News Roundup: Jeffrey Epstein and the MAGA Civil War; Mehdi Hasan and Jubilee
I Don't Speak German
It's all in the title, folks. Extra content warnings on this one. Episode Notes: Rebecca Watson on Mehdi Hasan and Jubilee The Bulwark interview with Medhi Hasan. Published as we were recording and saying how much we wanted to know who else was in the birthday book… Jack forgot to mention this excellent article: Who Needs the Epstein Files? Trump’s Modeling Agency Was a Documented Trafficking Operation: Court documents, victim testimony, and immigration records reveal how Trump Model Management systematically exploited teenage girls - while everyone chases phantom...
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UNLOCKED! Bonus Ep38 Absolute Power (1997)
I Don't Speak German
Originally published 11th April 2024. Our series on 'movies about presidents' continues with a fun discussion of this 1997 'thriller', written by legendary Hollywood screenwriter William Goldman based on the debut novel of David Baldacci, starring/produced/directed by noted chair-interviewer Clint Eastwood, and boasting a splendid cast - including recently-deceased screen legend Gene Hackman - none of whom are given anything very interesting to do. Clint plays a suave cat burglar - with the unlikely name of Luther Whitney - who accidentally witnesses the president of the United States sexually...
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133: The Mamdani Reaction
I Don't Speak German
After a brief review of Grok becoming 'MechaHitler', we chat about the hysterical meltdown that ensued upon Zohran Mamdani's victory in the Democratic primaries to become candidate for Mayor of New York. Jack brings his researches into the New York Times smear story and the fascist eugenicist blogger Jordan Lasker (AKA Cremieux) who gave the Times the leaked info. Daniel brings clips of Megyn Kelly's unhinged Islamophobic response to Mamdani on her podcast, including a conversation with Charlie Kirk in which racism wars for inanity for supremacy. Content warnings. Episode Notes:...
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News Roundup: Groks and Bills and Alligators
I Don't Speak German
...oh my. Daniel and Jack talk about the latest lunacy with Musk and Grok, The Big Beautiful Bill, social murder, the expansion of ICE, recent SCOTUS rulings and the assaults on trans rights and birthright citizenship, Alligator Alcatraz, the horrifying flash floods in Texas and the cuts to the National Weather Service, and the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Big content warnings for this one. Lots of dead children in here. Because that's the news in July 2025. Please consider donating to help us make the show and stay independent. Patrons get exclusive access to at least one full...
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132: Why to Learn Spanish, with Craig Johnson
I Don't Speak German
We're delighted to welcome back Craig Johnson - of Fifteen Minutes of Fascism - to chat about the politics and value of native English speakers learning other languages, especially Spanish. Episode Notes: Spanish language papers: Pagina12: left Peronist, Argentina: Proceso, Mexico: elDiario.es and Público, Spain: , Again, not an endorsement of these as the best and most perfect news sources in the world, they have their own biases (esp regarding their own domestic left), but good for different perspectives. Craig: . Show Notes: Please consider donating to help us make the...
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131: Trump and South Africa, Duolingo and AI
I Don't Speak German
A News Roundup episode, and an episode of two halves. We start with a discussion of the recent public Oval Office meeting between Trump and Cyril Ramaphosa, in which Trump harangued the South African president with accusations of 'white genocide' based on 'evidence' which tracks straight back to people in our usual wheelhouse. Then we move on to a chat about the recent decision by language learning app Duolingo to replace loads of their contributors with AI, plus some dismaying news about Babbel, leading to a discussion of the impending AI jobs crisis. Then we cap it off with...
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130: South African Farm Murders and 'White Genocide', with Bianca van Wyk
I Don't Speak German
Daniel and Jack are joined by special guest, South African anti-disinformation advocate, Bianca van Wyk, to discuss the issue of 'South African farm murders', the reality vs the right-wing narrative, some of the bad actors pushing the fake version of the story, and the links to the 'white genocide' conspiracy theory. Bianca helps us get the whole thing into proper context, especially re South Africa's history and current politics. Also discussed: the recent fast-tracking of refugee status for white South Africans by the Trump administration, the US Right's embrace of the South...
