The Young Turks - #DeSaster

Episode Date: May 25, 2023

DeSantis’ wife launches his presidential campaign with the first 2024 video: "America is worth the fight." Uber’s diversity chief put on leave after complaints of insensitivity. Birds make us happier. HOST: Ana Kasparian (@AnaKasparian) SUBSCRIBE on YOUTUBE: ☞ https://www.youtube.com/user/theyoungturks FACEBOOK: ☞ https://www.facebook.com/theyoungturks TWITTER: ☞ https://www.twitter.com/theyoungturks INSTAGRAM: ☞ https://www.instagram.com/theyoungturks TIKTOK: ☞ https://www.tiktok.com/@theyoungturks 👕 Merch: https://shoptyt.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You're listening to The Young Turks, the online news show. Make sure to follow and rate our show with not one, not two, not three, not four, but five stars. You're awesome. Thank you. Woo! It's up! Welcome to TY, I'm your host, Anna Kasperian, and as well, it is Wednesday, meaning, it is Wednesday, meaning it's going to be a little bit. bit of a strange first hour. We do have the big story of the day, which of course is Ron DeSantis

announcing that he is going to run for president. We'll get to that in just a moment. But the rest of the first hour is a little different. We're going to talk about the importance of birds. Really, the importance of birds. Birds the word. You're going to love it. So we're going to talk about that a little later. We're also going to talk about the damage we're doing to various birds as a result of our behavior, as a result of what we're doing to their habitat. So it's a really fascinating story. We'll talk about that later. We're also going to discuss some decisions that were made at Uber that I disagree with. In the second hour of the show, John Iderola will be joining to talk about the no labels organization who funds it and how

they're planning to potentially run a spoiler ticket. And both parties are so. super mad about this. But I think that there's something else at play that isn't being reported. So we'll dig deep into that story and talk about it. And there's a lot of good news coming out of Minnesota. I can't wait to share that story with you. Democrats do have a very slim majority in the state legislature there. And wouldn't you know it? Looks like they're actually able to accomplish quite a bit. A lot of great policies have just passed. So we'll talk about those policies in the second hour with John Iderola. But as always, just want to encourage you guys to like and share the stream.

Good way to get the word out about TYT and show support for what we do here. You can also support by becoming a member by going to TYT.com slash join. Oh my gosh, the head of Time Warner discovery made a statement about how we're definitely in a recession, but wait till you get a load of what he pointed to as evidence of a recession. You don't want to miss that story. That will be for our members, TYT.com slash join if you want to watch. With that said, let's get to our first story. They call it faith because in the face of darkness, you can see that brighter future.

A faith that our best days lay ahead of us. But is it worth the fight? Do I have the courage? Is it worth the sacrifice? America has been worth it every single time. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' wife, Casey, launched her husband's 2024 presidential bid with the video that you just watched. Her Twitter post on Tuesday night, the night before DeSantis is expected to announce,

included the caption, America is worth the fight every single time. Wow, brave words, brave words. Now, DeSantis is expected to make the announcement through a Twitter Spaces event alongside Elon Musk, the decision will be moderated by David Sacks, who happens to be a close business advisor to Musk. And Trump has, of course, already tried to hijack DeSantis' announcement by biciously insulting him, which is one of the only entertaining developments in this unrelentingly hellish news cycle. Resorting to his nicknames of Ron DeSanctis and Rob DeSanktonius, Trump repeated his usual talking points for the Florida governor, saying he desperately needs a personality transplant and calling him a disloyal person and a despicable or disciple of horrible rhino Ron Paul Ryan.

Does anyone even remember Paul Ryan anymore? Like I love that Trump is still obsessed with Paul Ryan. But nonetheless, Trump also turned to one of his favorite jabs and took credit for DeSantis's political success. Look, Rob De Sanctimonious came to me asking for help, Trump wrote. He was losing badly by 31 points to popular agriculture commissioner Adam Putman. Yeah, yeah, yeah, let's just pause for a second. Popular agriculture commissioner Adam Putman? I mean, everyone's talking about it.

