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Gandhi went live on the radio exactly once.
That was this day in 1947, at All India Radio, and India still marks the date as Public Service Broadcasting Day. It's World Pneumonia Day, too, but the radio is what stays with me: one voice, one time, and we're still listening. I keep thinking about him in times like these, with the gap between the rich and the poor as wide as it is.
On this date in 1970, a dead whale washed up on the beach in Florence, Oregon, and somebody decided the answer was half a ton of dynamite. It went everywhere. Tragic, and kind of a spectacular way to go, and fifty-six years later there's a park for it. If that's what it takes to leave a legacy, then there you go. This week has its own whale, Jensen Huang, caught in the kind of spy intrigue we've been telling stories about since James Bond, and since long before.
We've only got one Earth, and it never looks more beautiful than from far away. The Associated Press says the oil shock from the Iran war led to a drop in carbon pollution. I had to sing that one twice. A terrible war, and people burning less gas. There are all kinds of ways to see the way things are.
In Amsterdam, protesters bring their own ladders, cut a hole in the fence around a planned Microsoft data center, and hang a banner from the crane. I censored it for you. The lay-flat book changed the world, and so did the printing press, the plow and the factory. So does AI. What does it do to us? It's like something you can't see.
In France, someone hacks the refrigerators at about 700 sites, and officials blame Iran and vow retaliation. It sounds like nothing. It isn't. War looks different than it used to, and vowing retaliation is about as human as it gets.
After the midterms, the front page reads clear message to Trump, but hazy future for U.S. I'd make that us, all of us.
I guess this is satire. Singing a headline puts a little feeling on it, a thumb on the scale, until you can tell what feels right and what doesn't. Martin Luther King woke people up every time he spoke. Now a draft of the I Have a Dream speech turns up in a former aide's desk drawer, on its way to Christie's, and the dream isn't in it. It never was. Mahalia Jackson, standing behind him, told him to tell them about the dream, and he left the page. She was a singer, he was a preacher, and both of them knew when to put the script down. The part nobody will forget is the part nobody wrote.
In Russia, Novaya Gazeta, one of the last independent newspapers, goes quiet. Some of its journalists were killed for doing their jobs. Vulnerable and venerable, both at once.
Some weeks are just unfinished, like a speech without its dream. We could all use a little Mahalia Jackson, and a little Gandhi, whispering to us, the optimism and the realism together.
Chapters:
- (00:00) - World Pneumonia Day and Gandhi's only live radio broadcast
- (01:09) - Welcome to Grizz Does the News
- (01:30) - Nvidia's board and the China spy claims
- (02:04) - The exploding whale of Florence, Oregon, 1970
- (03:21) - Born today, Neil Young and Auguste Rodin
- (03:44) - A handmade guitar from Germany
- (04:04) - An expat bear
- (04:33) - The climate, as the front pages had it
- (05:49) - An oil shock and a drop in carbon pollution
- (06:50) - Deforestation, still on the rise
- (07:32) - Protesters at a Microsoft data center site in Amsterdam
- (09:22) - A censored banner
- (09:54) - The lay-flat book, the printing press and AI
- (10:50) - Refrigerator hacks in France
- (11:54) - War looks different now
- (13:23) - An impeachment vote in the House
- (16:02) - Mandela's party under a third of the vote
- (16:43) - A clear message and a hazy future
- (17:33) - The vote, on the front pages
- (19:28) - Singing the news as satire
- (20:09) - Martin Luther King Jr. and the dream speech
- (21:02) - Why humans deify other humans
- (21:39) - A draft at Christie's
- (22:26) - Mahalia Jackson: tell them about the dream
- (23:00) - What wasn't on the page
- (23:24) - King's lost draft from a desk drawer
- (24:51) - On sale in January 2027
- (25:24) - Amnesty International on Novaya Gazeta
- (29:22) - A week that feels unfinished
- (29:50) - A little bit of Mahalia Jackson
Exploding whale · Wikipedia
Nvidia shares fall as board investigates Huang's exposure to China spy claims · Financial Times front page, 10 November, via Kultura Press
The climate, as the front pages had it: Le Figaro, The Independent, The Guardian, The Globe and Mail, The Arizona Republic and the South Wales Echo via Kultura Press on 9 November and 10 November; Agence France-Presse via Malay Mail; and Oil shock from Iran war led to drop in carbon pollution, scientists say · Seth Borenstein, The Associated Press, via PBS NewsHour
French officials blame Iran for refrigerator hacks, vow retaliation · Raphael Satter and Gabriel Stargardter, Reuters, via Daily Maverick
House Republicans Block Hegseth Impeachment, but Democrats Could Revive Effort in January · Nik Popli, TIME
ANC loses significant ground in 2026 local govt elections · Mongezi Koko, EWN
The vote, as the front pages had it: The New York Times, the Financial Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal and El Nuevo Herald, via Kultura Press on 9 November and 10 November, and The Week
King's Lost Draft of 'I Have a Dream' Emerges From a Desk Drawer · Jennifer Schuessler, The New York Times, via The Philadelphia Inquirer
Russia: Closure of Novaya Gazeta is a devastating loss for embattled media freedom · Amnesty International
Grizz plays a Daniel Stark Baritone Fusion guitar.
