Brian Gongol Show on WHO Radio - April 26, 2015
Podcast: Updated weekly in the wee hours of Sunday night/Monday morning. Subscribe on Stitcher, Spreaker, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or iHeartRadio
Please note: These show notes may be in various stages of completion -- ranging from brainstormed notes through to well-polished monologues. Please excuse anything that may seem rough around the edges, as it may only be a first draft of a thought and not be fully representative of what was said on the air.
Earthquake in Nepal
- At least 2,500 people have died in the earthquake
- Poverty always exacerbates natural disasters
- Wealth cushions the blow
- Nepal's economy delivers less than $1,000 per person per year
- Economic development is our best tool for saving lives in disasters
- Things are tough for Nepal to begin with -- being landlocked doesn't help matters
- But geography isn't everything -- Haiti and the Dominican Republic share an island, yet income in the Dominican Republic is seven times higher
- Nepal has had a governance problem for a long time
- In the short run, of course we should donate to groups providing immediate relief
- In the long run, we have to vote for/advocate/encourage the things that promote real, durable economic growth
Libyan refugees
- Economic differences will always promote immigration
- It's a refugee crisis
- We should recognize the similarities to our own situation right now
- Also should recognize the past -- Irish escaping potato famine, for instance
The flying-car future
- Electric airplanes are real
- Plans are in place to test the Hyperloop
- If I had to bet on a technology, I'd go with autonomous, passenger-carrying electric aircraft as the successful way of the future rather than anything on rails
Good career advice and life advice
- Always think like you're 35 around the workplace
- Going to college doesn't make you a better person than someone who doesn't, but it's one of the smoothest paths to learning after high school -- which is something everyone should do.
The cheapskate Clinton campaign
- News accounts have it that the Clinton campaign is low-balling salaries and cutting costs at every turn
- They can afford to be cheap with their employees because they have a virtual monopoly on the Democratic nomination -- anyone who doesn't get on board now doesn't really have a shot at the spoils if Clinton wins