
An Americanist Briefing
Welcome to An Americanist Daily, your go-to solo podcast for a quick and snarky dive into the current events and politics shaping our nation! As a daily extension of the An Americanist blog, I’m here to break down the headlines that matter—Monday through Friday—without the fluff and filler.
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An Americanist Briefing
Coffee, Competitions, and Contaminated Coastlines: Today's Bizarre Headlines
Ready for a beach vacation this summer? You might want to check the water quality reports first! We're diving into a truly stomach-turning study that found over 60% of US beaches tested in 2024 had unsafe levels of fecal bacteria contamination on at least one day. The Gulf Coast topped the contamination charts with a whopping 84% of beaches flagged for pollution, while Alaska and Hawaii remained relatively pristine with just 10% testing unsafe. Beyond the gross factor, this raises serious health concerns for beachgoers across the country.
Coffee lovers, we've got news that might have you reconsidering your morning brew choices. A fascinating new study published in the journal Food Science and Nutrition found that instant coffee drinkers with certain genetic predispositions face a shocking 700% increased risk of developing age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a leading cause of blindness. The research analyzed data from over 500,000 participants in the UK Biobank, suggesting shared biological pathways between instant coffee consumption and this incurable eye condition.
We also weigh in on a viral fitness competition controversy that's dividing the internet. During Sydney's High Rocks event, a competitor continued his workout while paramedics treated his unconscious girlfriend nearby. Some witnesses condemned his actions as callous, while others claimed he periodically checked on her between exercises. The incident raises interesting questions about relationship priorities, competitive drive, and what we owe our partners in moments of crisis. We wrap up with a thought-provoking Bible question about the most important woman in scripture. Is it Mary, mother of Jesus, or perhaps Esther? Share your thoughts with us!
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Hello and good morning my little love bunnies. Let's get right to it. We have some interesting stories today. We have one, two, three, yes, my three stories here. The first one up it's summertime, which a lot of people go on vacation and a lot of people go to the beach. Well, and I think I've heard this story prior summers, you know, it seems like every summer this story comes out. I don't know why they've recycled this.
Speaker 1:Okay, more than half of East Coast beaches tested positive for fecal contamination. Shocking new study reveals. Shocking new study reveals. Well, and I don't know, uh, if this is, I mean, did they? What about the west coast beaches? What about the gulf of america? What about those beaches? Maybe they just tested this one, I don't know. Hold your nose and maybe hold off.
Speaker 1:On that beach day, more than 60 percent of us beaches tested in 2024 had a had at least one day where the water was so full of fecal bacteria that it failed federal safety standards, according to a new report by environment, america's research and policy center. Who knew there was a federal safety standard for fecal matter in the oceans? Who knew? Now you do, thank you and you're welcome. That's 1930 beaches out of 3187 that were dirtier than your dog after a mud run. Oh ha ha. The top offenders, gulf Coast, now hold on a minute, where a whopping 84% of beaches had at least one pollution problem, followed by the West Coast and the Great Lakes. So the East Coast didn't exactly sparkle, with 54% or flagged for contamination. Only Alaska and Hawaii offered a relatively clean sweep, with just 10 percent of beaches testing unsafe. What in the world? Why do you? What in the what? Okay, why, why do you think this is? Why do you think this is so for alaska and hawaii being the cleanest? Oh my gosh, how bad is it? Nearly one in seven beaches showed potentially dangerous levels of fecal contamination on a quarter of all testing days.
Speaker 1:We are planning to go to orange beach next, uh, soon. I say soon, not during the summertime. We'd like to go off season, so it's later in the year, but we normally don't get in the water. We just sit in the beach. We might walk along the water line, but I don't get in the water. We just sit in the beach. We might walk along the water line, but I don't get in it anymore, like I used to when I was a kid. Oh, okay, well, you can go.
Speaker 1:Finish reading that we need to move on because uh yeah, all right, your risk of developing an incurable blinding condition goes up 700% if you prefer this kind of coffee. I call bullshit on this, and it's instant coffee. I'm just going to give you the answer right up front, because I don't drink instant coffee, but I will if I have to in an emergency. Oh yes, in fact, I used to carry instant coffee in my handbag. Yes, I did, because I love coffee, blinded by the brew. Whether you're a latte lover, a mocha monster or an espresso elitist, people have strong preferences when it comes to coffee. But what if we told you your choice of Java wasn't simply a matter of taste?