Everyone was talking about Adam. Anyway, he was getting ready to drop, Trump continues, drop out of the race, ran a terrible campaign. Ron told me he had one last chance, my support and endorsement, which Putnam and everyone else wanted also. I gave it to Ron. And the race was over. In one day, he went from losing badly to winning by a lot. With three large Trump rallies, he won the general election in an upset disloyal. Because Trump is obsessed with the fact that Ron DeSantis would dare to run in a primary against him after Trump, to be fair to him, did help him win governor of Florida. But this is how politics works, big guy.

But let's continue with more of the insults. Trump writes further, what I think is likely to help Trump, I'm sorry, actually before I get to the next post from Trump, I should note, this is exactly what I think Trump should do if he wants to defeat DeSantis in messaging. And this is the message that he had in a subsequent truth social post. I think that he's probably going to lean into this a lot more as the primaries heat up. He wrote that Ron DeSanctis can't win the general election or get the nomination because he voted to obliterate Social Security, even wanting to raise the minimum age to 70 or more,

voted to badly wound Medicare. Look, whether the left wants to admit it or not, Trump's foe, and to be sure it's foe, economic populism, worked in 2016. And I do think he's going to tap into that again for the 2024 election. If he persistently stays on that message, he's got a great shot in beating Meatball Ron. But of course, since Trump can't help himself, he also put out this pretty outlandish and insane, all caps post, reading, quote, I built the greatest economy in the history of the world, no inflation, energy independence, and soon dominance. the strongest border ever, record best employment numbers.

Biggest taxed regulation cuts, that's definitely true. Rebuilt our military, no wars with Russia, Ukraine, or China, Taiwan, or anywhere. He did expand the drone war, of course. And the USA was respected all over the world, except for when they laughed at him as he gave a speech on the world stage. What else can I say, election interference? While Trump is having his meltdown, Nikki Haley has decided to hit DeSantis in a more strategic way by mocking him as a Donald Trump copycat. You're fired. You're fired. Then Mr. Trump said, you're fired. I love that part. Make America great again. Make America great again. Instead calling the Russian invasion a territorial

dispute, even some Republicans on the hill with tough words for DeSantis. Do you want Ukraine to win this war? I don't think in terms of winning and losing. Anybody here would do it. Judges are a priority. And honestly, we have businesses that have been locked down in lives. We're going to put in lives in Detroit, for Uber. I got to say, I love the parts of that ad that show Ron DeSantis mimicking Donald Trump's hand gestures, because he is a copycat. I mean, it's obvious, it's clear, and those examples make it clear. Haley also released a three-page memo slamming DeSantis for his lack of personality and people skills, as if she's got a big personality and lots of people skills.

But to be fair, the critique against Ron DeSantis, lacking charisma, is an accurate criticism. I mean, this was the panicked look on his face after reporters asked him about Trump's insults. And honestly, it's hard to get the cringy image out of my head. But Haley also took a jab at DeSantis' alleged willingness to engage in petty political fights, which really does make one wonder why she's attacking DeSantis on that rather than Trump. In fact, any time Haley has had the opportunity to attack Donald Trump, she refuses to do it. She'll instead pretend like she's all about civility. Back to my original question, though, because anybody that is looking or seeking a nomination,

you're going to be comparing and contrasting your policy positions, your views, what direction you want to take the country with your competitors. Right now, there's former President Trump as the only other candidate for the nomination. We expect many others, maybe even Mike Pompeo who was on earlier in the program today. Where do you see, if you see, policy differences beyond what you mentioned, which are generational differences? What specific policy areas would you, would you say part with Donald Trump? What I am saying is I don't kick sideways, I'm kicking forward.

Joe Biden is the president, he's the one I'm running against. And what I'm saying is you don't have to be 80 years old to be president. What happened, Nikki? I mean, you're throwing punches at DeSantis before he even announced officially that he's running. I thought that you kick sideways, or not sideways, you kick forward. I mean, it's just, it's really interesting. Now maybe Haley knows she's a long shot presidential candidate. And she's banking on Trump winning again and possibly handing her another cabinet position.

