Overview
This week, Eric, Dan, and Dylan discuss the Speaker of the House of Representatives, or more specifically, the lack of one. What does this situation say about how well-functioning, or not, our system of government is right now? What does it say about a possible decline in civic virtue in the United States? Then the guys turn their attention to the Israel-Hamas war and the Israeli airstrike on a hospital in Gaza that killed 500 people that turned out to not be an Israeli airstrike, that didn’t hit a hospital but its parking lot, and that didn’t kill hundreds of people. What does the way this story evolved reveal about modern media—and the prominence of social media in the news-gathering ecosystem? And finally, Ozempic is a drug that was developed for treating diabetes but is frequently used off-label for weight loss. Is it a miracle? Or should we be more skeptical about something that delivers incredible results without much work on the part of the person taking it?
House GOP speaker race balloons to nine candidates | Axios
NYT admits error in Gaza hospital report | Politico
It's easy to screw up on breaking news. But you have to admit when you do. | Nate Silver
The Dream of Scalable Democracy | Dylan Pahman, Law & Liberty
What Is Ozempic and Why Is It Getting So Much Attention? | New York Times
How Weight Loss Drugs Stopped a Danish Recession | Apricitas Economics