Grizz on LinkedIn
Grizz Does the News is a Podcasts That Matter production: https://podcaststhatmatter.org/
Creators and Guests
What is Grizz Does the News?
Every week, Dr. J. "Grizz" Leigh Bahr takes a good look at humanity. He opens with what happened on this day in history, then picks up an instrument and sings the week's headlines and their opening lines, word for word, credited to the reporters who wrote them, with every story linked in the show notes. Pardon any out of tune strings or fingers harmed in the process.
Grizz: It's the twelfth of November, 2026, and it's World Pneumonia Day apparently, and it's something I find much more interesting: Public Service Broadcasting Day in India. And that marks Gandhi's first and only live broadcast on All India Radio back in 1947. And it's it's interesting to think about Gandhi in times like these and and just just the the the chaos and and and and, you know, distribution gap we have between the rich and the poor these days and thinking about politics and how the world is. Many things have changed for the better and, you know, some things haven't. And speaking of that, I'll start the day with something that...
Grizz: Well hold on, first, welcome to Grizz Does the News. You've had quite a week. We've all had quite a week. Let's look at some of the headlines and other strange stuff that you might not have seen out there. And I want to start with this thing about a whale, because there's a whale in the news this week. Jensen Huang apparently was conducting an affair, and it might have been a spy, and people might have known about it a long time in advance. And this kind of intrigue has happened, I mean, in every James Bond movie and in every major epic since the dawn of humankind, I would say. And here we are in the middle of it again. And that makes my reading on a kind of tragic tale that also has today's date a little bit different, and that is there was an exploding whale back in 1970.
Grizz: Now there's a beautiful park in the city of Florence, Oregon, and the police officers set off half a ton of dynamite in 1970 in in a whale that had washed up on shore and and and and died. And and they they blew that whale up, and it flew everywhere. And I think it's really tragic and really sad, and at the same time, it's kind of a spectacular way to go. And and that whale is in our thoughts, in our in our minds fifty, fifty-six years later, and there's a park dedicated to it in in Florence. I mean, if that's what you gotta have to to, you know, have some kind of, you know, legacy, then there you go.
Grizz: The exploding whale. And this week, we've got our our own exploding whale with Jensen Huang. We'll see how he weathers this and how his his big company, I guess the biggest company in the world, will weather it. And that just is kinda the way the way humans are, I would say. Born born today, Neil Young. That's that's that's cool. Speaking of somebody who's who's spent his entire career making a difference, and Auguste Rodin, and I love his portraits of human beings, the way that he can turn stone into a human body. There's nothing like him.
Grizz: So let's get to the headlines. That's what we're here for. I got my guitar in front of me. This beautiful handmade guitar by Daniel Stark here in Germany, where I live. I'm kind of an expat bear, as you would say. And when you're far away from home, it only makes home seem more beautiful in a lot of ways. And that's a good segue to the climate, because we only got one Earth. So here's a few climate headlines from this week.
Grizz: Le Figaro: historic drop in global CO2 emissions in 2026. The Independent says climate crisis is here. Agence France-Presse says get serious: COP31 opens in Antalya, Turkey with leaders under pressure to tackle the climate crisis. The Guardian says ministers set to agree to steep cuts to electric vehicle targets. The Globe and Mail says Ottawa weighs ending its ban on oil and gas exploration in Arctic waters. The Arizona Republic says Arizona pulls the plug on cloud seeding. South Wales Echo says data center plan backed for approval, and I've heard that headline before.