Maybe she's holding out hope for VP. Maybe she, like all other GOP losers who sucked up to Trump only to get burned later, has a death wish. I don't know. What I do know is that all of these Republican candidates, whether it be Trump, DeSantis, or Haley, stand for politics that exacerbate the challenges America's already facing. They all love to distract the American people with culture wars that pit us against one another. And as soon as we're distracted with that, they dole out goodies for their corporate donors. One of the only things that Trump accomplished during his time as president was tax cuts for the rich and an expanded drone war abroad.

Nikki Haley has been a longtime darling of the private defense industry. The idea of Haley is commander in chief as more government officials beat anti-Chry. war drums is concerning to say the least. And as we all know, Mipa Rahn has been particularly vicious and censorious in the state of Florida. He has paved the way for hatred toward educators. He has created a situation in which we're now seeing books being banned. We have abortion bans in Florida. And there are of course other authoritarian big government laws in the state of Florida, all as he boasts about being a warrior for freedom. But look, the silver lining here is that we get to watch them fight, and I sure as hell

will continue to enjoy that. There isn't really much else in the news to enjoy anyway. All right, I'm going to take a quick break, guys. When we come back, there's a massive B block for you about something that just transpired at Uber, but I want to make a broader point about some of the diversity trainings that are taking place at these major corporations. Stick around. We'll be right back. I've felt for a long time, have not aired on the show, but it needs to be said. Get ready. Uber has placed Bo Young Lee, its head of diversity, on leave after she moderated a couple of employee events that made the horrifying mistake of including the perspectives of white

female employees. After several years of diversity, equity, and inclusion trainings, making it clear that the inclusion part is really meant to exclude the, you know, participation of white women, some employees at Uber didn't take kindly to the sudden paradigm shift. Backlash from Uber workers who felt the topic was insensitive spooked the company's execs who immediately decided to place Lee on leave. Now, the future of their longtime diversity, equity, and inclusion chief is uncertain. The New York Times writes that employees' concerns centered on a pair of events that were billed as diving into the spectrum of the American white

woman's experience and hearing from white women who work at Uber with a focus on the Karen persona. They were intended to be an open and honest conversation about race according to the invitation. Employees turned to the company's slack to complain and express that they didn't like that some of their white colleagues saw Karen as a derogatory term. But as we all know, Karen absolutely is a derogatory term. Are we really going to pretend like it's not? Employees felt the event organizers were minimizing racism and the harm white people can inflict on people of color by focusing on how Karen is a hurtful word, according to messages and an employee who attended the events.

Well, it's a derogatory term. That's why it's used in a derogatory sense after someone is perceived to have engaged in bad behavior. Now, the controversy didn't die down. Weeks later, the Karen conundrum was aired in a company-wide meeting. Several weeks after the first event, a black woman asked during an Uber All Hands meeting, how the company would prevent tone deaf, offensive, and triggering conversations from becoming a part of its diversity initiatives. Lee replied, arguing that while the discussions can sometimes feel uncomfortable, they were important and necessary to have. Sometimes being pushed

out of your own strategic ignorance is the right thing to do. That's what she said. Now, as you can imagine that comment did not really do much to calm the situation down and instead sparked additional outrage and complaints to executives. So Lee decided to hold a second event, which was intended to be a dialogue where employees could express how they felt about what they heard during the first event. But that led to even more complaints. In Slack, groups for black and Hispanic employees at Uber fumed that instead of a chance to provide feedback, or have a dialogue. They were instead being lectured about their response to the initial don't call me Karen event. One person wrote, I felt like I was being scolded for the entirety

of that meeting. Another employee took issue with the premise that the term Karen shouldn't be used. Look, I'm going to be honest with you, in the workplace, you shouldn't be calling your co-workers, Karen's. It's just not a good idea. And by the way, just let that sink in for a moment. employees were openly angry that they couldn't use a derogatory word against some of their colleagues. This type of work environment is just fantastic. I mean, it's not hostile at all. Now, in response to the apparent uproar, Uber's chief executive and chief people officer sent employees an internal email and asked Bo Young Lee to step back and take a leave of absence while they determine next steps.

