More international items?
First, congratulations on your new venture! [I was worried I might lose "my Rising kids"--I'm old enough to call you that. ;) ] I know your emphasis has been more on domestic issues and party politics, and I appreciate your valuable insight in those matters. I have a personal interest in China's actions toward Taiwan and Australia--would love to hear more of your thoughts on our domestic debate on how to deal with China. Also, please revisit the situation facing the interpreters in Afghanistan--that needs to be in the news more. I heard that Australia has closed their embassy there. [The United States of Al show has better coverage than the "news" shows.] Emily and Ryan did a great job this morning on Rising--I'm going to have to find time to listen to both shows now.
Joe Rogan
Not so much a question but comment regarding Joe Rogan. I was a little puzzled , maybe I missed it, you guys did not make any comments regarding Rogan's comments about vaccinations. Now I like Rogan and I find most of his guests very interesting and the questions he asks to the point except when it comes to politics where he is very easily swayed in the wrong direction due to his lack of preparation since by his own admission he does not follow politics. His response to his comments about vaccination was that he is not a scientist and he is a moron. he is not a moron but he should know people listen and follow morons.
COVID-19 Origins
I'm really excited about the new show and hope that the new format allows deeper dives into pressing issues. In terms of COVID-19, I've most enjoyed your segments, but really, really wish you would have on actual practicing virologists/epidemiologists rather than the normal cast of journalists and talking heads. Part of the problem with the last year plus of the pandemic is watching science happen in real time. It's messy and all about scientists agreeing/disagreeing with each other based on research and scientific data and coming to a consensus. Things change based on that research/data and it's not just people changing their opinion. If you need a place to start, check out the podcast, This Week in Virology (https://www.microbe.tv/twiv/). It's a rotating cast of virologists and expert guests. It's very high-level, but they do a great job of explaining things. They've done a ton of episodes on Covid-19 over the past year, but the past couple have been about Covid-19 origins with guests who are actually looking into the science. At the very least, it will keep you up-to-date with what's going on in Covid-19 research vs. what the talking heads are saying.