Grizz: The Associated Press says oil shock from Iran war led to drop in carbon pollution. Oil shock from Iran war led to drop in carbon pollution. Gotta read that one again. It helps to sing the headlines so you can really think about what's going on. So we got this war happening, this terrible war. But it's got people burning less gas. There's all kinds of ways to see the way things are.
Grizz: And, you know, things like deforestation are still on the rise and all that stuff, but I'm no carbon expert. I'm just a creature here on this earth sharing it with all of you. So here's the second headline for today related to the first. Let me get that music in front of me, as in the headline. Here we go.
Grizz: The NL Times. Protesters break onto site of planned Microsoft data center in A'dam; police intervene. Dozens of protesters have climbed over or through the fence surrounding the site in Amsterdam where Microsoft plans to build a data center. The riot police are intervening, and multiple protesters have been arrested. Protesters break onto site of planned Microsoft data center, police intervene. Activists climbed over the fence with ladders they brought with them and cut a hole in the fence for others to come through. Several protesters climbed on the scaffolding in the crane where they hung a banner reading down with data centers, F AI.
Grizz: F AI. I censored that one for you. Hopefully that'll give you the idea of what happened And, you know, it's... These are interesting times. It's hard to know, you know, you look at the benefits of something like AI, and you look at the downside, and it's it's like any of these things that that we've gone through over the past couple thousand years. You develop a lay-flat book and you can do side-by-side analysis and things like that changes the world. You invent a printing press, it changes the world. You figure out how to do agriculture, all that stuff changes the world, the Industrial Revolution changes the world, so does AI. What does it do to us? It's interesting.
Grizz: Not sure. It's like something you don't see. So here's another article that that kinda made me nervous this week, and I'll just I'll just sing the headline because I I find it pretty spooky all by itself.
Grizz: By Raphael Satter, Gabriel Stargardter. French officials blame Iran for refrigerator hacks, French officials blame Iran for refrigerator hacks, they vow retaliation, they vow retaliation. French officials blame Iran for refrigerator hacks. French officials blame Iran for refrigerator hacks. They vow retaliation. They vow retaliation. Crazy. And that's about a... You know, it doesn't it doesn't sound like anything special, but it but it kind of is. You got, what, something like 700 stores in France a couple days ago were were hacked, there were fires, and and food was spoiling. And, you know, war war looks different than it used to look.
Grizz: And the thing about the the vowing retaliation, I mean, that is that is also, you know, intensely human, and, you know, is it good? Yeah. That's for you to think about and figure out. And here's here's another one. Speaking of Iran war, the guy who, you know, kind of likes what has been happening a little bit, and there's this guy that I'll just... I'll sing in the headlines. There you go. This one's by Nik Popli in TIME.
Grizz: House Republicans block Hegseth impeachment, but Democrats could revive the effort in January. The Republican led House on Tuesday narrowly rejected a push to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over unauthorized military hostilities in Iran, Venezuela and Yemen, shielding one of President Donald Trump's closest allies from an immediate reckoning, from an immediate reckoning, with setting the stage for renewed confrontation when Democrats take control of Congress in January. House Republicans block.
Grizz: They block. They could revive.
Grizz: Crazy. What we know and what we don't know. Well, we got a bunch of a bunch more headlines this week that, you know, this is kind of the way it's it's gonna start being, you know. And speaking of the national day in India, speaking of Mandela, his party fell to just under a third of the national vote, which is a pretty pretty low amount. That's in the 2026 local government elections, as far as I am hearing.
Grizz: Things are changing for good, for bad.
Grizz: Here's a few more headlines. New York Times: clear message to Trump from the 9th of November, but hazy future for U.S. Clear message to Trump, a hazy future for U.S. And that looks like hazy future for us. Hazy future for all of us. Those were Grizz's words there at the end. And then the Financial Times on the 9th of November.
Grizz: Democrats pledge to impeach Trump aides as infighting grips Republicans. Democrats pledged to impeach Trump aides as infighting grips Republicans. And the Washington Post on the 9th of November: DOJ braces for congressional investigations. A clear message to Trump, but hazy future for us. A clear message to Trump, but hazy future for all of us. Wall Street Journal, the 9th of November:
Grizz: Republican election drubbing complicates Vance and his 2028 plan. El Nuevo Herald, translated, from the 10th of November: Trump says his mass deportation mandate hurt him in the midterms. And in the Washington Post on the 10th of November: GOP's sprint to the finish. A clear message to Trump, hazy future for us. Hazy future for U.S. Thank you, New York Times.