The email also let employees know that, quote, we have heard that many of you are in pain and upset by yesterday's moving forward session. While it was meant to be a dialogue, it's obvious that those who attended did not feel heard. Look, I got to be honest, simply treating employees equally and providing a space for some to gently push back on the Karen narrative, is nothing compared to the several years people have been consuming speeches, like the one Dr. Aruna Kilanani gave at Yale in 2022. I had the fancies of unloading a revolver into the head of any wet person that got in my way, daring their body, and working my bloody hands that walked away relatively difficult.

Like I did the world of favor. Yeah. I just want to reiterate what you heard there. the audio wasn't great, so just in case you didn't hear it. During a speech at Yale in April of 2022, Dr. Aruna Kilanani said, and I quote, I had fantasies of unloading a revolver into the head of any white person that got in my way, burying their body and wiping my bloody hands as I walked away relatively guiltless, with a bounce in my step, like I did the world an effing favor. Okay, now that might seem like a bizarre, isolated incident.

And to be honest, the rhetoric there is rare. I haven't heard rhetoric that extreme, but there is an entire industry where authors and academics make a killing, conducting trainings that simply tell white workers to shut their mouths and take kindly to hours of being told they're all the same. They're all racist, they're all hateful, they all deserve what's coming to them. And it should come to no surprise that DEI trainings like this have led to lawsuits because they include, you know, discrimination. In 2020, at least half a dozen people who had been employed by the New York City Department of Education filed lawsuits or won settlements in cases relating to mandatory DEI trainings. What I'm also not surprised about is how lucrative this industry is.

After George Floyd's murder, as companies face pressure to demonstrate a commitment to racial justice, interest in diversity, equity, and inclusion exploded. The American market reached an estimated $3.4 billion in 2020 alone. Take Cyra Rao and Regina Jackson as just one example. They run a business called Race to Dinner, and wealthy white women across the country pay them handsomely to come to their dinner parties to bash the hub. host and her white friends as racist. They do this without knowing anything about the dinner guests, without ever having interacted with them. All they know about these individuals is

the color of their skin and automatically they assume these white women have anti-black prejudice in their hearts. How much do they charge? Well, if you ask me a lot, each dinner party initially cost $2,500 total, but the rate increased to $5,000 in 2020. Gee, I wonder why. The funds cover a two-hour dinner, which includes support from race to dinner's business developer, planning, travel for Jackson and Rao, and when applicable, a post-event consultation. The cost of food was not included in the original dinner party fee. This is the perfect example of a DEI-related grift that allows economically privileged women to engage in performative acts to feel like they're doing their part to fight racism.

Of course, they're not actually doing anything to fight racism at all. And if they want to pay for that, great. But the race to dinner ladies have also published books and even put out a movie called Deconstructing Karen. As a result, their simplified portrayal of white women seeps into the public consciousness and discourse. Their words, as void of evidence as they may be, are treated as fact. But don't worry, they also think immigrants to America are automatically anti-Black racist as Well, Cyra will generally say that she is anti-black and everybody will pivot towards me. And I go, well, and black people know it. The gig is up. We know that you, every person who comes

to this country as an immigrant believes themselves to be better than us. Based on what? What evidence is there that immigrants come into the country and automatically see themselves as higher up the food chain or the hierarchy than black people, there's no evidence of that. Look, I think this discourse has had a devastating impact on the country. Because when you mix business interests with the branding of social justice, chances are the objective is really about profit rather than actually addressing systemic issues. And if the main problem is systemic racism, why are we all engaging in this toxic witch hunt? Sussing out people. we perceive to be problematic does nothing to address racism in our criminal justice system.

It does nothing to improve educational curriculum in our schools. And it fails to ensure that people of color have equal opportunities to wealthier white people. We've been conditioned to think that generalizations about entire groups of people is somehow okay, as if it doesn't contradict the fight against racism. We've taken the bait in this extremely successful. divide and conquer strategy. And to be honest, I've been struck by how effortlessly callous the online discourse has become. Any out of context viral video that features a conflict with a white woman is automatically considered evidence of a racist act. Even before we have all the details.

