The Breakdown Weekly Recap looks at the key themes that shaped the week. On this week’s episode, NLW discusses:
- The modern significance of Tiananmen Square, and why this week’s U.S. protests show why the tools of surveillance need to be applied to states, not citizens.
- The importance of “narrative violations,” or fighting to see things without falling into popular but often wrong conventional wisdoms
- The need to resist attempts from both the left and the right to fit today’s unrest into convenient culture-war frameworks that perpetuate each group’s power.
This week on The Breakdown:
Monday | The Power and Peril of the 'Bitcoin Fixes This' Meme
- A look at what role, if any, bitcoin has to play in remaking the world that is being protested around the U.S. (and world) this week.
Tuesday | Bitcoin, Cellphones and the Citizen Tools of Anti-Authoritarianism, Feat. Alex Gladstein
- A look at the anti-authoritarian technology stack, including where non-state money like bitcoin fits in.
Wednesday | 5 Numbers That Tell the Story of Markets Right Now
- From the number of U.S. flights from Chinese carriers to S&P 500 growth in the tumultuous year of 1968, these (unexpected) numbers tell the story of today’s markets.
Thursday | The Mirage of the Money Printer: Why the Fed Is More PR Than Policy, Feat. Jeffrey P. Snider
- An argument that the Fed is actually highly ineffectual due to the presence of the eurodollar shadow-banking system.
Friday | The Biggest Realignment in the US-China Relationship Since Nixon, Feat. Graham Webster
- A 101-level primer on the history of the U.S.-China relationship, and why today’s bluster represents a fundamental shift.
