The Pour Over Today - Wednesday, February 2, 2022

Episode Date: February 2, 2022

Joe Rogan’s response to artists leaving Spotify, another COVID milestone, a tense U.N Security Council meeting, and other top stories for Wednesday, Feb 2nd. Stay informed, while remaining focused on Christ, with The Pour Over.Sponsored by Public Goods. Get $15 off your first order by entering code THEPOUROVER:https://links.thepourover.org/publicgood_02_02

Today we're covering Joe Rogan's response to artists leaving Spotify, another COVID milestone, a tense UN Security Council meeting, and other top stories for Wednesday, February 2nd. Stay informed while remaining focused on Christ with The Pour Over. Here's the quote of the day. For the Christian, death is not the end of adventure, but a doorway from a world where dreams and adventures shrink to a world where dreams and adventures forever expand. Randy Alcorn. Let's get started with some espresso shots. The S&P 500 posted strong gains on Monday, but closed out the month down 5.3%, its worst month since March 2020. Spotify can sympathize with a bad January 1st through 30th, but a good January 31st. Stock in the streaming platform had dropped 29% as part of the broad market pullback and fears

over musicians leaving the platform in protest of Joe Rogan's podcast. But Spotify has jumped 17% since a statement from Rogan on Sunday night. Rogan said that he did not mean to offend anyone and said that he'll do his best to try and balance out those more controversial viewpoints. He thanked Spotify for their support and endorsed their decision to add a content advisory on podcasts discussing COVID while also defending the credentials of his controversial guests. Jesus showed compassion when people expected rejection, gentleness when people expected anger, and love when people expected hate. Whether you're discussing Joe Rogan's podcast or Zooming with an annoying co-worker, 1 Corinthians 13, 4 and 6. a record of wrongs. Love finds no joy in unrighteousness, but rejoices in the truth. 1 Corinthians 13, 4 and 6.

Milestones are often good things, unless they're related to COVID-19. While the official COVID death count is around 888,000, some experts say the true toll recently surpassed 1 million. Fancy data scientists track expected deaths and found that there were 1 million more than projected since the pandemic began. Some epidemiologists say that whether directly or indirectly, COVID is responsible for that discrepancy of 1 million. Meanwhile, Omicron is keeping its foot on the gas. The WHO says that globally, there have been more COVID-19 cases reported in the last 10 weeks than during all of 2020.

Pfizer also requested emergency use authorization for a vaccine regimen for children ages 6 months to 5 years. Theirs are the last little arms without an authorized vaccine. The FDA also upgraded Moderna's vaccine from emergency use to full approval. The weekly ups and downs of the pandemic can cause a roller coaster of emotions. To help you stay grounded, stay focused on God, whose love for us never changes. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of Lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. James 1.17 Tensions rose at the UN Security Council meeting Monday as members played a high-stakes blame game. Russia accused the West of whipping up tensions over Ukraine, but the U.S. says tensions are

only high because of the 100,000-plus Russian troops on Ukraine's border. Following the meeting, Moscow sent a response to a U.S. proposal aimed at de-escalating things. U.S. officials didn't share the response, meaning that it's unlikely an invitation for s'mores and a chorus of kumbaya. Belarus, Ukraine's neighbor to the north, said it supports diplomacy but would act in defense of Russia in the event of an attack. Russia and Belarus will begin holding joint military activities, and the U.S. ordered family members of its embassy personnel in Belarus to evacuate. Reminder of Jesus' backwards view on enemies, but I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you so that you may be children of your Father in heaven. Matthew 5.44.

Today's podcast is brought to you by Public Goods. Most companies that make the things that we buy most often, you know, shampoo, coffee, cleaners, etc., make some pretty illogical long-term compromises for short-term benefits. Things like labels that stand out on a store shelf but look horrible in your home, or containers with four weeks of product that take 450 years to decompose. Public Goods is different. They're the one-stop shop for sustainable, healthy, and high-quality everyday essentials. They carry no single-use plastics, no toxic chemicals, and they keep costs low. Oh, and you can actually get $15 off your first order by entering the code THEPOROVER. No spaces. There's no minimum purchase, so you've got nothing to lose. Start shopping today by clicking the link in our show notes.

In other brews, we've got a rapid round of updates. The party's over. A preliminary report called Parties marked by excessive drinking at Prime Minister Boris Johnson's house during lockdown, a, quote, serious failure that should not have been allowed to take place. Johnson has apologized and is trying to move forward, but could face a vote of no confidence later this month. Well, that was Q-U-I-C-K. Josh Wardle created the simple online word game Wordle for his wife back in October, where you guess five-letter words, and it has amassed millions of daily users seemingly

overnight. Monday, news broke that the New York Times was buying the game for a low seven figures amount. It's re-official. After 22 seasons and seven Super Bowl rings, Tom Brady is in fact retiring from the NFL. He didn't mention what's next for him, but he's expected to spend more time in his health and wellness company TB12, his Brady clothing line, his NFT company Autograph, and with his wife and three kids. Canada's Freedom Convoy protests over COVID mask mandates have continued. They've raised over $10 million, more than any Canadian political party last quarter, and gained endorsements from former President Trump and Elon Musk. Police are

investigating the appearance of swastika flags and reports of desecrating monuments, but the protests have remained largely peaceful. Flag on the play. Brian Flores, the former head coach of the Miami Dolphins, is suing the NFL and three teams alleging racial discrimination and unethical practices. Flores alleges that Dolphins owner Stephen Ross offered him $100,000 per loss to help the team's draft position and set up illegal recruitment meetings. That's our show for today. Thanks so much for listening. If you're thinking, I wish there was a way that I could help more Christians stay informed while remaining focused on Christ, here's a quick breakdown of how you can best do that. First, if you're listening on the Apple Podcast app, please give us a five-star rating and drop us a review. We really

read all of these and take them to heart. Like this review from Ken. He writes, give this podcast to listen. My sister tuned me into TPO and it's been an excellent and consistent rhythm throughout the week. I'm thoroughly encouraged by listening to this podcast as it helps me guide my thoughts through a gospel lens as we view this world and pray for our neighbors. Ken, thanks again for taking the time out of your day to submit a review. We're really, really grateful for the feedback. If you're someone listening on Spotify, please give us a follow and hit the notification bell so that you never miss a new episode. There's also an option to leave a five-star rating, so we would encourage you to do that.

And finally, the simplest way to help us grow is to send this episode to a friend. Again, we sincerely appreciate all your support, and we hope that you have a great rest of your day, and we'll see you back here on Friday.