The latest example involved a pregnant hospital worker named Sarah Comrie in New York. She was captured on video during an argument she had with a black man over a city bike in Manhattan. in Manhattan. The man claimed that he paid for the bike rental, but Comrie disagreed. Help, help me, please help me. Please help me. Please help me. Help me. Please get off. What's going on? The dominant online narrative was that this racist pregnant woman tried to steal a bike from a black man and then made herself out to be a victim with her white tears. Her attorney later provided receipts claiming that she, in fact, paid for the bike. But it felt like no one thought it might be a good idea to just wait and see what the

truth was before attacking her. Her employer at Bellevue Hospital was immediately contacted. She was placed on leave pending an investigation. Now her attorney is looking to potentially sue media outlets that propagated false allegations about his client, but we still don't know the story. And it's better to wait and see how this develops before people try to destroy a stranger's life and livelihood. So do we feel better about racism in America today? It certainly feels like we're becoming more divided. We're definitely more obsessed with whipping out our phones to surveil one another because God forbid we failed to capture one of our peers in their worst moments. Simply put, I absolutely loathe this crap. And I can't pretend like I'm above

it because I engaged in a lot of it myself and I have deep regrets about that. Karen hunting is a destructive symptom of the powerlessness people feel as they're more atomized and alienated from those around them. It's the abscess that forms from the lack of an organized movement that values the humanity of individuals while fighting institutions that propagate inequality. It's what happens when society fails to understand the critical nature of solidarity and fighting systems of oppression. The Karen narrative flattens an entire category of people, white women, as malignant members of society whose toxicity lay dormant until they're in the presence

of people of color. It's ridiculous. But back to DEI trainings. Is there any evidence that they even work? Well, over the years, social scientists who have conducted careful reviews of the evidence base for diversity training have frequently come to discouraging conclusions. Though diversity training workshops have been around in one form or another since at least the 1960s, few of them are ever subjected to rigorous evaluation and those that are mostly appear to have little or no positive long-term effects. The lack of evidence is disappointing, wrote Elizabeth Levy Palick of Princeton and her co-authors in a 2021 annual review of psychology article considering the frequency with which calls for diversity training emerge in the wake

of widely publicized instances of discriminatory conduct. In fact, there are unfortunately even some studies that indicate these trainings could be causing more harm than good. I mean, certainly if you're being told by your colleagues that you're automatically a bad person and you're very likely racist because of the color of your skin, got to cause some hostility in the workplace, no? Now, in the case of DEI, Dr. Dobbin and Dr. Caliv warn that diversity training that is mandatory or that threatens dominant group's sense of belonging or makes them feel blamed may elicit negative backlash or exacerbate biases. Yeah. I mean, no surprise there. So if employers insist on DEI trainings, they shouldn't shun discussions that are actually inclusive. But personally, I'd rather encourage employees to go out and grab a drink together after work. They should bond and get to know each other without a

third party mediator making money off of their interactions. An employee should understand that any effort to improve their working conditions and to do something about actual systemic racism as a whole is reliant on solidarity with their fellow co-workers. Despite the protests, I think Uber's diversity chief had the right idea. If you're going to implement diversity, equity, and inclusion trainings at the workplace, they should be inclusive of everyone's thoughts, feelings, and participation. Oh, let's move on. We've got a lot more to get to, including this next story, which is kind of out of, not out of left field. We kind of covered it earlier this week,

but Lauren Bobert stepped in it and I couldn't pass up an opportunity to discuss it. I left a prescription at pharmacy once. I went to get birth control and I was there at the counter and went to pay for it and the price was very, very high. I said, wow, is this a three, six month prescription? No ma'am, this is one month. And I said, it's cheaper to have a kid. And I left it there and now I have my third son, Caden Bobert. And so I'm actually, it turned out to be a really great thing. Has anyone checked to see if Lauren Bobert actually graduated high school?

