The Journal‪.‬ The Wall Street Journal

For six decades, one man has been largely responsible for creating North Korea’s propaganda machine: Kim Ki Nam. He served all three North Korean dictators and is the architect of many of the myths that have helped to keep the Kim family in power. Last week, Kim Ki Nam died at the age of 94. WSJ’s Timothy Martin reports on his controversial legacy. 



Further Reading:

-The Original Mastermind Behind North Korea’s Cult-of-Personality Propaganda Dies 

-Kim Jong Un’s New Look Is More Man Than Superhuman 



Further Listening:

-How North Korea’s Hacker Army Stole $3 Billion in Crypto 

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When FTX collapsed into bankruptcy in 2022, many customers never thought they'd see their money again. But FTX's assets have rebounded. WSJ’s Andrew Scurria unpacks why FTX will have more than enough money to fully repay customers and many creditors.



Further Reading:

- Crypto Exchange FTX Is the Rare Financial Blowup That Will Repay Victims in Full 



Further Listening:

- The Trial of Crypto’s Golden Boy 



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Before Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro and Zepbound, there was Lotte Bjerre Knudsen.



In the 1990s, the young scientist at the Danish drug company Novo Nordisk was trying to unlock the key to a new technology for treating Type 2 diabetes. To her bosses, Lotte’s project, which focused on a hormone called GLP-1, looked like a distraction. 



But as Lotte fought to save her diabetes project from the chopping block, she couldn’t have imagined how much of an impact her breakthrough would have. Her work would pave the way for a hit drug called Ozempic. And it would unleash a new class of blockbuster drugs, pitting two companies in a race to become the world’s first trillion-dollar pharmaceutical company by market cap.



Listen to Part 1 of “Trillion Dollar Shot” now.



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WSJ’s Julie Wernau wanted to test a hypothesis: are there more mentally ill homeless people now, compared to before the pandemic? That question led her to Rob Dart. Once a successful lawyer, in 2022 he went into a downward spiral, which his family has not been able to stop despite their best efforts.



Further Reading:

- A Lawyer Abandoned Family and Career to Follow the Voices in His Head 

- A Lawyer’s Slide Into Psychosis Was Captured in a WSJ Profile. He Tells Us His Story. 



Further Listening:

- America's Maternal Mental Health Crisis 

- Evicted on Wood Street: California's Housing Crisis 



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Starbucks has a problem: Sales at U.S. stores have fallen sharply and now the company is looking to China, its second biggest market, to boost its revenue. But as WSJ’s Spencer Jakab explains, increased competition there is making that a tall order. 



Further Reading:

-Starbucks Is Running Out of Americans to Drink Its Expensive Coffee 

-The Furious Race for the Future of Coffee



Further Listening:

-The Underdog Coffee Bean That’s Making a Comeback 

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London and Dubai's international airports have become conduits for billions of dollars of illicit funds, potentially linked to corruption, drug trafficking and other crimes. WSJ's Margot Patrick explains how couriers in one money-laundering operation transported millions in dirty money on flights.



Further Reading:

- Billions in Dirty Money Flies Under the Radar at World’s Busiest Airports 



Further Listening:

- How The Government Tied One Couple to Billions in Stolen Bitcoin 



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