Episode Details
Back to EpisodesMonday, August 31st, 2026 - Olivia Rodrigo Raised $20M for Women, Lake America on Google Maps, Sony & Warner Sue Anthropic
Description
Today's Headlines: This weekend was a mixed bag of news so let’s start with good news. Olivia Rodrigo raised $10 million at her Daisy Chain Fields festival for women's charities including Planned Parenthood and the Center for Reproductive Rights, then Melinda French Gates walked onstage and doubled it to $20 million. MapQuest made a surprise comeback to number two in the App Store as a result of Google Maps changing Lake Ontario to Lake America in compliance with US government sources. And back to regularly scheduled craziness, Trump threatened to report Kristen Welker to the FCC for covering his declining approval ratings, because that's how the First Amendment works. Trump is also skipping the 9/11 memorial because he wanted to give a speech and no one has given a speech there since 2012, making him the only living president not attending, and historic Japanese cherry trees gifted in 1912 were quietly bulldozed before official approval to make room for a DC golf course expansion. Sony and Warner Music sued Anthropic Friday night for what they called "one of the largest and most blatant ongoing thefts of intellectual property in history," alleging Claude was trained on tens of thousands of copyrighted musical compositions — legal experts say this is a landmark AI copyright case. A federal judge ruled that AI-generated child sexual abuse material is legal to possess privately as long as it doesn't depict a real person, and the FBI quietly dropped its hiring ban on people who have engaged in theft, prostitution, and animal cruelty because Kash Patel drove out enough qualified agents that standards had to go somewhere. IV saline bags were recalled for fiberglass contamination across 14 states, mangoes at select Walmarts were recalled for salmonella, and over 800 people were killed in catastrophic Nepal-Tibet floods with 90 Americans among the 2,500 still missing — the US sent $500,000 in aid, which is what a mid-size fundraiser raises in a weekend. And finally, Milo Yiannopoulos was deported back to the UK for an expired visa, which is the only functional thing ICE has done all year.
Resources/Articles mentioned:
Rolling Stone: Melinda French Gates Doubles Olivia Rodrigo's Daisy Chain Fields Donation to $20 Million
Axios: Google Maps switches to "Lake America" as Canada compares change to SNL skit
The Hill: Trump promises NBC’s Welker will be reported to FCC ‘for rebuke or punishment’
NYT: Trump Plans to Mark 9/11 at the Pentagon, Not Ground Zero
NBC News: Pete Hegseth is talking about a possible run for president in 2028, sources say
Forbes: Medical Saline Recalled Over Potential Fiberglass Contamination
FDA: Panorama Produce Recalls Mangoes Due to Possible Salmonella Contamination