I'm serious, I'm not even joking around about that. Now, Lauren Bobert, a congresswoman, is such a genius that she thinks raising a child is more affordable than birth control. While we're all aware that she has not a lot going on up there, she's no Rhodes Scholar. Even I was naive enough to think that she had an understanding of, you know, basic math. But I guess I was wrong. Bobert made that insanely stupid comment during a house hearing on the cost of prescription drugs. Instead of focusing on how the astronomical costs of prescription drugs has negatively impacted the lives of countless Americans, including her constituents, she used the hearing to advocate for having lots of kids just like she did.

She doesn't want to address the lack of support American families get due to policies she supports. She doesn't want to talk about the economic stresses that discourage young couples from starting a family. No, no, she can't be bothered with that. So instead, she insults our intelligence by declaring that raising kids is cheaper than the pill. Okay, so let's dig into reality for a moment. Statistics from the Brookings Institution, an economic think tank, show that the average middle income family with two children will spend 310,6505. to raise a child born in 2015 up to age 17. That doesn't even take into account the absurd costs of higher education.

Inflation has played a huge role in creating an untenable situation for most couples who want to have kids. Just the estimated annual family expenses for that now second grader, they've gone up from around $12,500, which you're already thinking, I'd like to pay a little bit less when that person was born up to more than $18,270 a year. So that is an increase in that little bit of time of 45%. Nobody likes that. As any parent will tell you, those first years, they're typically the most expensive because of things like diapers and formula. That's stuff you're obviously not buying at age seven, yet the costs still skyrocketing. Then you get into the everyday things, things like grocery and childcare.

care. These things are up 25%. Okay, that is a little bit harder to deal with, all right? The average home price and health insurance, this is the big whammy, the triple whammy, if you will, family of four. These costs are up more than 40%. 40%. Great. So how expensive is birth control? I'm sure the costs are comparable since Bovert was willing to publicly make the statements she made. Well, she wasn't specific about the birth control she was referring to, and there are several kinds for women. Bobert referred to prescription medication, so for the sake of this discussion, let's assume she was talking about the pill.

Prior to the Affordable Care Act, contraceptive provision in 2012, of course, about 15% of people on birth control pills were paying no out-of-pocket costs for oral contraceptives, like the birth control pill. According to our research, using the medical expenditure panel survey, that percentage jumped to nearly 67% in 2017 to 2018, which is consistent with other scientific literature. Among people that pay for birth control pills, the average annual out-of-pocket expenditure is $226 for the insured population and $268 for those without insurance. This is an additional expense on top of any required out-of-pocket payment to the doctor for initial consolation.

which average $87 annually. For those paying cash at the pharmacy for birth control pills, prices for 30 day fills range from $22 to $79 among the most popular pills. So the average cost of birth control would be $264 to $948 per year, respectively. In other words, birth control can absolutely be expensive, yes, and difficult to obtain for low income women, especially if they're they're uninsured, but more expensive than raising a kid, be serious now, Bobo, be serious. But I mean, when has there been a house hearing where Lauren Bobert didn't embarrass herself?

I mean, at this point, we should just expect it. All right, we got to take a break. When we come back, we've got more news for you, including that bird story, I promised you. Believe me, you're going to love it. Welcome back to the show, everyone, just want to make a quick announcement. So John Ed Roll is actually out today, but Woz will join me for hour two. So look forward to that after we get through this next segment. But don't worry, I have a feeling you guys are going to appreciate this next

segment. It's not really political. It's different from what we typically do, but I thought the story was fascinating to say the least, and it could help you with your mental health. So let's do it. A growing body of research shows that seeing and hearing birds could improve our mental health. When you really think about it, it makes sense. Research and anecdotal evidence has consistently shown that spending more time in nature is associated with better mental and physical health. What about understanding what are the benefits of bird songs? Recent data has shown that listening to bird songs has been associated with improved

mood, alleviating symptoms of depression, anxiety, and even paranoia. In this recent study, they found that participants who listened to at least six minutes of bird noises, which included a diverse array of birds, were associated with those benefits. And so it's just a tactic that you can use to help brighten your morning, listening to bird noises. And for those of us who live in New York who only hear sirens. I know, that's a part of it. As we were talking about being a New Yorker, you feel like bird noises kind of go away, but they don't. Studies also show that if you listen and you actively listen and be present in your environment, you can listen to those bird noises. He's absolutely right about that.