Speaker 1:An eye-opening study published recently in the journal Food Science and Nutrition found that drinking instant coffee may dramatically increase your risk of age-related macular degeneration or AMD, a leading cause of blindness. What, how, mr Shives? I need to answer this. Researchers analyzed data from over 500,000 participants in the UK biobank and discovered that instant coffee. What are they doing putting it in their eyes that instant coffee drinkers with a certain genetic predisposition were 700 more likely to develop dry AMD and the more common and current and curable form of the disease? So you have to have a certain genetic predisposition.
Speaker 1:They don't tell what is that. Oh, here we go. No, I don't know if it tells us or not. This genetic overlap suggests that there may be shared biological pathways or metabolic mechanisms connecting the? Okay, you know what metabolic mechanisms connecting the? Okay, you know what? I can't read. Finish reading this. This is I can't. They don't give me any answers. They don't give me any answers. They just say it's bad for you. If you can go, finish reading that if you like. The net. The last story here. I don't know how I feel about this. There are.
Speaker 1:There are differing stories in this particular article. Boyfriend continues competing at fitness event as paramedics treat his passed out girlfriend. What a piece of shit. A viral video from the sydney high rocks event over the weekend has sparked debate online after footage service service of a man continuing to compete while his girlfriend and teammate was left on the floor being treated by paramedics. And this is where we lose giblets. He says he stopped reading after he got to the tick-tock part. The incident which quickly went viral on tick-tock was captured on video by a bystander who watched in horror. So this is a a big, huge fitness event. You got to. I guess this was a team event, this particular one, and there has a girlfriend and boyfriend competing together. She passes out and he continues on competing, doesn't? I don't know if he is in the story. It says he he did walk over to see if she was all right, but then he went and finished his workout. I don't know, there's different stories, different. I can't talk this morning, calm down. There are witnesses in here that say he was a piece of crap because he went ahead and kept competing and finished it without her. And then some say, no, he stopped every so often, went over there to check on her, but he did keep competing. And you know, some people say that that's what the wife wanted him to do, who knows. And she was okay. She walked off on her own after the competition was done.
Speaker 1:So High Rocks is a global fitness racing event that focuses on endurance running with functional strength challenges. So it's like CrossFit Competitors compete, um, okay, they do such things as sled pushes, burpee jumps, rowing and wall balls. Participants can compete as singles, doubles or in relay teams, and each person wears a timing clip to record their pace. A woman allegedly passed out at sydney high rocks on the weekend before her partner went on to continue the race. So if they're doing doubles and he competes and he finishes, but she doesn't, are they disqualified? So he competed and finished for nothing. The woman was allegedly twitching on the floor as paramedics attended to her. See what you're missing, giblets. I'm telling you, I'm giving you all the information.
Speaker 1:In the comments on the video, many condemned the man's decision to continue the race after his partner fainted, showed the public how he feels about her, wrote. Commenter. I hope that's her ex. Now said another. Oh my gosh, okay, so you, you can go finish reading that if you'd like. What do you think? I mean, if I had a partner and we were, I mean I do have a partner, but if we were competing, I have a partner, my husband. I hate that word. My partner, no, he's my husband. If we were competing in a competition and he fell out on me, I would stop immediately and go to his side. I mean, I had nothing I could do, of course, but I mean, if the paramedics were there, I would still stop and pay attention to him. Oh my gosh, yeah, I think he's a piece of crap. I think he's a piece of crap. I think he's a piece of crap.
Speaker 1:All right, we need to move on to the question of the day. Mr Sean's has submitted this question of the day. I do not have an answer, but I will stumble through, okay. So the answer, I mean the question is who do you consider to be the most important woman of the Bible? Now, my first gut response is Mary, the mother of Jesus. Not Magdalene Mary, but Mary, virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus.
Speaker 1:But I'm also reading, or not reading. I'm listening to the Bible in a year and right now we're on Esther and, from what I can gather, she's pretty important too. So I don't know. I don't know the answer to that. I haven't gone through everything. I'm I'm. Although I'm listening to the Bible in the year, there are some things that I just tune out while I'm driving and I know I'm going to have to read this over and listen to it over and over and over again, read it over and over again, study it more and more, over again. But what are? What is your answer? I would like to know your answers to that. I don't know a lot of the women in the Bible. So there you go. All right, gotta go. Thanks for listening. Love y'all. Bye.