Podcast

Facts Matter

News, News Commentary, Politics

"Facts Matter" investigates complex issues based on the principles of traditional journalism: no spin, no favorites. We give you the facts—you decide the rest.

News Commentary chart
#166
Episodes
276
Releases
Twice a week
Typical length
16 min
On air since
2024
Latest episode
5 days ago

Episodes

276 episodes, newest first

  1. The 9 Patents That Give Us a Glimpse into the Future

    Show notes

    We recently saw a commercially viable flying car, in the form of the new Tesla Roadster’s demonstration. It was able to drive upside down, fly up into the air, and land softly.

    That suction ability that allows it to drive upside down was covered in two separate patents: one from 2025 and one from 2026.

    Using this as a jumping off point, let’s go through nine other interesting patents that are currently out there, which might give us a glimpse into other interesting future products that could be coming down the pike.

    Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

    20 min
  2. The 9 Big Takeaways From Trump’s New US–Greenland Deal

    Show notes

    After months of back and forth, the United States and Denmark have signed a new agreement regarding Greenland, which in-effect allows President Donald Trump to expand U.S. military presence on the island without having to buy it.

    Let’s go through what this new deal allows for point by point, as well as the implications it has for the United States in the decades ahead.

    Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

    21 min
  3. Have Kids? Don't Know What Career to Guide Them Toward? US Demand for Space Industry is Skyrocketing

    Show notes

    On Aug. 28, President Donald Trump signed an executive order at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

    By doing so, he established the United States Space Academy to recruit, train, and retain America’s best and brightest.

    This, alongside the growing demand in the private sector, represents the huge potential growth of the space industry in the years to come.

    13 min
  4. For First Time, US Confirmed Use of Laser Weapons in Field

    Show notes

    For the first time in history, the U.S. military has confirmed the use of a directed-energy laser system that took out three suspected cartel drones.

    This was soon followed up by the Department of War announcing the recipient of a half-billion-dollar contract for the Army’s first-ever directed-energy program of record. The contract signals the start of the next evolution in modern warfare: laser warfare.

    Let’s go through some of the details together.

    Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

    Sponsor offer of up to $20,000 of free silver: https://ept.ms/3biH9MN

    15 min
  5. Did a Cold War Tick Experiment Help Spread Lyme Disease?

    Show notes

    Recently, I was playing in the woods with my son when we decided to go the path least taken. Two roads diverged in the wood, and we took the one less traveled—the one that was overgrown, the one that had bushes everywhere. When we came out and got back to the car, I checked my legs, and found that I had a few new friends. Several ticks were stuck to my leg, sucking out my blood.

    Not a big deal. I killed them, and then took one, placed it in a ziplock bag, and saved it, just in case I needed to have it tested if I started to develop symptoms of Lyme disease.

    This experience sent me down a rabbit hole of research, looking into the symptoms of Lyme disease as well as its origins. That research led me to a very unexpected place.

    There is a credible body of research that suggests Lyme disease didn’t come about naturally, but rather that it was accidentally released into the wild by the federal government. Right off the bat, I’ll tell you there is no 100 percent definitive proof that this is the case.

    But the evidence that does exist paints a fairly compelling picture—compelling enough that the current sitting director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Jay Bhattacharya, recently said, “It is possible (and perhaps likely, though not proven) that the emergence and spread of Lyme disease may have been caused by this research program, which included large open-air testing of intentionally infected ticks on U.S. soil.”

    When you have the director of America’s NIH saying this, it obviously can’t be ignored.

    So, let me present to you the full story here, and then you can make up your own mind as to whether it’s believable or not.

    Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

    45 min
  6. Alberta's Vote to Begin Formal Secession Process Scheduled for 2 Weeks From Now-Facts Matter

    Show notes

    Right now, our friendly neighbors to the north (in the Canadian Province of Alberta) are in the process of breaking away from Canada.

    The first major milestone has already been achieved—a referendum will be put to the people later this month. Meaning, on Monday, Oct. 19, of this year, the people of Alberta will be asked whether the province should remain in Canada or begin the process of secession.

    Alberta is often referred to as the “Texas of Canada.” It has a lot of oil production. Politically, it’s very conservative. And it has a strong ranching/cowboy culture.

    Also, it borders the United States, specifically Montana.