The great thing about birds is that they're literally everywhere. Whether you live in a rural part in the country or even a densely populated big city, you very likely hear songbirds chirping away outside your window. My favorite neighbor is the great horned owl that's pictured here, giving us a sultry come hither stare. He likes to hoot away in the trees near our home. As I read about corrupt politicians, mass shootings, and other destruction for the show super early in the morning, I can hear him and I absolutely love it. Mr. Owl manages to put a smile on my face regardless of the terrible subject matter I'm reading about. Now, I know I'm not the only one who feels this way because several studies do indicate

that many experience improved emotions simply by hearing birds. In one study, researchers asked about 1,300 participants to submit reports about their environment and well-being three times a day using an app called Urban Mind. Now, the researchers wanted to study the impact of birds, but the participants were not privy to that. The app also collected data about the sleep quality, subjective assessment of air quality and location details. By analyzing the data, the researchers found a significant positive association between seeing or hearing birds and improved mental well-being, even when accounting for other possible

explanations such as education, occupation, or the presence of greenery and water, which have themselves been associated with positive mental health. The benefits persisted well beyond the bird encounter. If a participant reported seeing or hearing birds at one point, their mental well-being was higher on average hours later, even if they did not encounter birds the next check-in or at the next check-in. So in another study, participants were asked to listen to six minute audio recordings of various sounds, including traffic noise and birds. The bird sounds were divided into two different categories, diverse bird sounds, which included eight different species, and less diverse bird songs that only had two birds

included. Now, the researchers then had these subjects measure their emotional and cognitive states. And here are the results. Participants who listen to more diverse bird songs featuring the acoustic acrobatics of eight species reported a decrease in depressive symptoms in addition to significant decreases in feelings of anxiety and paranoia. And those who listen to less diverse bird songs, two bird species, also reported a significant decrease in feelings of anxiety and paranoia. Now, unsurprisingly, for me at least, the traffic noise worsened symptoms of depressive states. Emile Stobbe, who's one of the authors of the study, emphasizes the healing aspects of the

world around us. But a growing body of research and the ever-expanding list of endangered species makes it clear that birds are in fact in trouble. They've been under threat, thanks to habitat loss, diseases like avian flu, and even Floridian blueberry farmers who want to protect their bushes. No, really, they want to protect their bushes from berry-loving birdies. In Florida, in April, state wildlife officials charged two men with shooting and killing colorful migratory cedar wax wings, including a blueberry farmer trying to keep them off his bushes. Also in Florida, a man was charged with driving a golf cart into a flock of American black skimmers on the beach, killing five birds because he is an awful person. And don't be fooled by those. And don't be fooled by those

anecdotal examples, because if you take a step back and look at the bigger picture, the situation for birds is pretty bad. Scientists estimate more than 3 billion birds have been lost in the United States since 1970, and dozens of species are considered endangered, threatened or at risk. Some of the most at risk include the California Condor, which happens to be the largest and rarest bird in the United States. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, there were only 561 California Condors left in 2022. But believe it or not, we've made some progress in repopulating these birds because back in the 1980s, their population had already

dwindled to a mere 22 birds. And the reverse is true for the island scrub J, which can only be found on Santa Cruz Island off the state of California. At one point, there were as many as 12,000 of these vibrantly blue acorn lovers. Today, there are just 2,300 because humans actually have been doing a pretty good job destroying the small slice of land that these island scrub jays inhabit. Island scrub jays have the smallest range, meaning that they exist on one small island that once had the perfect conditions for them to thrive in. Since the birds live for tasty eggorns, they need plenty of oak chaparral to gather and store their tasty treats for the winter.

