sea of economic despair.

From there, Bunch traces the history of college in the U.S., beginning with the first technical schools, through the landmark GI Bill, and the culture wars of the 60’s and 70’s, which found their start on college campuses. We see how resentment of college-educated elites morphed into a rejection of knowledge itself—and how the explosion in student loan debt fueled major social movements like Occupy Wall Street. Bunch then takes a question we need to ask all over again—what, and who, is college even for?—and pushes it into the 21st century by proposing a new model that works for all Americans.

The sum total is a stunning work of journalism, one that lays bare the root of our political, cultural, and economic division—and charts a path forward for America.

After the Ivory Tower Falls by Will Bunch

Listen to an excerpt of André Aciman's OUT OF EGYPT, read by  Edoardo Ballerini.

An all new recording of Out of Egypt, André Aciman's acclaimed memoir, narrated by Edoardo Ballerini!

From the New York Times bestselling author of Call Me By Your Name, Out of Egypt is a richly colored memoir chronicling the exploits of a flamboyant Jewish family, from its bold arrival in cosmopolitan Alexandria to its defeated exodus three generations later.

In elegant and witty prose, André Aciman introduces us to the marvelous eccentrics who shaped his life - Uncle Vili, the strutting daredevil, soldier, salesman, and spy; the two grandmothers, the Princess and the Saint, who gossip in six languages; Aunt Flora, the German refugee who warns that Jews lose everything "at least twice in their lives."

And through it all, we come to know a boy who, even as he longs for a wider world, does not want to be led, forever, out of Egypt.

Buy the audiobook

Out Of Egypt by André Aciman, audiobook excerpt

&nbsp;<a href="https://www.economist.com/united-states/2022/07/07/democrats-have-a-hispanic-problem?utm_campaign=a.io&amp;utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&amp;utm_source=theintelligence&amp;utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&amp;utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Our series</a> on America’s mid-term elections begins with a visit to a citizenship class in Doral, Florida, given by Republicans. We examine how the GOP is cutting into Democrats’ advantage with Latino voters. Britain’s trial of a <a href="https://www.economist.com/britain/2022/07/21/a-superhighway-for-drones-to-fly-between-british-cities?utm_campaign=a.io&amp;utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&amp;utm_source=theintelligence&amp;utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&amp;utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">superhighway for drones</a> is a bid to unleash their commercial potential. And meeting &nbsp; a <a href="https://www.economist.com/culture/2022/07/28/a-thai-pop-star-uses-her-music-to-critique-her-homeland?utm_campaign=a.io&amp;utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&amp;utm_source=theintelligence&amp;utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&amp;utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Thai dissident</a> issuing dystopian pop music from self-imposed exile. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here <a href="http://www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer</a> <hr> See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for privacy and opt-out information.

Latin-ex Democrats: Republicans and Hispanic voters

Can a small piece of tape save your marriage? Stu Woo from the Wall Street Journal takes us behind the headline.

Can This Snorer’s Marriage Be Saved? Yes, With Mouth Tape.

A brief history of Mid-Autumn Festival, and the tale of Hou Yi the Archer & the Ten Suns, and Chang'e & the Moon

In other words, please be true
In other words, I love you.

Sources:
Barlett, Scarlett. The Mythology Bible: The Definitive Guide to Legendary Tales.
Masaka, Mori. “Restoring the ‘Epic of Hou Yi’” in Asian Folklore Studies, vol. 52, no. 5.
Yang, Lihui, Demin An, and Jessica Anderson Turner. Handbook of Chinese Mythology.

The History of China

Special - Mid-Autumn: Fly Me to the Moon

Bookmakers #20 - L’auteur du mois : Mohamed Mbougar Sarr
Né à Dakar en 1990, Mohamed Mbougar Sarr est devenu – en 2021 et à 31 ans – le premier écrivain d’Afrique subsaharienne consacré par le plus prestigieux des prix littéraires français, le Goncourt, pour « La plus secrète mémoire des hommes », enquête au long cours et labyrinthe narratif enivrant, inspiré par le destin tragique du Malien Yambo Ouologuem (éditions Jimsaan / Philippe Rey). Mais avant le succès, ce wonderboy des lettres africaines était déjà l’auteur de trois romans diablement maîtrisés, aux sujets casse-gueule : « Terre ceinte » (2015, sur les milices djihadistes), « Silence du chœur » (2017, sur l’accueil de 72 migrants en Sicile) et « De purs hommes » (2018, sur l’homophobie au Sénégal). Il vit et travaille aujourd'hui à Beauvais (Oise).

En partenariat avec Babelio.

Sa mémoire n’est plus un secret (3/3)
« Je vais te donner un conseil : n’essaie jamais de dire de quoi parle un grand livre. Ou, si tu le fais, voici la seule réponse possible : rien. Un grand livre ne parle jamais que de rien, et pourtant tout y est. » Dans « La plus secrète mémoire des hommes », un jeune écrivain sénégalais, Diégane Latyr Faye, « doctorant fainéant écrasé par ses modèles », découvre à Paris, à la faveur d’une rencontre érotique, un roman légendaire « qui tient de la cathédrale et de l’arène ». Ce livre dans le livre s’intitule « Le Labyrinthe de l’inhumain », signé dans les années 30 par l’énigmatique T. C. Elimane qui, vite épuisé par les scandales que son chef-d’œuvre suscite, choisit d’arrêter d’écrire puis de « s’enfoncer dans la nuit » en disparaissant, purement mais pas du tout simplement. D’Amsterdam à Buenos Aires, de Dakar à Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Diégane mène l’enquête – quitte à se perdre dans une toile d’araignée existentielle. À charge pour lui « d’élucider » le secret de la comète Elimane, accusé de plagiat.

Conjointement publié à la rentrée 2021 par deux éditeurs indépendants, les Sénégalais de Jimsaan et le Français Philippe Rey, ce roman d’initiation de 500 pages rédigées sans plan, d’une originalité folle, héritier des dédales de Borges, Gombrowicz ou Bolaño (auquel il emprunte son titre), convoque plusieurs genres : « la geste griotique, le récit historique, le rapport ethnologique, mêlés dans un plaisir très gourmand de la narration ». Joyeux ou graves, pleins de mystique et d’ironie, les récits s’enchâssent, du journal intime aux articles universitaires, à coups de « frottements » ou de phrases qui courent parfois sur huit pages. Critiques et libraires sont unanimes. « La plus secrète mémoire des hommes » décroche le Goncourt et s’écoule à près de 500 000 exemplaires.

Gloire à Mbougar Sarr, dont l’art paraît déjà si sûr. Dans ce troisième et dernier épisode, écoutons l’auteur raviver sa mémoire, lui pour qui l’écrivain « est un navigateur du Temps », lui qui semble bien là pour durer.

Enregistrement : mai 22 - Texte, voix, entretien, découpage : Richard Gaitet - Prise de son, montage : Sara Monimart - Réalisation, mixage : Charlie Marcelet - Musiques originales : Samuel Hirsch - Illustration : Sylvain Cabot - Remerciements : Gloria Saltel, Clarisse Le Gardien - Production : ARTE Radio

Bookmakers : Mohamed Mbougar Sarr (3/3)

On the next Snap Spooked Special..."Sight Unseen." When the lights go dark...how can you be sure you're alone?  Part of Snap's terrifying "Spooked Week" of haunting, true-life stories. Be afraid . . .

Snap Judgment

Listen to the entire Snap Spooked Special "Sight Unseen"

What happens when we build big?

Julia Barton remembers going to the top floor of Dallas’s then-new city hall when she was teenager. The building, designed by I.M. Pei, is a huge trapezoid jutting out over a wide plaza. Julia found the view from the top pretty fantastic, especially when munching on a Caramello bar from the City Hall vending machines.

But once she went to a protest in the plaza below. And those same windows, now hulking over her, made her feel small, and the whole event insignificant. Texans have a fondness for big structures—big arenas, big houses, big freeways. Julia wasn’t sure if their hidden message wasn’t simply this: I’m important, you’re nobody.

For people who distrust the big project, Edward Tenner’s 2001 essay “The Xanadu Effect” is some comfort. Tenner, a visiting scholar at Princeton University, ponders the ways in which obsession with bigness can presage hard times for a business or even a nation. Tenner named his essay not for Olivia Newton-John’s anthem or even the Coleridge poem, but for the palace Xanadu built in the movie “Citizen Kane.” That Xanadu, of course, was based on a real-life palace that newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst built in his waning days of empire:

On its 24,000 acres were a 354,000-gallon swimming pool, a private zoo and four main buildings with a total of 165 rooms. Along with other such extravagances, the estate helped send Hearst into trusteeship late in life. The cavernous halls of Welles' gloomy cinematic Xanadu seemed to film-goers -- as the real, happier building must have appeared to many Hearst Corp. public investors -- the very image of the pride that goes before a fall.

The downside of the Xanadu Effect has seen itself play out in other places—the Empire State Building, for example, was conceived in the 1920s but completed during the Great Depression, when it was known as “the Empty State Building.” Tenner’s not arguing that big things shouldn’t be built; he’s saying bigness is a gamble. It pays off when it it uplifts people, gives them a sense of grandeur and purpose. It fails when it crushes them or just makes life a pain, as in the big-built city of Moscow, where pedestrians have to scurry under the wide avenues in tunnels.

On a recent reporting trip to Russia for PRI’s “The World,” Julia travelled to Sochi, Russia’s southern-most city and upcoming host of the 2014 Winter Olympics. Sochi is Europe’s biggest construction site right now, with Xanadu-like ice-palaces going up right on the Black Sea.

All the construction—including billions of dollars of infrastructure—is good news for the Russian state and shoring up its presence in the Caucasus. It’s not necessarily good news for the locals. Julia interviewed a Sochi resident, Alexei Kravets, who’s been in a stand-off with authorities about the fate of the home he built by the Black Sea.

Kravets’s court case to save his home has been standing in the way of a new railway complex. Construction workers have been throwing rocks through his windows, scraping his walls with backhoes, and hauling away his storage units. Kravets has been confronting them on film.

It’s a dramatic example of big vs. small, but this type of conflict often happens in the face of massive development. Edward Tenner says beyond just governments or private developers, we all need to think more carefully about the costs and benefits of building big.

“Bigness is a strategy that just about always fails, unless it succeeds. Or you could say it always succeeds except when it fails. And there really is no one way that you can regard it. You have to see it as a very powerful, easy-to-misuse, but also tempting way to go about things in life,” he says.

99% Invisible-53- The Xanadu Effect

Wake up with "This Morning: America's First News."  Gordon Deal and news anchor Nicole Murray go beyond the headlines with the day’s first look at news from the U.S. and around the world; bringing a lively blend of intelligent information, humor, and expert analysis to morning radio.

Can This Snorer’s Marriage Be Saved? Yes, With Mouth Tape.

ThisMorning

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