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Friday Nite Videos | March 14, 2025

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Why the US Has Birthright Citizenship. Who Is the Leader of the People | Edwin Starr. Oligarchs Are Our Modern Day Kings. Sen. Jeff Merkley Asks if Trump Is a Russian Asset. Blood Moon, Trump Trade War, MAGA Stock Market.

Why the US Has Birthright Citizenship

The short answer is that birthright citizenship in the US came about as a way of granting citizenship after the American Civil War to the large population of formerly enslaved Black people

Oligarchs Are Our Modern Day Kings

Elon Musk has clarified that we live in an oligarchic society. Billionaires dominate the economy, the media and government. Ruling classes have always believed these things are theirs by right.

Blood Moon, Trump Trade War, MAGA Stock Market

A federal judge ordered thousands of fired federal workers to be re-hired, Republicans don’t like the Department of Education, and Trump has been systematically alienating our allies

Everybody Hates Elon

Paul Krugman Paul Krugman's Substack Blog
The closest thing we have to a Trump economic spokesman is Elon Musk, who sees dead people collecting Social Security. And here’s the thing: while there’s still a dwindling Musk/Tesla cult, to a first approximation everyone else hates Elon.

How ProPublica Uses AI Responsibly in Its Investigations

Charles Ornstein ProPublica
When our reporters prompted a large language model to help identify “woke” themes in a database of grants, AI helped them tell a vital accountability story about science funding and Ted Cruz.

Ten Questions & Answers on Measles Protection

Katelyn Jetelina Your Local Epidemiologist
The main thing to know: MMR vaccines are highly effective and provide long-lasting protection. Outbreaks occur mainly among unvaccinated individuals. But here's more about boosters, young children, infection-induced immunity and transmission.

A Science Protest Offers Insight Into the Science of Protesting

Dan Vergano Scientific American
The most important people may not be on the stage but in the audience. Without social media, a big national march connected activists and culminated the protest. “Nowadays ... protest becomes the beginning of a movement rather than the end.”