The Doomscroll News Report

Amanda Stephens, Hanna Bilinski,Rti
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Co-hosts Hanna Bilinski and Amanda Stephens tackle several of the largest international news stories from the past week that dominated their news feed, and put them in context and in the larger conversation of what's happening globally. In this opinion show, we invite experts to weigh in on ongoing events, and discuss it ourselves as two writers trying to stay informed, find meaning, and stop scrolling in today's ever-changing political landscape.

  1. 4D AGO

    U.S.-Israel strikes on Iran and other forms of monkey business

    Hanna and Amanda talk about the only story that anyone could possibly talk about this week, plus a little bit of lighter news about primates.  Read along with us: Pete Hegseth says Iranian regime is ‘toast’ as US expands military offensive US says 'firepower over Iran to surge dramatically' as Israel bombards Beirut and Tehran Where are Iran’s allies? Why Moscow, Beijing are keeping their distance Scientists say bonobos can play make-believe

  2. MAR 2

    Mexico's El Mencho, Ukraine's fourth year of war, and Chinamaxxing versus the Olympics

    This week, we're talking about the death of Mexican cartel leader "El Mencho" and ensuing fallout, the fourth year of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and finally we close by addressing the controversy over some winter Olympic athletes and how it does or doesn't intersect with the "Chinamaxxing" social media trend. Read along with us! Mexico vs El Mencho: 1. Mexico's most wanted drug lord 'El Mencho' killed in military operation (Will Grant and Jack Burgess, BBC), 2. Mexico sends thousands of soldiers to stop violence after death of drug lord (Jack Burgess, BBC), 3. Romantic tryst led to Mexican cartel leader's capture, death (Raul Cortes, Aida Pelaez-fernandez and Sarah Morland, Reuters), 4. Cómo murió el Mencho: detalles del operativo, mensaje del Gobierno de México, testimonios, y más (CNN en Español) Ukraine marks four years of war: 1 . Ukraine remembers its dead as war enters a fifth year (Paul Adams and Laura Gozzi, BBC), 2. Four years on, Russia’s war in Ukraine has transformed conflict and shattered global security (Nick Paton Walsh, CNN), 3. 4 years into Russia's invasion of Ukraine, a look at the war by the numbers (AP, PBS) What is Chinamaxxing: 1. Why Everyone Is Suddenly in a ‘Very Chinese Time’ in Their Lives (  Zeyi Yang and Louise Matsaki, "Made in China" newsletter: WIRED)

  3. FEB 23

    South Korea's Yoon imprisoned for life and Uber's lax background checks

    This week, Hanna and Amanda talk about the life sentence South Korea just handed down to their disgraced former president for attempting a coup, some frighteningly lax standards for Uber drivers in the United States. Read along with us! Yoon suk-yeol's sentence: 1. South Korea’s former president Yoon Suk Yeol jailed for life for leading insurrection (Amy Hawkins and Raphael Rashid, the Guardian), 2. South Korea gripped by uncertainty as MPs defy president’s declaration of martial law (Amy Hawkins and Raphael Rashid, the Guardian) Uber's poor background policy: 1. Uber Cleared Violent Felons to Drive. Passengers Accused Them of Rape. (Emily Steel, New York Times), 2. Uber Moves to Enact Stricter Background Checks for Drivers (Emily Steel, New York Times)

  4. FEB 16

    Japanese DLP snap election success, Ring doorbell camera surveillance

    Hosts Hanna and Amanda discuss the Japanese snap election that may have just enabled Prime Minister Takaichi to get back her army, and how a superbowl commercial outed police access to private cameras. Heck, we may even just discuss the Superbowl itself, just a little bit. Read along with us! Japan's snap election: 1. Why Takaichi would call a snap election (Michael MacArthur Bosack, Japan Times), 2. Japan’s Takaichi secures historic supermajority in landslide election victory (Yumi Asada and Lex Harvey, CNN), 3. Japan’s snap election victory likely to encourage LDP party to bolder action: analyst (Rti) Ring security cameras and surveillance: 1. The Most Effective Super Bowl Ads Of 2026 (Charles Taylor, Forbes), 2. Amazon Ring security cameras moving deeper into law enforcement with Flock Safety, Axon deals (Eric Rosenbaum, CNBC), 3. Ring Denies Rumors That Its Footage Is Used by ICE. Here’s What to Know. ( Jon Chase, NYT Wirecutter), 4. Ring Super Bowl commercial: Why 2026 ad is receiving backlash from fans over creepy concept (Morgan Moriarty, The Sporting News), 5. Crime rates fell across US cities in 2025 (Amanda Watford, Stateline)