Grizz: I think what's interesting about satire... I guess this is satire. Just by singing the news, I'm giving it a little bit of emotion. Putting my foot on the scale and putting things together in such a way that maybe it awakes our emotions of, you know, what's right, what's wrong, what feels good, what feels bad, what it means to be human. So here's here's a story about somebody who really woke up a lot of people every time he spoke. Martin Luther King Junior woke a lot of people up with his I have a dream speech. And, you know, in recent years, there's been a lot of, thinking about him as a character, and every character in history, can be looked at under a microscope, and we can see the problems in the in the humanity, the the mistakes they've made.
Grizz: Speaking of Jensen Huang, he he... Martin Luther King had similar issues to to him, apparently. But Martin Luther King changed the world in meaningful ways. There's no doubt. And and was one of the best speakers in all of humankind, all the history. And what's weird is humans like to sort of deify other humans, or I guess it's weird, or it's beautiful, it's terrible, depending on who they're deifying and who they're looking up to. One political figure, Donald Trump, got shot in the ear, and and people started sort of deifying him in different ways because that's what humans do, the same way as they they did the same with with Martin Luther King. It happens he, you know, he he was a human just like like like any other human.
Grizz: And they found... or Christie's acquired a copy, a draft of the I have a dream speech, except it's not the real I have a dream speech. It's the it's the speech, but not the I have a dream part because according to the way I've I've always heard it, and I might be wrong, you can you can tell me if I'm wrong, but apparently, Aretha... or not Aretha Franklin, another amazing singer. What was her name? I gotta look that up really quick.
Grizz: Told told Martin Luther King, hey. Hey, Martin. Tell him about the dream. I'm gonna type that in in... Into my search because it should tell me right away. There we go. Mahalia Jackson, unbelievable singer. Look up her music and be inspired by who she was. And there she was standing behind him, and she said, tell him about the dream, Martin. Why? Because she is a musician, and he is an improviser, a preacher, a speaker.
Grizz: They knew how to inspire people. She said she said, go off script. Tell them about the dream, Martin. And he did. And what's interesting is in this thing that they're selling in Christie's is somebody will have a really nice keepsake, and maybe it'll it'll go towards good. What's what's amazing about it is what's missing, and that's the humanness. That's the soul. That's the the preacher. That's the the thing that people will never forget is the thing that wasn't on the page, and that's unbelievably beautiful. So from the New York Times,
Grizz: the 10th of November. King's lost draft, King's lost draft of I Have a Dream emerges from a desk drawer. King's lost draft, King's lost draft of I Have a Dream emerges from a desk drawer. Thank you to Jennifer Schuessler, the author of that one.
Grizz: And that I have a dream speech without the I have a dream in it is is on sale in January 2027. Some sad things in the news always, or beautiful because we're hearing about them, and that's what makes them important.
Grizz: I'll open this up. It's from Amnesty International. So a serious a serious article. Came out in Reuters on November 9, but originally, it was October 30.
Grizz: Russia: the closure of Novaya Gazeta, Gazeta, Gazeta is a catastrophic loss for freedom of expression, which is already in a precarious state. In response to the announcement by Novaya Gazeta, one of the last independent newspapers in Russia, that it will cease operations from November 9th, 2026, Denis Krivosheev, deputy director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia at Amnesty International, said the closure of Novaya Gazeta is a catastrophic loss for all those in Russia who turn to independent investigative journalism to uncover the truth. This venerable newspaper, vulnerable and venerable, I'll bet, resisted for years the mounting pressure of the state, which included prosecutions, raids, and attacks on its staff.
Grizz: Some of its journalists were killed for doing their jobs. Its website was blocked, its official registration revoked, and last month it was labeled a foreign agent. Russia: the closure of Novaya Gazeta, Gazeta, Gazeta is a catastrophic loss for freedom of expression, which is already in a precarious state.
Grizz: Feels unfinished this week. That's why I'm picking the guitar like that. Some weeks are just unfinished. Like the I Have a Dream speech without the most important part. We all need that little bit of Mahalia Jackson, that little bit of Mahatma Gandhi whispering to us with their optimism, with their realism at the same time. So that's been Grizz Does the News. I appreciate you listening in. Still a bit rough around the edges, but I guess I am... Take care of each other.
Grizz: Peace. podcaststhatmatter.org.