Revisit some of 2024's most shocking reporting from the field, from Grace Kuhlenshmidt investigating the cognitive decline on Capitol Hill, to Ronny Chieng exploring how Wisconsin got catfished, to Troy Iwata trying out a rising kink: political humiliation.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Chapter 1: What are the cognitive challenges of older political leaders?
America's democracy may not be the strongest, but at least it's the oldest. There seems to be some sort of gerontocracy. We have the oldest leaders among rich countries, and we love all of them. Joe Biden, Donald Trump, this guy. But are there drawbacks to having our leadership with one foot in heaven? I spoke to Mark Fisher, Neuropolitics Researcher at UC Irvine.
We know that brain function tends to deteriorate with aging. One of the first to go of all the cognitive functions is called executive function. It's decision making. I see. And what could be more important for a political leader than decision making?
What am I going to have for freaking lunch? I'm president of the United States. What the heck am I going to have for lunch? That's a hard decision. And I hope that I have a burger for lunch. I guess I've had this freaky misconception that old people are wiser and smarter than me. And it feels like what you're telling me is that that's not true and I should never trust them.
Oh, I wouldn't say that. I wouldn't say that. No, I think that the experience that one gains over the course of a lifetime is extraordinarily important. But there are some measurable cognitive functions that do begin to decline over the age of 60.
So even though you have more experiences, you are still getting dumber.
I'm a neurologist. Dumb is not a word that we use. Okay.
All right. I'll say it then.
Don't worry.
So having a bunch of old brains in charge might be a bit of a problem, but this wise old neurologist actually has a solution.
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Chapter 2: How can cognitive testing improve political leadership?
our NeuroPolitics Center, we came out with a recommendation that cognitive testing should be done on all politicians, not just older politicians, all politicians. Woman, man, camera, TV.
Unsurprisingly, Trump says he aced his cognitive test already.
If you get it in order, You get extra points. An individual is given a number of things to remember, and then after a period of time, three to five minutes, they're asked to repeat that.
I mean, those aren't hard things to remember, right? Person, mama, dad.
It's only one part of the exam. Yeah, thank God. And by itself, it doesn't determine a whole lot. I mean, you have to look at the entire exam.
And you have to look at someone's personality. I mean, I have a really good personality.
Absolutely.
Thank you.
But that's not really, that's really not assessed in real cognizance.
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Chapter 3: What went wrong with Foxconn's investment in Wisconsin?
I don't think we should have that.
Okay, why not? You worried you'd fail, dude?
What is a cognitive test?
For example, I could show you one.
Yeah.
What are these?
A rhino and a harp.
Congratulations, sir! You get to keep your position. They told me that if you screwed this up, that this office would be mine.
I'll be honest, I had to think for just two seconds about what animal that was.
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Chapter 4: What promises did Foxconn make to the community?
When do you feel like you would retire?
I don't know when I would retire, but I do think we need term limits.
Do you think if you stay in Congress for 34 years, you'll be able to bring Congress to term limits?
Because of how this place works? Maybe, but my hope is we'll have it way before that.
So it's not hopeless. We just need our young politicians to stick around until they'll be able to change the system, however long it takes. You know what? I think I'll vote for you.
You can't.
Why not?
Because I live in Orlando. I represent Orlando, Florida. If you move to Orlando, though.
I could go on a paid business trip to Disney World and leave my vote there.
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Chapter 5: How do young politicians view the current political landscape?
All right, high-tech job creation. Local country bumpkin Kelly Gallagher. Must be ecstatic.
Foxconn came to town. They promised us the world. Then they f***ed us because our village officials are morons.
Look, lady, I came here to do a feel-good puff piece about foreign corporations creating jobs for farmers or whatever, okay? Are you telling me that's not happening?
They promised us 13,000 jobs and a $10 billion investment. We got a few hundred crappy jobs. We bulldozed 100 homes, moved people out, used eminent domain against them, and except for a few buildings that Foxconn has put there, it's basically empty.
Chapter 6: What is the opinion on term limits for politicians?
Well, you can't fault... Foxconn for putting money into this town and trying to make something happen.
But they didn't put money in on it. Unfortunately, the village of Mount Pleasant decided instead of making Foxconn buy the land that they wanted for their factory, our part-time village trustees, they said, we'll do it for you. We borrowed nearly a billion dollars
So a bunch of village idiots borrowed a billion dollars to get Foxconn to come in. Foxconn comes in and goes, hey, we can give you guys civilization, take you out of the farms.
Well, we like our farms.
What was Foxconn promising to build?
Well, first they said they were going to build large screen LCD TVs.
Amazing. I love those.
A few weeks later, they changed it that they were going to build small LCD screens, the kinds that you get in the car. That's cool.
I love those too. I love all screens.
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