Latest news headlines: Second wave of coronavirus hits Asia (00:40), Chinese hacking (03:18), and life after COVID/working from home (05:30)

Full Transcript (edited for clarity):

Our first story of the day is one to keep in the back of your mind as these cries to reopen get louder. All across Asia, new hotspots are starting pop up, including in Wuhan, China once again, as well as Seoul, South Korea. In South Korea, they’ve deployed 8,000 troops there to contact trace each of the 11,000 people who were near the area where this second wave started. I know I’ve been talking a lot about it recently and making a lot of analogies about it, but after watching that Chernobyl series this past week, it’s incredible how relevant it is to right now. Before watching, I had always thought that the Soviet Union was awful for covering it up, and that was bad and they did have to answer for it, but I think they were also one of three countries who could have fixed it that fast. They had to send a lot of people in to clean up the plant and the surrounding area, and many of the people who did knew they were, at best, going to have shortened lives because of cancers and other diseases caused by radiation, or in the worst case they’d be dead in several days. But, despite all that, they still went in to prevent the situation from getting worse because they knew it was bigger than themselves; the whole Soviet mindset (communist has the same root word as community) was that the country’s success was more important than them. With the coronavirus, the South Koreans and the Chinese know that they have to sacrifice some freedoms in order to help stop it. In South Korea, they make you download an app on your phone, and in some cases you have to wear an ankle bracelet. Not to mention the fact that these 11,000 people are going to be contacted because the government tracked their phones to see who was near the hotspot (side note: I was about to explode at the author of this story because there’s this sentence “A gay man in his 20's, who later tested positive for the virus, is believed to have visited several clubs there.” The sentence is so out of place, and there’s absolutely no reason to put that he’s gay in the article. That literally doesn’t matter at all with the virus, so I was about to basically call the author homophobic, but then I looked him up and he’s gay, so I really have no idea what’s going on here. Very bizarre). Back to the point: obviously the Chinese people have far less of a choice, but both of these countries have willingly sacrificed some freedoms for the greater good. It doesn’t seem like we’ll have that here in America, and to wrap up that Chernobyl story, I don’t think we could have handled it as fast as they did, and it might have been worse here (as hard as that is to imagine). Last point: it’s going to be incredibly embarrassing when these countries stop the second wave before we even stop our first wave.

Now one of those other countries that I think could have handled it is China, but our second story today reminds us all that they’re still not the good guys. The U.S. and UK governments issued a rare joint statement warning companies to reinforce their cybersecurity measures since Chinese hackers are apparently trying to steal information about our coronavirus vaccine research. With more people working at home than ever, there are also more opportunities than ever for hackers. Now I’m assuming most big companies have secure servers that employees connect to remotely, but even then it’s not 100% safe. At first I was wondering why they’d be stealing this info, but the article made me feel dumb because this is like the second most important information in the world right now after the nuclear codes (rant about W. making everyone say nuke-u-lar). Now I’m sure there’s a valid reason, but my first thought after seeing that is “why don’t we just share with them voluntarily?” Couldn’t we just collaborate? I read so many stories about this amazing worldwide collaboration happening to find a vaccine, so I guess I’m not sure why China would be excluded. But here’s a rarity: Trump’s racism actually probably saved us a little bit with this security. He’s hated them from the beginning, taking our jerbs and all that, but the intelligence agencies and Trump himself have been warning about the Chinese trying to steal our intellectual property, so I guess racism won this time. Still not right though. Here’s what Trump said recently about it: "What else is new with China? I'm not happy with China, could have stopped it at the source, should have," Mr. Trump said. "Now you're telling me they're hacking. What else is new? We're watching very closely." What’s amazing is how much he projects. He could have stopped it at the source by not calling it a hoax by the Democrats, but here we are.

Unfortunately, the way the news unfolded today, it’s pretty much all about the coronavirus today, but this last story is about how your world might look when it’s done. This article talked about the fact that the stigma around working from home is gone now, and we found out we can actually do it effectively. It’s like when they take the training wheels off your bike when you’re a kid, and you think there’s no way you can ride, but it’s honestly no different and you’re fine. As an introvert, I am super excited by this prospect. I think it’s mostly unnecessary since more offices are just cubicle farms where people work alone anyway unless it’s to goof off and make awkward small talk that nobody knows how to end except by saying “well, I’m going go to the bathroom/get some more coffee”. Also, I think anybody who had a long commute to work is going to think it’s pretty dumb to go back to that when you can literally do the same stuff from home. Imagine how much gas we’d save, how much better that could be for our planet. Lastly, I wanted to take this opportunity to rant about the 40 hours work week, which is a joke and a scam. Nobody beyond maybe the executive level has to work a full 40 hours. I’m not sure if this is just a Midwest thing, but when you’re at work there’s this peer pressure effect that basically guilts you into looking busy in case the boss comes by and never taking time off. It’s a joke. All these entrepreneurs, like the annoying people on LinkedIn, are out here saying “You have to hustle. You have to eat, sleep, and breathe your job” (looking at you, Mark Cuban). But the truth is that many of us aren’t going to be billionaires, or CEO, or even Vice President. Some of us are just here to do the taxes or recruit employees or something. And I’m also willing to bet that that same peer pressure exists among CEOs, so everyone is just fooling themselves into overworking. There’s a direct link between average work week and life expectancy, so we really need to take a look at ourselves and ask what it’s all for. Now there are busy seasons, I get that, but I really think you should only work until you get your stuff done.

Anyways, that’s it for today folks. Make sure to follow us on social media, subscribe and rate us wherever you're listening, and consider becoming a Producer, Executive Producer, or News Director over on Patreon. Stay safe out there!