  5. FEB 9

    The importance of resilient connectivity in a seemingly superconnected world

    Hanna and Amanda talk to the coordinators of the Taiwan x Arctic Youth Connection project, Hsiang Hsiang Wang and Chiayo Kuo, to learn more about Taiwanese and Norwegian students' experiments with shortwave. On the subject of alternatives to typical internet connections, they also talk about SpaceX's Starlink, and the kinds of spaces these types of communication occupy in today's world. Referenced articles: "Musk ordered shutdown of Starlink satellite service as Ukraine retook territory from Russia," Reuter's reporting from July 2025, and "Musk says steps to stop Russia from using Starlink seem to have worked," their story from February 1 Rti's reporting on the Taiwan x Arctic Youth Connection project can be found right here.

  6. FEB 2

    Legal action against Grok's new explicit image generation tools and how youth movements are taking on social media addiction

    This week, Hanna and Amanda finally address X users who've been using Grok AI to undress women and children and (THANK GOD) the legal action and scrutiny the app is now facing. Then, we’ll be taking a look at how youths (and governments) are striking back at social media companies with a lawsuit in the U.S. against socials for using addictive tactics, and how France is hopping on the Youth Social Media ban-bandwagon. Read along with us! Grok explicit images cases, and followup: 1. California launches investigation into xAI and Grok over sexualized AI images (Rebecca Cohen, NBC), 2.Musk's X investigated by EU over Grok sexualised images after public outcry ( Foo Yun Chee and Sam Tabahriti, Reuters), 3. EU investigates Elon Musk's X over Grok AI sexual deepfakes (Laura Cress, BBC), 4. Elon Musk's X makes major change to Grok after deepfake backlash, but will it make a difference? (Jade Biggs and Jennifer Savin, Cosmopolitan) Social Media Lawsuit: 1. Social media firms face landmark trial in US | BBC News (BBC Youtube), 2. Social media firms face landmark trial in US (Lily Jamali, BBC News), 3. Tech giants head to landmark US trial over social media addiction claims (The Guardian), 4. What legal experts say about a major 'bellwether trial' over child social media addiction (PBS) Social Media Bans for Teens: 1. French lawmakers vote to ban social media use by under-15s ( AFP, The Guardian), 2. ‘Already had a profound effect’: parents react to Australia’s social media ban (Josh Taylor, The Guardian)

  7. JAN 26

    What ICE is doing in Minnesota, and the continuing war on journalism

    This week, hosts Hanna and Amanda discuss the ongoing situation in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and the recent activities of United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, with a focus on what journalists are doing to cover the goings on. Then a quick brain break to talk about the total drama with former senator, current alleged homewrecker, Kyrsten Sinema.

  8. JAN 19

    Protests in Iran continue, and South Korea and China meet to say very little

    Tthis week hosts Amanda and Hanna discuss what’s going on in Iran, how likely it is to make change, and a sort of follow-up the North Korea and Russia talk with more about the recent China and South Korea meeting. Correction: in this episode the polling in Iran is erroneously attributed to The Conversation, but was actually done by the group Gaaman, and referenced in the Conversation article Read along with us! Iran protests: 1. Why Iran’s clerical establishment still holds as protests rage (Samia Nakhoul, Reuters), 2. Iran protests 2026: our surveys show Iranians agree more on regime change than what might come next (Ammar Maleki and Pooyan Tamimi Arab, The Conversation), 3. Why are there protests in Iran and what has Trump said about US action? (Raffi BergandDavid Gritten, BBC), 4. US military strikes Islamic State group targets in Syria, officials say (Grace Eliza Goodwin, BBC) China and South Korea: 1. Selfies and smiles: South Korea seeks 'new phase' in ties with China (Jake Kwon and Koh Ewe, BBC), 2. China and South Korea pledge to bolster ties as regional tensions rise (Simina Mistreanu, AP)

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About

Co-hosts Hanna Bilinski and Amanda Stephens tackle several of the largest international news stories from the past week that dominated their news feed, and put them in context and in the larger conversation of what's happening globally. In this opinion show, we invite experts to weigh in on ongoing events, and discuss it ourselves as two writers trying to stay informed, find meaning, and stop scrolling in today's ever-changing political landscape.

Information

  • Creator
    Amanda Stephens, Hanna Bilinski,Rti
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    46
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2018-2026 Rti - For Personal Use Only
  • Show Website
    The Doomscroll News Report