Michael Kosta Reports On The U.S. House Speaker Race & California Believes Bees are Fish | Emily Oster

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Yeah, let's start in the Middle East. The war is now and its second week and shows no sign of stopping. But today President Biden landed in Israel to try to help out. He made it all the way down the stairs, mission accomplished, already off to a great start, and while he was there, he had some important advice for a country going to war in response to a terrorist attack.

Justice must be done. But I caution you this. While you feel that rage, don't be consumed by it. After nine to eleven, we were enraged in the United States. While we saw justice and got justice, we also made mistakes.

Wow, wise words from President Biden. Anytime an American president admits a mistake, it's a big deal. So Israel please learn from us. Don't stay in Afghanistan for more than twenty years, tops. But Biden's right, America made some serious mistakes after nine to eleven, Iraq, Guantanamo, frosted tips by

Congressman Jim Jordan's second bid to become speaker was defeated on the House floor.

He actually lost some of the support he had in the first round.

The people that are involved don't actually know what's going on.

It is frankly embarrassing.

The biggest circle jerk at the history of circles or jerks.

Apparently you can just say circle jerk on TV. What's next. Congressional leaders met today and what can best be described as a violent bukocki. But that's right. Jim Jordan lost by twenty votes. Yesterday spent all night meeting holdouts one on one trying to win them over and then lost by twenty two votes. This afternoon, I crunched the numbers and it turns out twenty two is more than twenty,

Firefighters responding to a call about a serious blaze inside a Manhattan high rise, a New Yorker is watching from an apartment down the street.

Can't believe his eyes.

From a distance, he thinks he sees out of control flames.

A cold nine one one, and within minutes the streets were echoing with fire engines.

But wait, those aren't real flames, it's the ule log video. Turns out the video was being played on a big screen TV, which made the illusion of a fire all the more real from that window.

Oh man, how embarrassing for that guy, especially after last week when he called the police to report that sharknado. Anyway, what a heartwarming story that cost the city a quarter of a million dollars, and it was nice to see this man looking out for his neighbor's safety, although it did make me wonder why he was staring at this particular neighbor's window in the first place. It was Ally Lion's apartment. I see what's going on here?

Go on.

It was a rainy Saturday and I had to work a little bit, so I got my laptop, I made some tea. I put on some candles in the fireplace.

Inside. Edition brought the neighbors together. So this is where the fire happens. I was having a cup of tea. Oh, I was having come up tea here.

Yeah.

The one thing she's learned.

I really do need to get curtains now.

Yeah, yeah, you do, and maybe some pepper spray while you're at it. For more on this ulogue and or a possible stalker story, we go live to midtown Manhattan with our very own DESI Lidick. Wait, are you actually in that lady's apartment?

Oh no, no, no, I'm at my place.

It's crazy.

I've got a dangerous fire in here too, just you know, waiting for a super tall European snack to come rescue me.

But that guy who saw the fire was looking into her apartment.

That's creepy, Kosta, were you not listening to me?

He's tall?

I mean, did you see him? He's like if Timothy Shallomey took his vitamins.

But if a guy's basically stalking you through his window, that's not someone you want to date.

Now, that's not someone you want to date. For me, this guy's got the two most important qualities. He's interested in me, and his apartment has the window.

Do you see that?

Guys like if Timothy Shallomey had a window.

Even if you're into the idea of a guy noticing you from his apartment, it's just not practical. This was a one off incident. Guys, don't just stare into random windows looking for fires. You'd be better off thinking about.

Excuse me, little lady, I thought I saw a fire.

At Jackpot. I can't wait for the wedding, does he lidac everybody? We all love bending the law, whether it's going five miles over the speed limit or adding five extra children to your tax return. But I found an organization that was bending the law for good. Check it out.

California has successfully turned drugs into medicine and.

Raisins into people, but this time they've gone too far. Bees are now legally considered fish. Bumble Bees are now considered fish. Bumble bees fish in the state of California. What the f is California up to now? To find out, I went to meet environmentalists Serena Jepson, who with the conservationist group the Xerxes Society, petitioned the state to turn bees into fish. Serena, are bees fish? No?

