A thread. I can't believe we're letting Trump out of the dungeon.

Wikipedia tells me:

The "Duetto buffo di due gatti" (humorous duet for two cats) is a popular performance piece for two sopranos and piano...While the piece is typically attributed to Gioachino Rossini, it was not actually written by him, but is instead a compilation written in 1825 that draws principally on his 1816 opera Otello. Hubert Hunt claims that the compiler was Robert Lucas de Pearsall, who for this purpose adopted the pseudonym "G. Berthold".

This is really wonderful. I know watching videos is the worst, so maybe you won't like it, but I laughed.

I am posting this to offset the increasingly sickening feeling we all have about the election.

Minivet writes: What are some good history podcasts?

With Mike Duncan's Revolutions drawing to a close, my well is dry. (He'll have some new podcast project, but probably not for a while and maybe not as frequent.)

I like podcasts that go into some detail, but I have been put off by the boasts of extraordinary-cum-gratuitous length in Hardcore History. Haven't listened to it though, maybe I got the wrong impression.

I think someone here mentioned the Empire podcast with William Dalrymple and Anita Anand, and I'm liking that one a lot so far. But most of what I get when I look at the History category in Apple Podcasts etc. looks gimmicky. Ridiculous History, and a lot of stuff affiliated with cable TV networks.

Suggestions on podcasts that go deep into material they actually care about?

Heebie's take: I want to ask an adjacent request, for history podcasts for a non-history-inclined person?

I don't have much tolerance for the dry history or military stuff. I also don't like it if it summarizes too much and becomes a recitation. Likable, charming hosts always help. What are some interesting and accessible history podcasts, probably a lot more pre-chewed than the one you're finding for Minivet?

Originally I posted this, then took it down because Fetterman seemed time-sensitive. But now I think we need a soothing, frivolous thread like this just to cope.

What actually happened with Fetterman last night? Is it a disaster? I can't tell from coverage and I'm not going to watch any footage.

Here's my understanding of why the Fed raises interest rates: businesses borrow money in order to grow in various ways, because they're expecting to be able to do more business over the next year. By raising interest rates, you're changing the calculus on whether or not it's worth it for businesses to expand, and thus tipping some businesses towards staying put where they're at or cutting costs in some way. Less growth means the market is cooling.

Here's my understanding of why inflation is rampant right now: supply chain is still getting un-kinked from Covid disruptions, there's a large worker shortage, there's a large housing shortage leading to rental prices skyrocketing, OPEC is cutting production, and there's a fair amount of price gouging.

Why would any of those factors respond to a rise in interest rates? How would raising interest rates lead to a decrease in inflation in this context? Am I right that this is, "Do something! This is something! Let's do it!" territory?

What would a progressive dream about to fight inflation - socialized versions of non-luxury items at stable prices, I assume? Are there other progressive tools in the toolkit (that would never, ever get political momentum)?

I have now obtained and read Brad DeLong's Slouching Toward Utopia -- do we have enough interest to pull together a book club in the usual style? Commenters take turns summarizing a few chapters, and we discuss in the comments?

There are seventeen chapters and an introduction -- if we break it up into groups of three, we'd need six people willing to participate. Anyone who's up for it, volunteer in comments and we'll work out a schedule.

This is intended to be our system for checking in on imaginary friends, so that we know whether or not to be concerned if you go offline for a while. There is no way it could function as that sentence implies, but it's still nice to have a thread.

Episode Kobe forty-one