The NIH vs. The New Grievance Politics
The Gist
Mike Pesca
4.4 • 3.6K Ratings
🗓️ 1 August 2025
⏱️ 38 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Former NIH director Elias Zerhouni reflects on the agency’s triumphs and shortcomings in light of his new memoir, Disease Knows No Politics. He defends the NIH’s legacy while addressing critiques from figures like current NIH head Jay Bhattacharya, and warns that proposed funding cuts could severely undermine scientific progress. Also: the decline of late-night TV amid political sameness, the comic potential of Sydney Sweeney’s controversial jeans ad, and a failed auction bid for Larry King’s designer denim.
Produced by Corey Wara
Production Coordinator Ashley Khan
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | It's Friday, August 1st, 2025 from Peachfish Productions. |
| 0:07.3 | It's the gist. |
| 0:08.4 | I'm Mike Peska. |
| 0:09.5 | Big find from the scientific slash horticultural world. |
| 0:13.9 | A Chinese researcher discovered that the potato originated some nine million years ago. |
| 0:18.8 | From a natural cross in South America, between a tomato |
| 0:23.2 | plant and a tuberosum, a plant similar in appearance to the potato, which led to the revelation |
| 0:31.3 | and headline, The potato is the daughter of the tomato. |
| 0:37.2 | You're not going out of this house, unpeeled, Missy. |
| 0:39.7 | All eyes will be on you. |
| 0:41.5 | I hate you. |
| 0:42.6 | You're just bitter. |
| 0:43.4 | You haven't been ripe since you were my age. |
| 0:45.7 | Don't you get starchy with me, young lady? |
| 0:48.3 | And then Mama Tomato turns to Papa Tomato, and he says, I don't like it. |
| 0:53.6 | And her hanging out all hours of the night under those heat lamps, getting, who knows, |
| 0:57.3 | getting fried. |
| 0:58.4 | She's not the tot we knew and loved. |
| 1:00.9 | And she's falling behind in her studies. |
| 1:02.9 | Don't worry, dear. |
| 1:03.9 | She'll catch up. |
| 1:04.6 | That's what I'm afraid of. |
... |
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