Bashar al-Assad, Ed Snowden, and Tal Bachman in Putin's Heisman House

Your favorite podcast is back atop feeds all over the universe to discuss the most important news of the week, by which we mean we will first spend half an hour hearing tell of an arena rock concert featuring two of the worst bands from the late 90s and early 2000s as experienced by our intrepid cultural experiencer and reporter, the one and only Abe. Listen, if you must! Has something we said, or failed to say, made you FEEL something? You can tell us all about it by joining the conversation on our Substack or you can send us an email here. Enjoy!

Show Rundown
Open — Abe in the World, Concert Edition
38:12 — WGAS NewsBag: United Healthcare CEO murder suspect caught
1:05:00 — The fall of Bashar al-Assad
1:16:00 — The Word of 2024 is “brain rot”
1:18:04 — Did CBS News’ Senior National News Correspondent Mark Strassmann Get Off a Good One?
1:33:14 — Train Ruins The Billboard Hot 100 Game
1:52:00 — Wrap-up! Y2K, Die Hard, Station Eleven

Relevant Linkage

Slate: With Arms Wide Open: How did Creed, the most hated band of the 1990s, become so beloved—and even cool? I sailed the seas with thousands of fellow lunatics to find out.

WSJ: Manhunt for UnitedHealthcare CEO Killer Meets Unexpected Obstacle: Sympathy for the Gunman

NYT: Reaction to C.E.O. Killing Exposes Frustrations With Health System — In some quarters, the suspect in Brian Thompson’s murder is being defended and even applauded by Americans who share his outrage over the insurance industry.

BBC: Killing of insurance CEO reveals simmering anger at US health system

CNN: Where is Assad? Russia solves the mystery of the Syrian dictator’s escape

Reuters: Syrian rebels topple Assad who flees to Russia in Mideast shakeup

NYT: Oxford’s 2024 Word of the Year Is… (It’s “brain rot)

NPR: Writer Thoreau warned of brain rot in 1854. Now it's the Oxford Word of 2024

AP: Will AI replace doctors who read X-rays, or just make them better than ever?