Hi, Brian Lairer here.

Up next, Brian Lairor Weekend,

three of our favorite segments from the week,

packaged together for you to listen to on the weekend.

So enjoy, and I'll see you back on the radio Monday at 10 a.m.

on WNYC and WNYC. Good morning again, everyone.

Here in the 21st century, seems like every couple of years comes a major upheaval to the country and the world, right?

What might have been once in a lifetime shocks feel like they're increasing in frequency.

I think it's one of the most important facts of life

for the current generations. One year into this century, we experienced September 11th. Then came

the financial crisis, the Arab Spring, Brexit, the election of Donald Trump, and all the

Democratic backsliding that came with his term in office, not to mention the democratic backsliding around the world, and then not to mention COVID, Ukraine, Gaza, all in the

last four years. A new book takes a closer look at these life-changing events and others in the

recent past in the context of what's known as chaos theory and

pinpoint the seemingly small moments that triggered these global events, like how one

vegetable vendor in central Tunisia set himself on fire in protest, who remembers that,

that triggered the Arab Spring, which toppled dictators in the region

and unleashed all kinds of other conflict. Or how one person infected with the COVID-19 virus in

Wuhan, China, changed the way we live our lives for years after. Or how Trump probably decided,

or at least possibly decided, to run for president after Barack Obama

humiliated him with a joke at the White House correspondence dinner in 2011.

Well, here to help us understand why all this upheaval might be happening now, some things

...