Bees are not fish?

Okay?

Few? I was like so almost certain that they weren't. You don't fish for a bee, you be for a bee? Right?

These are not fish.

But the California legislature decades ago to find fish to include several different animals, including invertebrates, and bees are unquestionably a type of invertebrate. So according to California state law, bees are fish.

You just said that bees are not fish, and also bees are fish? Do I look dumb to you? No?

We've just utilized the definitions under the California Indeager Species Act to seek protection for four species of bumblebees that are close to extinction.

And to make things even more confusing, only some bees are now fish.

Bomba soxen intallus, the western b the.

Bombas Soxes of Dallas. Yeah, that's the.

Western bumbus, Franklin bumble bee, the sucky cuckoo, bumble bee.

We can't really say that on TV, but okay, go ahead.

Bombas CRUTCHI which is the one that occurs here? That's crutches bumblebee?

What's that one called them? Sorry? Crutches, bumblebee, bumblebee, croutch? Oh my god, I had that in college. Does it really affect my life that the Borealis occippalist cock eyed bumblebee is gone?

If we let enough species go extinct and we no longer have a diverse suite of native pollinators, we're going to start seeing problems with pollination of crops and pollination of our native ecosystems.

So calling bees endangered fish is a way to protect them under California law.

Problem solved, right.

I don't think bees are fish.

I knew it. I just don't think that's the case. Next thing, you're gonna tell me that the tomato is a fruit.

As a member of the Almond Alliance of California, Stuart Wolf sued along with agriculture and pesticide groups to exclude bees from the Endangered Species Act because protecting these bees would hit him right in the nuts.

Whenever you have more risk and you have the possibility of more regulation. Then ultimately you have higher costs, there'll be more insects, and there'll be more protections. It will simply grow from here.

I mean, what are they going to protect all invertebrates, slugs, worms, bears? When does it stop? Then? You can't just go changing the names of stuff even if it benefits you, right right, I'm okay with this whole nut juice being called milk, but call on a bee of fish feels pretty California to me. I can't argue with that. Yeah, yeah, is it milk? Milk? Is an almond milk? Milk?

Well, you're talking to an almond grower, and so I believe almond milk there is such a thing. Others like dairyman believe it has to come from a mammal, right, but that again will likely be figured out in the courts.

In the end, the fate of the bees was decided with the help of a much.

More resilient and dangerous species. Lawyers.

Law students Sam Joyce and Professor Matt Sanders at Stanford's Environmental Law Clinics successfully lawyered the bees into fish.

And I had a pretty good idea. Why, let's be honest here, who's making the big bucks? Is it the lawyers?

We represent our clients on a pro bono basis pro bono what's that mean for free?

Free?

I've actually been paying money to be here.

You actually paid money to call bees fish? And this is the problem with today's campuses and universities. So these suckers fought a legal battle to save the bees just because they love the environment. Okay, but how did they pull that off? Explain to me how the bees are fish.

The California Fishing Game Code, Section forty five defines fish and it says that the fish is a wildfish or a crustacean, or a mollusk, or an invertebrate or an amphibian. Okay, bees are invertebrates, so bees fall within the definition of fish in this law.

This is like Christians, you know, finding a way to have sex before they're married, you know, hand stuff or what. This is a leader loophole, right, come on?

If anything, the loophole here is trying to play on the definitions are the terms within the Endangered Species Act and say sorry, this can cover plants, it can cover other animals, but it can't cover insects. That sounds like a loophole.

I guess with legal advice, you really get what you pay for. And with that, I'd studied the issue from almost every angle except the most IMPLU. Okay, so I think I get it. It doesn't matter if bees are fish or fish or bees. Those are just labels, and everything deserves a right to exist and the pollenaate and to reproduce and be happy. That's what this is about.

More or less, Yes, I think.