    So the question now becomes twofold: first, will the majority of people in Alberta choose to secede, and second, if they do, will Alberta become its own sovereign nation—or will it become the 51st state of America?

    Which might sound far-fetched, but, given the current makeup of the U.S. federal government, it might actually not be.

    During his 2nd term in office, President Donald Trump has repeatedly referred to Canada as an American state. But realistically, in a real-politick sense, Trump would probably not actually want liberal Canada as a new state.

    But what if, instead of the whole pie, America just gets the conservative, oil-rich province of Alberta?

    And so today, let’s go through why so many Albertans want to secede, how it would actually work under Canadian law, what the likelihood of success is, and then, lastly, if it goes through, the likelihood of Alberta becoming the 51st state.

    17 min
  7. Synthetic Food Dyes Get Eliminated by Major Cereal Maker by End of 2026

    Show notes

    If you happen to love cereal, then there is something that you should know. Recently, there have been some positive developments within the Make America Healthy Again movement’s effort to improve the safety and quality of American cereals.

    Specifically, Kellogg’s announced that by the end of this year, all of their cereals will be free from petroleum-based artificial food dyes. Meaning, brands like Froot Loops and Apple Jacks are giving up their unrealistically vibrant colors.

    Fear not, though, as they’ve apparently found a way to substitute these petroleum-based food dyes that they’ve been using for years with food coloring from natural sources.

    Which kind of just raises the question—if it was really so easy, why didn’t they do it sooner?

    Let’s go through the details together.

    13 min
  8. Elon Musk's Nashville Highway Tunneling Project Doubles in Size

    Show notes

    The city of Nashville, the global home to country music, is anything but “boring.” That was until Elon Musk’s The Boring Company began to dig tunnels underneath it.

    The first of these tunnel loops is set to go live in about five months and promises to alleviate congestion and make traveling from downtown to the airport simpler.

    The state is now expanding this project so locals within Nashville can travel from one area to another underground.

    Let’s go through the details of this innovative, new technology together.

    8 min
  9. iPhone Owners Can Get Payout From Apple’s Settlement

    Show notes

    Apple settled a class-action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California for a cool $250 million.

    And it’s worth mentioning that over half of that money is actually earmarked for customers. Meaning that if you’re like me (and you’ve purchased an iPhone recently) then there’s a good chance you can get a piece of that settlement.

    Let me briefly give you the history of the case, as well as how you can check whether you qualify for the money.

    11 min
  10. Cuba’s Greatest Weapon Isn’t Missiles, It’s Impressionable American Minds

    Show notes

    A few months ago, when President Donald Trump began floating the idea of taking over Cuba using military force, many people were understandably surprised.

    Since then, however, the State Department has put out reports and statements making the case for why Cuba is such a threat to the United States, calling the regime “an espionage superpower.”

    A recent report says the Cuban regime has waged a 70-year-long war against the United States—not with kinetic weapons of course, but instead by using the dark arts of sabotage and subversion, including by propping up anti-U.S. socialists in central and south America and sending over spies who then spent decades hidden inside America with top security clearances. And then, there’s what the State Department calls Cuba’s greatest weapon: the ability to control people in our cities and towns through ideological alignment. It’s the old Soviet tactic of, “If you hate American imperialism, work for Cuba behind the scenes.”

    Apparently, it’s been effective—so let’s go through it together.

    16 min
  11. Big Gold Moves: French Central Bank Moves 129 Tons of Gold out of US; Dutch Central Bank Moves 86 Tons

    Show notes

    There are some big moves happening in the gold market.

    Last week, the Central Bank of the Netherlands confirmed that they moved 86 tons of gold out of North America—moving it to London.

    Earlier this year France did something similar, removing all of their gold reserves from the U.S.—in favor of keeping them at home.

    Germany did the same as well a few years ago. Their central bank moved the 111 tons of gold that they had in New York, and they brought it home to be kept in Germany.

    All this is atop record-breaking gold buying from the central banks across the world: including China, Russia, India, Poland, Uzbekistan, Hungary, Kazakhstan, and a long tail of central banks in smaller countries buying up the precious metal.

    And so, in order to get an idea of what’s happening in the market, I got a chance to speak with Machi Block from American Hartford Gold to get a peek at the market from someone who has a finger on the pulse of the industry.

    Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

    28 min
  12. Anthropic Slapped With Lawsuit Over Alleged Theft of Over 10,000 Songs for AI Training

    Show notes

    Anthropic recently settled a $1.5-billion civil suit over the illegal downloading of millions of books used to train its large language model.

    It was the single largest copyright infringement settlement in U.S. history.

    This past weekend, over 30 music companies filed a class-action lawsuit alleging Anthropic illegally downloaded song lyrics from the same torrent sites and intentionally removed copyright information.

    How this case shakes out could very well dictate whether the live music industry is still a thing a generation from now. Let's go through the details together.

    Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

    14 min
  13. Does Filming Yourself Doing Illegal Things for ‘Content’ Make Them Less Illegal?

    Show notes

    Let’s delve into the history of the “prank video” format, and how it’s developed to where it is today, where TikTok stars are going into businesses pretending to work there in order to get access to unauthorized staff-only areas.

    14 min
  14. The Looming Threat of a Chinese Humanoid Robot Flood into the US Market

    Show notes

    Humanoid robots from China—are they taking over, or just falling over?

    Are they our cute companions? Or, are they watching us in our homes through secret backdoors left open by the China-based manufacturers? Let’s look at these important questions together.

    18 min
  15. Fat From Cadavers Now Being Used for Cosmetic Fillers

    Show notes

    How badly do you want that perfect beach body? Some are willing to get liposuction and have someone shuffle their own fat around. But how about getting one’s body enhanced by injecting fat from dead people? Is that a bit much?

    Well, that’s what’s happening in the cosmetics industry.

    Now, you might ask: Why do they need to use fat from cadavers? Why not just liposuction one area, and move it to another?

    Here’s the twist: the rise of GLP-1 weight loss drugs are leaving people without enough fat to move around.

    Let’s go through it all together.

    16 min
  16. AI Creates 16 Never-Before-Seen Real-World Viruses

    Show notes

    Scientists in the U.S. recently announced that for the very first time, they were able to use AI to create viruses never before seen in nature. Don’t worry, though: these new viruses were designed to target specific strains of E.coli bacteria that have become resistant to natural antibacterials.

    This development marks a major milestone in the field of synthetic biology, and it opens the door to potential rapid advancements in human healthcare. Maybe these AIs can develop never-before-seen cures to horrible diseases.

    However, on the flip side, I think after living through the early 2020s ... we can all imagine how this can go horribly wrong.

    So today, let’s go through the details of these newly created AI real-world viruses together.

    15 min
  17. USPS: New Rules for Mail-In Ballots; US Issues Travel Alert for 3 Countries

    Show notes

    Today, we do a round up of three stories. First, a former acting U.S. attorney was found dead in his office in a federal building in California. Second, the USPS just issued new rules regarding mail-in ballot envelopes. Last, the State Department has issued travel advisories regarding three countries. Let’s go through it all together.

    14 min
  18. Over 30 Minnesota Water Systems Hit with 'Coordinated Cyberattack,' Forced to Go Offline

    Show notes

    In just 48 hours, a coordinated cyberattack disrupted the digital controls of water systems across more than 30 Minnesota communities, forcing operators to switch to manual backup to keep pumps, valves, and treatment systems running without any data theft, financial loss, or ransom demands.

    The incident, which remains—officially, at least—without a named suspect, highlights the longstanding vulnerabilities in local U.S. water infrastructure. Let's go through the details of the attack, as well as some of the possible culprits.

    15 min
  19. CDC Data Shows Leprosy Cases Spiking in Florida, With a Surprising Cause

    Show notes

    Leprosy appears to be not only spreading in central Florida, but according to the CDC, it might now be endemic to the region. Let’s explore why that is, as well as what it means for the safety of Americans.

    22 min
  20. Apps Marketed to US Veterans Are Coming Equipped With Chinese and Russian Code

    Show notes

    A first-of-its-kind study reveals that one out of eight apps marketed to U.S. military service members (and their families) contain foreign code—some from China and Russia—that could be remotely updated to leak sensitive data to adversaries. This alarming finding arrives just as reports confirm foreign adversaries are already using cell phone location data to target American troops in the Middle East. Let’s go through it all together.

    21 min

More in News Commentary

Placed highest on Apple Podcasts' News Commentary chart right now

All News Commentary podcasts