The Daily Signal

Dr. Eric Cubin, a Wyoming doctor removed from his state's Board of Medicine for opposing "gender-affirming care," joins "The Daily Signal Podcast" to talk about an "unprecedented" medical scandal. How did medical groups that ostensibly pledge to "do no harm" end up supporting experimental transgender drugs and surgeries that leave kids stunted, scarred, and infertile? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

TOP NEWS | On today’s Daily Signal Top News, we break down: Former President Donald Trump headlined the Al Smith charity dinner on Thursday night. Following Sinwar’s death, U.S. leaders are quick to share their views on what should happen next in the war between Israel and Hamas.  About 1,800 pages of documents in the Jan. 6 case against Trump have now been unsealed.  Relevant LinksListen to other podcasts from The Daily Signal: https://www.dailysignal.com/podcasts/Get daily conservative news you can trust from our Morning Bell newsletter: DailySignal.com/morningbellsubscription Listen to more Heritage podcasts: https://www.heritage.org/podcastsSign up for The Agenda newsletter — the lowdown on top issues conservatives need to know about each week: https://www.heritage.org/agenda Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Artificial intelligence technology is making its way into more areas of daily life. But there are still many unknowns about AI, including major legal questions about the ways the technology should be governed, and which AI-generated speech is, or is not, protected under the First Amendment. Generative AI, in its most basic form, is “trained on vast amounts of data,” according to Ryan Bangert, senior vice president of strategic initiatives at Alliance Defending Freedom. “It ingests petabytes of information in order to learn how human language works, in order to understand how it is that human syntax grammar is structured, and then it predicts what comes next.”Generative AI is “not a mind, it's not a consciousness, it's not a human being,” Bangert says. “It's a piece of software, a very complex piece of software, that's fulfilling an algorithmic function.”Therefore, he adds, generative AI is “not a First Amendment rights-bearing entity.”In their new paper, “The Ghost in the Machine: How Generative AI Will Test the Bounds of the First Amendment,” Bangert and Jeremy Tedesco, senior vice president of corporate engagement at Alliance Defending Freedom, parse the relationship between AI and the First Amendment. Bangert and Tedesco join “The Daily Signal Podcast” to discuss the fight to protect free speech amid rapidly changing AI technology use.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

TOP NEWS | On today’s Daily Signal Top News, we break down: The mastermind behind the Oct. 7th terrorist attack on Israel has been killed.  Kamala Harris sits down with Fox News’ Bret Baier for an interview that aired last night. The Biden administration announces that it is forgiving another $4.5 billion in student loan debt. Relevant Linkshttps://www.dailysignal.com/2024/10/16/fbi-quietly-revises-violent-crime-data-now-showing-surge-instead-of-reported-decrease/ https://www.dailysignal.com/2024/10/16/whos-bankrolling-ballot-initiative-to-move-ohio-blue/ Listen to other podcasts from The Daily Signal: https://www.dailysignal.com/podcasts/Get daily conservative news you can trust from our Morning Bell newsletter: DailySignal.com/morningbellsubscription Listen to more Heritage podcasts: https://www.heritage.org/podcastsSign up for The Agenda newsletter — the lowdown on top issues conservatives need to know about each week: https://www.heritage.org/agenda Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Recent polling suggests that some traditionally Democrat-leaning voters, particularly black and Hispanic men, appear to be reconsidering their political allegiances.Their concerns about the high cost of living and rising crime have them trending toward former President Donald Trump, which could make them the deciding factor in the 2024 presidential election.Gabriel Nadales, national director of Our America, spoke with The Daily Signal about these surprising developments—and shared first-hand accounts of why voters are switching sides. Watch our full interview in the video above.“It’s kind of insane that there are so many Hispanic Americans out there who are very much voting for Trump,” Nadales said. “They see that, unfortunately, the Democrat Party no longer represents them.”Nadales’ organization, Our America, is active in the key battleground states of Arizona and Georgia, attempting to unite Americans at a time when it seems we’re hopelessly divided.Our America has organized local events with the goal of inspiring Americans to be active citizens in their local communities.“If you want to affect policy at the national level,” Nadales explained, “you have to get people engaged at the local level with things that they actually can directly affect to show them that they can make a difference in long term.”The group’s core issues are promoting safer communities, lowering the cost of living, defending freedom of speech, and ensuring fair elections.Learn more about the work of Our America at JoinOurAmerica.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