I get it, So thank you? Yes?

And ee.

Awesome?

Sorry one more thing, so are bees fish?

No?

My guest tonight as an economist at Brown University an author of several books on data driven parenting. Please welcome Emily Auster.

Hello, all right, exciting huh, I'm excited data and parenting babies and babies.

Yeah, I mean, what does parent data means? There's data on parents?

Yes, there is data on parents, and I am a firm believer that data is the key to making your parenting easier and happier and more relaxed.

Are you very relaxed?

Oh?

Right now, very relaxed. But you've actually made our family more relaxed because some of the data, some clip somewhere might have even been in this book better, which maybe ten year anniversary now this book, Wow amazing. I'm paraphrasing, but it was, there's two preschools or two daycares, they're both of equal credible value. Which one should I go to as a parent? And your answer was go to the one that's closest to your house.

Yeah.

So for me, that's really a momentic of what I think is hard and often overthought about parenting is we have this idea that like, there's a right way to do it, there's a correct daycare, and you can really get down the rabbit hole while these teachers have this, qualifications and this, and in the end of the day, there are a lot of right ways to do this, and those kind of considerations are most of the time so much less important than what works for your family

Our daycare doesn't have room for a stroller, so I pushed the stroller there. Then I fold the stroller up and I lock it to a telephone pole outside, and then my wife, who picks up the kid, has to unlock the stroll. I mean, this is this is like and I'm a celebrity, you know what I mean. This is what it's like in New York City. But data parenting is nice. It's I like the term. It sounds good.

So there are some problems.

Okay, yeah, there are.

Some problems for which data isn't necessarily going to fix the problem. But I think there's another piece of data in parenting. And I think this is really true that like we can use data to feel less alone. And that's like part of parenting is hard, right, your kids hitting you in the face. It's painful, it hurts. Yeah, it's painful.

It doesn't matter how old they are.

But what the data will tell you is that one hundred percent of kids hit, and the one hundred percent of them kids hit their dad. And so you're not alone because one hundred percent of other people were also.

Hit on Father's Day.

And in some sense, like I think that that tells us that we're doing okay, there's nothing.

Wrong with your kid. They just hit sometimes.

Where is this data coming from survey It's like a yeah, okay, okay.

So certain soon data comes from a lot of places. Actually, when I teach I am an economist, they teach it brown. One of the big things I teach people is like, where does data come from? And the answer is it comes from surveys. We ask people, and data has its limitations. We don't always ask the most representative set of people, and we don't always analyze it in the ways that

Let's start with pregnant women. Are are we in a time where there's more fear associated with eating sushi drinking alcohol? Or has it always been this fear? And here comes Professor Auster to offer these guidelines that help us. I mean, are you a product of there being an excess amount of fear?

Now?

Fundamentally yes, I mean I think you know, if you look at the broad swath of history, you know certainly there are you know, medieval times we were not concerned about sushi.

That wasn't like the primary.

Worry of the sushi, the plague, the plague, and then sushi was low on the list. But I do think in the last you know, fifteen twenty, maybe thirty years, there has become this culture of kind of achievement in parenting and the idea that you have to do it right like and I think some of that comes from demographic shifts, from the fact that people are parenting older that maybe they've done more, and so you get into an idea that like, there's a right way to do this.

I'm going to achieve this. I'm going to just kill this pregnancy.

I'm going to do all this.

Stuff and I'm gonna get it right.

And of course, when you have the baby or before that, you realize a lot of things are out of your control and in fact, many of these small things don't actually matter. And some of the book is about saying, hey, let's focus on the stuff that's important and not think so much about the things that are less important that are just causing you to be anxious and not.

Get to eat delicious fish.

Well, because you're if you're creating this world, everything has to be perfect, and it invariably something will go wrong, and that creates stress, which stress will be good and it's.

Not just stress.

I mean, I think there's a stress piece and then there's a guilt piece. There's a feeling of like, if anything goes wrong, it's because of something you did. And it's hard to recognize that sometimes things go wrong for reasons that are.

Not something we did.

But that's actually pretty important thing to recognize if you want to be able.

To move forward.

I did a little bit of my own data research.

Wonderful, okay, like Kyrie Irving, because.

It was driving me crazy during both my wife's pregnancies. How every doctor, everyone we said was like, you can't eat a deli meat, don't eat a turkey sandwich, you can't eat because of listeria. This was the big thing. And I know you talk about listeria in here, but so I said, Okay, I'm curious how many pregnant women in the United States even got listeria last year. And according to Google, I don't know if Google's a reputable source, it says two hundred pregnant women last year got listeria.

So I think I want to separate a little bit unpack I mean lots on pack in your analysis. I mean, I think one thing that is that is true is that many of the risks that we worry about are very small. And I use the car accident risk very often because I think it's an example of a risk that we're taking all the time, and for good reason. I wouldn't tell people not to get in a car, but just to recognize life contains a background level of risk.

We talk about something like lysteria.

If you want to be careful, there are some things which you do probably want to avoid, raw milk, soft cheeses being a good example, because it is a relatively small thing to avoid that, and it is more common that.

Listener isn't it's easy to skip that.

It's easy to skip that.

But as we think about things that are harder to skip, you do want to get into like, well, actually, is this really an important risk relative to many of the other risks I'm taking every day, like getting in a car.

Yeah, I didn't realize how much my parents parenting me was going to turn me. Excuse me? I thought I would parent differently. I had great parents, but I thought I would do things differently. Am I Are we just doomed? And is there data on this? Okay?

There is data on some There are some things you probably do do differently and so and sometimes because we've advanced our data, you know, you probably put your baby sleep on their back and your parents probably put you to sleep on your stomach.

Because we learn more about data that we can discuss that later.

But I think it is it is of course true that we're all products of our own parenting, but also that many of the things our parents did are great and in the end, there's a lot of right ways to do this. I think we always want to, like move away from our parents.

But probably you're an economist, your husband's an economist. Are your kids like, don't hit your brother? But what's the data on that?

Mom?

Like, my kids could not be less interested in economics or my parenting work. You know, It's one of the great things about being a parenting expert is that you can say that a lot at home, like I'm a parenting but they don't think.

That right at all. Your new book, it's coming out. You can pre order it. What is your new book about.

The new book is called The Unexpected and it is about navigating pregnancy after complications. So for about fifty percent of pregnancies, they end with in a complication, a loss, or preclamsy or something, and the book is really an attempt to help people work through in a later pregnancy how to avoid those complications, what you can do about them, and how to navigate conversations with your provider.

So that's the idea.

Okay, great. One of the things I read that you said that I really enjoyed was studies say versus all studies say, do you know what I'm talking about?

I do, because studies always show. So when people tell me this study, a studies study show. Studies always show. Studies show everything. Everything can be shown in a study, and the question is often what does the bulk of the evidence say, Because when we look at most of the problems in this book, in all of the space of pregnancy and parenting, there's almost always many different pieces

And it almost never is.

I mean, you can find anything on the internet. Yes, it's like you can Google and find your support. So is how can parents the kids crying, or you got punched in the face on Father's Day, or you can't eat Deli meats? Where do we go?

So I would like people to go to parent data dot org, which is the website where we put together sort of the whole broad range of the stuff I've written in these books and then in my newsletter about what the data says about many of these kind of questions. And I think it's part of a general effort to basically when you wake up in the middle of the night and you're like, why is my kids poop this color?

Is that an okay color?

That the website will be like, here's a little color coded graph of the appropriate colors, and you can look at it and be like, oh, that's a fine color.

Green is cool. I'm going to go back to sleep.

To sleep. All the non parents are like, Jesus Christ, what's wrong? With is there any data the sectames v.

Sectames are amazing option. Okay, VI sectimes are a.

Great form of birth control, and they're an outpatient procedure and you just need a little ice back down there and it works great, So it's worth considering.

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