The Pour Over Today - Wednesday, May 3, 2023

Episode Date: May 3, 2023

Today, we’re talking about the Writers’ Strike in Hollywood, looming debt default, the Godfather of AI, and other top news for Wednesday, May 3rd. Stay informed while remaining focused on Christ with The Pour Over. Sponsored by LMNT

Today, we're talking about the writer's strike in Hollywood, looming debt default, the godfather of AI, and other top news for Wednesday, May 3rd. Stay informed while remaining focused on Christ with The Pour Over. Here's the quote of the day. All great and honorable actions are accompanied with great difficulties, and both must be enterprised and overcome with answerable courage. William Bradford. Let's get started with some espresso shots. Over 11,000 members of the Writers Guild of America, or WGA, are watching reruns at home

this week. For the first time since 2007, Hollywood writers are putting down their pens and picketing up signs after contract negotiations with big studios like Disney and Netflix failed. The main sticking points stem from the impact of streaming services, which tend to have shorter seasons and smaller residual pay, creating a gig-like economy for writers. Writers also want assurances they won't be replaced by AI. Quick turnaround shows, SNL, The Jimmys, Kimmel, and Fallon, will stop production immediately, while fall shows, Grey's Anatomy, The Chicagos, Fire, Med, and PD, may be delayed as writing for the fall normally starts in May or June. The last writer's strike lasted for 100 days and cost roughly $2 billion in economic damage. Reminder of the Bible's upside-down negotiation advice. Do nothing out

of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves. Everyone should look not to his own interests, but rather to the interests of others. Philippians chapter 2, verses 3-4. Uncle Sam may bump his head on the ceiling sooner than expected. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen informed Congress that the U.S. could default on its debt as soon as June 1st, much earlier than expected, largely because of lower-than-expected tax receipts. Yellen re-emphasized warnings that defaulting would lead to economic catastrophe, including soaring interest rates, job losses,

and disruptions to Social Security and military families' payments. All that will be avoided if Congress raises or removes the debt ceiling. President Biden invited the congressional Big Four, McCarthy, Jeffries, Schumer, and McConnell, to the White House to discuss the crisis on May 9th. Republicans want to attach spending cuts to raising the debt ceiling, while Democrats want a clean bill without policy attachments. Our response to things outside of our control, like the debt ceiling, should reflect our faith in Christ and be an encouragement to others. In the face of anxiety-inducing news, seek to reflect the peace of God, which surpasses understanding. Philippians chapter 3 verse 20 says,

But our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly await a savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ. Jeffrey Hinton, the godfather of AI, is having second thoughts. Hinton's pioneering work on neural networks became the foundation for today's AI products. But he just resigned from Google, saying he wants to freely discuss the risks of his creation. He clarified that he thinks Google itself has acted very responsibly, but AI as a whole is advancing too rapidly. Hinton said he's concerned AI will spread misinformation, upend the job market, and could even create robot soldiers, but that he consoles himself with the normal excuse, if I hadn't done it, somebody else would have. No word on robot soldiers, but AI has recently translated a person's brain activity into text, and a new study found chat GPT provided more

empathetic responses than a human doctor. Here's a verse to consider whether you're worried about an Alexa uprising or more common anxieties. The earth and everything in it, the world and its inhabitants, belong to the Lord, for he laid its foundation on the seas and established it on the rivers. Psalm, chapter 24, verses 1 through 2. This episode is sponsored by Element. Electrolytes are mostly salt, so if your electrolyte drink is sweet, then, um, well, yeah. Popular electrolyte drinks, think things that end in "-ade", usually have low amounts of electrolytes in suboptimal ratios and contain fillers.

Element is the tasty electrolyte drink that gives you everything you need and nothing you don't. That means a science-backed electrolyte ratio, 1,000 milligrams sodium, 200 milligrams potassium, 60 milligrams magnesium, and no sugar. Element is giving the pour-over listeners eight single-serve packs free with any order. This is a great way to try all eight flavors or share Element with a friend. Don't worry, they offer no-questions-asked refunds. It's truly risk-free, so find the link in our show notes and try it today. In other brews, here's a rapid round of updates. Silicon Valley Bank held the title of second-largest bank failure in U.S. history, for less than two months before First Republic Bank stole the ignoble title Monday morning.

The FDIC seized control of First Republic, then sold the majority of its assets to J.P. Morgan for $10.6 billion. Investors think they got a good deal. JPM stock jumped 3%. Investors think they got a good deal. JPM stock jumped 3%. At least six people died and dozens were injured when a blinding dust storm caused by dry conditions and freshly cultivated fields led to low visibility in Illinois Monday morning. 72 vehicles piled up in both directions on I-55 south of Springfield, Illinois, and at least two tractor trailers caught fire. Authorities are looking for help in identifying two of the victims.

The ongoing protests against French President Macron's controversial pension reforms got a boost on Monday, which was a workers' rights holiday. The Interior Ministry said 782,000 people took to the streets, though union officials say there were over 2 million protesters. Clashes between protesters and security forces left at least 108 officers injured and 291 people in handcuffs. A newly revealed private calendar shows Jeffrey Epstein's circle of associates, even after he was jailed in 2008 on solicitation charges, was wider than previously known. The calendar includes meetings with the current CIA director, President Obama's White House counsel, the president of Bard College,

top women in finance, and others. NYC's Metropolitan Museum of Art had a costume party, the Met Gala, Monday night. This year's theme was designer Karl Lagerfeld, who died in 2019. Multiple guests paid tribute to his famous cat, while others questioned why Lagerfeld was being honored given his controversial comments. Other highlights included a roach, Jared Leto in a looks-too-much-like-a-real-cat-mascot outfit, and Pedro Pascal in shorts. That's all we have for today. Thanks so much for listening. If you're listening on the Apple Podcasts app, give us a 5-star rating and drop a review.

If you're listening on Spotify, give us a follow and hit the notification bell to never miss a new episode. We appreciate your support and hope you have a great day. We'll see you on Friday.