TOP NEWS | On today’s Daily Signal Top News, we break down: A Biden-Harris rule enables families to lose their kids to gender ideology. Rep. Colin Allred, D-Texas, brings up his faith in an attempt to deny his own voting record on men who identify as transgender competing in women’s sports. Drugstore chain Walgreens is closing 1,200 stores over the next 3 years.  A recent Cygnal poll in two “bellwether counties” shows that Donald Trump may be leading in Pennsylvania. Americans’ trust in the mass media falls to a record low leading up to the Nov. 5 election. Relevant Linkshttps://www.dailysignal.com/2024/10/15/pennsylvania-polls-show-trump-could-win-battleground/https://www.dailysignal.com/2024/10/15/im-christian-democrat-appeals-his-faith-denying-his-record-voting-men-womens-sports/https://www.dailysignal.com/2024/10/16/relentless-growth-obama-era-foster-care-policy-unmasks-transgender-orthodoxys-inherent-threat-parental-rights/Listen to other podcasts from The Daily Signal: https://www.dailysignal.com/podcasts/Get daily conservative news you can trust from our Morning Bell newsletter: DailySignal.com/morningbellsubscription Listen to more Heritage podcasts: https://www.heritage.org/podcastsSign up for The Agenda newsletter — the lowdown on top issues conservatives need to know about each week: https://www.heritage.org/agenda Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

State leaders in Indiana have taken significant steps to divest from China and from the environmental, social, and governance agenda. “We have the good fortune in Indiana to have a Legislature that is on top of making sure that we divest from Chinese entities and from ESG-focused funds,” Indiana state Comptroller Elise Nieshalla says. The ESG agenda has benefited China through its promotion of solar and wind energy, and electric vehicle batteries, all which China mass produces. While some state asset managers are promoting investment in solar panels and EV batteries for electric vehicles in the name of “clean energy,” Nieshalla contends the methods China is using to produce those goods are far from clean. “I think we have seen a true hypocrisy,” she says, “because while … the whole ESG movement has been putting intense pressure on the United States toward renewable energy and to move away from reliable energy—i.e., coal, oil and gas—they are making significant investments in fossil fuels in China, India, Brazil, and [those nations] do not implement the clean energy technology that we do with fossil fuels.” The energy agenda moving away from coal, oil, and gas is not only benefiting China, but also harming the U.S. economy at a time when the U.S. is burdened with a national debt of more than $35 trillion. Nieshalla joins “The Daily Signal Podcast” to discuss the ways Indiana has successfully divested from China and the ESG agenda, and how other states can follow suit.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

TOP NEWS | On today’s Daily Signal Top News, we break down: The labor union representing border patrol agents endorses Trump. Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are neck and neck in Michigan.  The United States will deploy troops and an advanced anti-missile system to Israel.  Nevada forces girls to compete against biological male despite wishes. Poll shows most Americans oppose tax increases. Relevant Linkshttps://www.dailysignal.com/2024/10/09/government-jobs-booming-while-private-sector-continues-lose-ground/https://www.dailysignal.com/2024/10/09/overseas-voting-sparks-litigation-in-these-battleground-states/https://www.dailysignal.com/2024/10/09/tax-hike-harris-trump-confront-big-decision-president/Listen to other podcasts from The Daily Signal: https://www.dailysignal.com/podcasts/Get daily conservative news you can trust from our Morning Bell newsletter: DailySignal.com/morningbellsubscription Listen to more Heritage podcasts: https://www.heritage.org/podcastsSign up for The Agenda newsletter — the lowdown on top issues conservatives need to know about each week: https://www.heritage.org/agenda Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

French teacher Peter Vlaming was fired in 2018 for shunning the use of pronouns to refer to a transgender-identifying student. On Sept. 30, the West Point School Board in Virginia agreed to pay him $575,000 in damages and attorneys’ fees."I'm so relieved that our basic fundamental rights of freedom of expression, of freedom of religion have been formally upheld," Vlaming told The Daily Signal.The School Board cleared Vlaming’s termination from his record and changed its policies to conform to the new Virginia education policies established by Gov. Glenn Youngkin, R-Va.Vlaming is a Christian, so he believes God created male and female. Still, the teacher was willing to respect the rights of his students to disagree.When one of his female students started identifying as male, Vlaming avoided referring to her with pronouns, instead using her preferred name. On Halloween of 2018, his students participated in a virtual reality tour of French catacombs, during which the transgender-identifying student almost ran into a wall. "Don't let her hit the wall!" Vlaming called out instinctively.The student called her parents, who complained to the school. Vlaming was placed on administrative leave and given an ultimatum that he would be fired if he didn't use preferred personal pronouns. Vlaming refused to comply and was fired.Nearly six years later, Vlaming, represented by the religious liberty nonprofit law firm Alliance Defending Freedom, won his case."Stand your ground with love," Vlaming advises other teachers. "Stand your ground. Live truthfully with love. You'll give others courage as well. At least that's what I hope and pray for." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The far-left’s obsession with canceling Christopher Columbus does not have as much to do with the man, but rather what he represents, according to historian Jarrett Stepman. Efforts to cancel men like Columbus come from “cultural Marxists who thought that you need to change American culture to truly change our policies at the highest level," says Stepman, a columnist for The Daily Signal and author of "The War on History: The Conspiracy to Rewrite America's Past." Stepman joins “The Daily Signal Podcast” to discuss the history of Columbus Day and the role the explorer played in the opening of the “transatlantic exchange that led to the creation of the United States.”  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices