Hello from Honolulu!

It’s just us this week, trading places: Tammy is home in humid Brooklyn, and Jay is on the road, visiting family in Hawaii! (6:00) First, we discuss the planned release of 500 swimming pools’ worth of radioactive(?) wastewater from Fukushima, which has spurred lousy takes from Beltway types and a run on salt in South Korea. (19:10) Next, we look at Vivek Ramaswamy’s long-shot candidacy for President and try to discern what the entrepreneur brings to a flailing Republican Party.

In this episode, we ask:

Was “Mad Men” a good show?

How does the Fukushima conversation serve as a barometer for China–Japan–South Korea relations?

Is Trumpism analogous to Modi-ism?

Are we doomed to have an amoral, debate-brained candidate in every Republican primary?

For more, dig into:

* Regional reactions to the wastewater plan at Fukushima

* Images of Vermont’s floods and the proximate climate apocalypse

* Sheelah Kolhatkar’s jealousy-inducing profile of Vivek Ramaswamy for The New Yorker

* DeSantis’s jump-the-shark hate ad

* Our May ep about the American Prospect’s Tucker Carlson piece (and its backlash): Karaoke soft power + left media cowardice

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Fukushima’s toxic tail and Ramaswamy’s media blitz

Time To Say Goodbye