When humans introduced non-native mammals to the island, it actually ended up decimating the ecosystem there. Luckily, conservationists have been working hard to reverse this man-made damage. Every of the oak chaparral is one of the big signs of habitat recovery across the Channel Islands. The island scrub jays, aphalachima insularis, may be catalyzing that recovery. The disturbance by non-native vertebrates was slowly removed. And since then, we've witnessed this amazing recovery of the ecosystem. They like to take seeds from a tree, fly with them, and hide them in the ground, which serves as food storage for times of food scarcity. And it's kind of a trick how the trees get their seeds out into the landscape.

They hide up to 5,000, 6,000 seeds per season. And when the winter isn't that bad or an animal forget some of the seeds, the acorns that stay in the ground are effectively dispersed. Man, they're, they're burying 5 to 6,000 seeds per season. I mean, those are some busy birds. There are other birds under threat in the United States, though. Last October, the North American Bird Conservation Initiative published its sobering state of the birds report. They found that more than half of bird species in the country are in decline. About 70 species of birds have lost at least half of their populations in the past 50 years and are poised to lose the other half in the next half century if conservation efforts are not significantly rampant.

up. Those 70 species are not yet listed as threatened or endangered, but are at a tipping point according to the report. And that doesn't even include the birds that have already gone extinct, or have come dangerously close to being extinct, like the ivory-billed woodpecker. The woodpecker hadn't been cited since 2004. But luckily, researchers believe they spotted these beauties in Louisiana recently. Researchers with the National Avery in Pittsburgh claim that they have captured images of the ivory-billed woodpecker on motion-activated trail cameras that have placed, that they have placed in Louisiana. The group reportedly recorded the birds in bottomland hardwood forests. Sounds fun. And I really hope that the sighting was real.

The researchers also say that by using drones to scan the treetops for the birds in 2019, they were able to capture, quote, numerous images of the woodpeckers. So while the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wanted to declare the woodpeckers extinct in 2021, some scientists are urging them to hold off considering the latest alleged sightings. And while humans have undoubtedly caused a great deal of damage to the planet and the wildlife around us, What makes me hopeful is how humans have also brought back some animals from the brink of extinction, like the American bald eagle. Striani is a New York City urban park ranger sergeant. Plenty of open space thrown the hunt.

He's been part of a more than 20 year effort to bring the bald eagles back to New York. The birds used to be plentiful here, but pollution of the city's rivers and the pesticide DDT brought them to the brink of extinction. What happened was the eggshells got really thin from this pesticide. The eggs would break and they weren't reproducing. How dire did things get for the bald eagles here? Basically, they were almost extinct from New York State. Starting in 2001, the Parks Department relocated 20 fledgling eagles from Alaska and Wisconsin to Manhattan's in Woodhill Park.

That's Rob back in 2006 feeding the baby eagles. The U.S. government banned the use of DDT in 1972. And in recent years, more funding and resources have been put toward cleaning up New York's rivers. Now, the Eagles are thriving. Just keep the Eagles away from Donald Trump. Just as long as you do that, everything will be okay. Now, examples like that should give us hope. Sometimes the issue of climate change can feel so impossible and overwhelming.

But we have clear examples of successful outcomes when it comes to repopulating bird populations. And that's good news. That shows that humans can have a real impact. And for all the negative stories we cover every single day that include all sorts of terrible people, we really do have to hand it to the hardworking conservationists who are going out of their way to ensure that they repopulate bird species that are on the brink of extinction or currently endangered. I have a lot of gratitude for people like that.

They give up a lot in order to ensure that they're protecting the planet and the wildlife. around us. We're going to take a quick break. When we come back, Wozni Lombre joins me for the second hour of the show. We have some updates on Ron DeSantis and his big announcement. Don't miss it. We'll be right back. Thanks for listening to the full episode of the Young Turks. Support our work, listen ad-free, access members-only bonus content, and more by subscribing to Apple Podcasts at apple.com at apple.com slash t-y-t. I'm your host, Shank Huger, and I'll see you soon. Thank you.