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129: Conclave (2024), the Papacy, and Right-Wing Catholicism
I Don't Speak German
In this immediately out-of-date episode, Daniel and Jack discuss the 2024 movie Conclave in light of the (at the time of recording) underway 2025 Conclave in the Vatican to choose a new Pope. Both your hosts talk a little about their own religious backgrounds, review the film, and then get onto the politics of the Catholic Church, particularly the integration of right-wing US bishops with American reactionaries. Episode Notes: Show Notes: Please consider donating to help us make the show and stay ad-free and independent. Patrons get exclusive access to at least one full...
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News Brief: The JFK Files
I Don't Speak German
Trump released all the remaining secret JFK files! Except not really. And they're full of revelations! Except not really. (They're mainly full of people's social security numbers which, it transpires, is pretty much all the remaining redactions were hiding.) Anna Paulina Luna (R, FL) is leading a new congressional investigation! Er... no, she's inviting conspiracy theorists into Congress to confirm her ill-informed beliefs. The mystery is solved! Or deepens! Except nope nope and nope. In this impromptu News Brief, Jack and Daniel jump off...
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PREVIEW: Bonus 39 In the Line of Fire (1993)
I Don't Speak German
Our 'movies about presidents' series continues (probably for four more years) with a much better movie this time. 1993's Wolfgang Peterson joint In the Line of Fire, featuring Clint Eastwood again (are we... doing a Clint Eastwood season now?) as jaded old Secret Service agent Frank Horrigan, veteran of a particular epic fail in Dallas 1963, up against the 90s serial killer shtick of rogue CIA super-assassin John Malkovich and, even more dauntingly, the merciless side-eye of fellow agent Rene Russo. A superior slice of 90s Hollywood nonsense with a nice line in gentle self-mockery and some...
info_outlineA News Roundup episode, and an episode of two halves. We start with a discussion of the recent public Oval Office meeting between Trump and Cyril Ramaphosa, in which Trump harangued the South African president with accusations of 'white genocide' based on 'evidence' which tracks straight back to people in our usual wheelhouse. Then we move on to a chat about the recent decision by language learning app Duolingo to replace loads of their contributors with AI, plus some dismaying news about Babbel, leading to a discussion of the impending AI jobs crisis. Then we cap it off with an odd flex for us... a feel good story!
Episode Notes:
Trump spreads racist South African Farm Murders Memes in meeting with Ramaphosa
Trump/Ramaphosa meeting:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TLkZv3gzO0
Response:
https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/21/politics/video/trump-ramaphosa-south-africa-video-larry-madowo-vrtc
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A check of Trump's false claims about white genocide in South Africa | Reuters https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-makes-false-claims-white-genocide-south-africa-during-ramaphosa-meeting-2025-05-21/
Trump’s evidence of South Africa ‘white genocide’ contains images from DR Congo – The Irish Times https://www.irishtimes.com/world/africa/2025/05/23/trumps-evidence-of-south-africa-white-genocide-contains-images-from-dr-congo/
Trump confronted South African president with ‘evidence’ of genocide – here’s what the video really showed | The Independent https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-south-africa-genocide-video-b2755625.html
Trump ambushes South African president with video and false claims of anti-white racism | Trump administration | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/21/trump-south-africa-president-meeting?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=bluesky&CMP=bsky_gu
What's Behind Trump’s South Africa Obsession? | Benjamin Fogel | TMR https://youtu.be/gR_gwPI5l-0?si=QfWeEuoosYeUD-JG
South Africa to offer Elon Musk Starlink deal ahead of Trump meeting | Business Insider Africa https://africa.businessinsider.com/local/markets/south-africa-to-offer-elon-musk-starlink-deal-ahead-of-trump-meeting/v0k8bxk?op=1
White Nationalists Praise Trump’s Promotion Of White Genocide Conspiracy Theory – Angry White Men https://angrywhitemen.org/2025/05/22/white-nationalists-praise-trumps-promotion-of-white-genocide-conspiracy-theory/
Exclusive: Trump Shared Racist, Flat-Earth Facebook Account With South African President https://www.meidasplus.com/p/exclusive-trump-shared-racist-flat
Roaming Charges: White Lies About White Genocide - CounterPunch.org https://www.counterpunch.org/2025/05/23/white-lies-about-white-genocide/
DR Congo: Killings, Rapes by Rwanda-Backed M23 Rebels | Human Rights Watch https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/06/13/dr-congo-killings-rapes-rwanda-backed-m23-rebels
As Goma ceasefire largely holds, Congo rushes to bury bodies from rebel offensive | Reuters https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/east-congo-city-goma-rushes-bury-bodies-after-rebel-offensive-2025-02-04/
A white nationalist moved to Idaho in search of an ‘ethnic enclave.’ He’s not alone. https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2022/jul/21/a-white-nationalist-moved-to-idaho-in-search-of-an/
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Duolingo Replacing Contract Workers With AI
The Verge, “Duolingo will replace contract workers with AI”
https://www.theverge.com/news/657594/duolingo-ai-first-replace-contract-workers
“AI isn’t just a productivity boost,” von Ahn says. “It helps us get closer to our mission. To teach well, we need to create a massive amount of content, and doing that manually doesn’t scale. One of the best decisions we made recently was replacing a slow, manual content creation process with one powered by AI. Without AI, it would take us decades to scale our content to more learners. We owe it to our learners to get them this content ASAP.”
von Ahn’s email follows a similar memo Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke sent to employees and recently shared online. In that memo, Lütke said that before teams asked for more headcount or resources, they needed to show “why they cannot get what they want done using AI.”
Fortune, “Duolingo CEO walks back AI-first comments: ‘I do not see AI as replacing what our employees do’”
“To be clear: I do not see AI as replacing what our employees do (we are in fact continuing to hire at the same speed as before),” he wrote. “I see it as a tool to accelerate what we do, at the same or better level of quality. And the sooner we learn how to use it, and use it responsibly, the better off we will be in the long run.”
Babbel quietly ending Babbel Live
Babbel Support, “Discontinuation of Babbel Live”
https://support.babbel.com/hc/en-us/articles/26749152437522-Discontinuation-of-Babbel-Live
“Babbel Live was introduced in 2021. Knowing the power of human teachers, we aimed to offer our learners this experience from their homes. Over time, however, we did see a clear trend: the majority of them did not accept Babbel Live as part of their language learning path, making it impossible for us to sustain it as a business.
This change will help us achieve our goal of helping you become fluent in your new language quickly by enabling us to focus on improving our app, which most learners, especially beginners, prefer.”
Boycott Over Upcoming E-sports Event in Riyadh Makes Geoguessr Change Its Stance
Geoguessr Community Protests Esports World Cup by Disabling Popular Maps.
https://www.si.com/esports/news/geoguessr-protests-esports-world-cup
Statement from Feneb, one of the World Championship players, about his decision to boycott the Riyadh event.
https://discord.com/channels/1003591679644807229/1026965093331779634/1375003211513204746
“The decision to participate in the Esports World Cup, which is directly funded by the Saudi Arabian government in an effort to distract public attention from the above human rights violations, is thus directly incompatible with any stated aims by GeoGuessr to promote an inclusive and diverse community, and extremely disappointing. I also do not want to dismiss the issue of hosting a tournament in Saudi Arabia, regardless of whether the event is directly run by the Saudi government or not. It is completely unnecessary to host a tournament in a country which some current or possible future world league players would be unable to travel to safely.”
Statement from Geoguessr regarding their decision to reverse the event in Riyadh (Reddit)
https://www.reddit.com/r/geoguessr/comments/1ksky0k/geoguessr_is_withdrawing_from_the_esports_world/
Geoguessr challenge links:
(Standard) World Map
https://www.geoguessr.com/challenge/MIJFcVhIFNpVapVs https://www.geoguessr.com/challenge/sedHxYRoMPdmFxdZ https://www.geoguessr.com/challenge/eIRYCYBhuUUBVIT2
An Official World
https://www.geoguessr.com/challenge/tK9A8O1KUXQfZgCu https://www.geoguessr.com/challenge/NGYJ4uk0WhxNR5Ui https://www.geoguessr.com/challenge/Yc4uD6P8lFISKIgb
A Community World
https://www.geoguessr.com/challenge/B87Y20LMvmtDvUwN https://www.geoguessr.com/challenge/I9ub9gc9CmoEQpjn https://www.geoguessr.com/challenge/ZwKxnW3Ms9UTZZt6
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The AI jobs crisis is here, now - by Brian Merchant https://www.bloodinthemachine.com/p/the-ai-jobs-crisis-is-here-now
Something Alarming Is Happening to the Job Market - The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/economy/archive/2025/04/job-market-youth/682641/
Show Notes:
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