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--:-- Host Georgia Howe: This episode is brought to you by LifeLock. When you visit the doctor, you probably hand over your insurance, your ID, and contact details. It's just one of the many places that has your personal info. And if any of them accidentally expose it, you could be at risk for identity theft. LifeLock monitors millions of data points a second. If you become a victim, they'll fix it, guaranteed, or your money back. Save up to 40% your first year at LifeLock.com slash podcast. Terms apply.
--:-- Host Georgia Howe: I'm here today to demonstrate our shared commitment to these goals for both of our countries. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen traveled to Africa this week, as China and Russia have focused more attention on the continent and its important resources.
--:-- Host Georgia Howe: We talk with an expert on the power struggle taking place in Africa. I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley. It's January 28th, and this is your Saturday edition of Morning Wire.
--:-- Host Georgia Howe: Oscar nominations were released on Tuesday, and this year you may have actually heard of some of the contenders. We discussed the top films of the year. And for the first time, the FDA greenlights lab-grown meat. We can do multiple species, and we can have this taste identical to meat, because it is the same cells.
--:-- Host Georgia Howe: Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know. Dot com promo code WIRE. Black Rifle Coffee. America's coffee. U.S. officials are scheduling more diplomatic visits to Africa, in part in response to efforts by China and Russia to exploit the region.
--:-- Host Georgia Howe: Here to discuss is Victoria Coates, Senior Research Fellow in International Affairs at Heritage.
--:-- Victoria Coates: Now, Victoria, we've seen Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen visit Africa this week, right on the heels of a visit by Russia's foreign minister. Yellen's trip kicks off a year full of visits from U.S. officials such as President Biden and Kamala Harris. Why is there so much diplomatic activity going on in Africa?
--:-- Victoria Coates: I mean, the short answer is self-interest. I think Africa is emerging as the premier location and resource for the natural resources that are going to be necessary to fuel basically the future. And the African countries themselves have not really figured out how to exploit these things in a sustainable way. And by sustainable, I don't mean environmentally sustainable. I mean in a way that they can create a domestic industry that will lift their populations out of poverty over the long haul.
--:-- Victoria Coates: It won't just be sort of a slush fund for a ruling elite. And that's where I think the United States can offer a unique opportunity to these countries. And what particularly does the U.S. have to gain in Africa?
--:-- Victoria Coates: Well, the U.S. has to gain resources. Some of these things, like cobalt, for example, and then, of course, everyone's talking about lithium, exist in larger quantities in Africa than they do elsewhere. And the quite frankly dirty little secret is they do exist here in the United States. But for environmental reasons we've been reluctant to mine here.
--:-- Victoria Coates: So the opportunity to harvest these resources in Africa is greater. And China and to some extent Russia, realized this 10 years ago and moved in and started building infrastructure projects, sort of trying to build influence. But what was interesting about Yellen's visit, particularly to Zambia was that she was trying to expose how predatory a number of the Chinese practices had been and had led not to the kind of prosperity the Chinese had promised, but rather to kind of a debt trap where the host country was now beholden to China and was not going to realize any of the gains from what was being mined or realized domestically for them.
--:-- Victoria Coates: About that, what sorts of predatory practices are we seeing from China?
--:-- Victoria Coates: Well, the Chinese will come in and tell you that they're going to help you enormously and they're going to build your railroad or your port or your airport or whatever you might need. And, oh, it's going to be wonderful and we're going to finance it. And we're also going to bring in all the workers. Unfortunately, over the course of the last three years, that's also meant a lot of COVID.
--:-- Victoria Coates: So that hasn't been terribly popular. But the way that they finance these projects have left these governments more or less an in hock to them. And so they'll come back and say, well, now it's actually my port or my airport or my railroad. And if you want to use it, you're going to have to go deeper into debt to me. That's the reality of the Belt and Road projects.
--:-- Victoria Coates: We had a big article in the Wall Street Journal last week about how the Belt and Road is actually falling apart because all of these grand Chinese promises have come with so many strings, caveats, and sort of nasty codicils attached to them. That the host countries are now trying to get out of it. That, again, is a huge opportunity for the United States.
--:-- Victoria Coates: Right. And what does that look like? What sorts of steps should the U.S. take?
--:-- Victoria Coates: Well, I think what we need to do is exploit where we are uniquely poised to help. One of the things that we can do as the United States is look into a reliable power grid for Africa. And we have initiated that in the past. It was called Power Africa, and it sounded like a great idea. But if you go on their website now, it'll tell you that they are committed to realizing 80% of the power that's going to be generated for Power Africa through renewables.
--:-- Victoria Coates: And the problem with renewables is on the scale that you need them for Africa to actually change people's lives and lift them out of poverty. It's just not practical. It's not a dense enough energy source. So I think, you know, the path for the United States is fairly clear. You focus on things only we can do. You help them develop the natural gas resources.
--:-- Victoria Coates: Zambia is a great example of this. They just signed a contract with neighboring Namibia to develop a pipeline for natural gas to help those two countries together in sub-Saharan Africa develop this infrastructure. Don't shy away from it because it's natural gas. Look at the enormous benefits that it can bring to these people and develop their industries and their domestic economies.
--:-- Victoria Coates: And the Russians and the Chinese really can't do that to scale. But we'll see if U.S. efforts end up having a real impact on China and Russia's agendas.
--:-- Host Georgia Howe: Victoria, thanks for joining us. That was Heritage Senior Research Fellow Victoria Coates.
--:-- Host Georgia Howe: Over the past 30 years, interest in the Oscar Awards have been on the decline as art house prestige films have taken center stage. But this year, Avatar The Way of Water and Top Gun Maverick might bring back mainstream audiences.
--:-- Host Georgia Howe: Joining us to discuss is Daily Wire Hollywood correspondent Christian Toto.
--:-- Christian Toto: Now, Christian, Oscar nominations dropped this past Tuesday. Which movies should we try to catch before Oscars night in March?
--:-- Christian Toto: Well, you know, I don't think there's a bad one in the bunch, but if you're looking at the films, I'll mention a few that really kind of jump out at me. One is The Banshees of In a Sharon. It's a very, in a way, a small film about a small subject, a friendship that dissolves, but it's really how it's told, the darkness in the tale.
--:-- Christian Toto: Also, the acting across the board is superlative. So for all those reasons, it's a wonderful choice. And you can watch it at home through a video on demand. And also, you know, maybe you don't need me to say it, but Avatar The Way of Water is just such an experience to see on the big screen. See it in IMAX if you can.
--:-- Christian Toto: You know, James Cameron, the director, his stories always have flaws. He, you know, the scripts aren't top-notch, but it's the way he assembles the images that are so mesmerizing. And I think that alone is why it's on the Best Picture nomination list.
--:-- Christian Toto: Another film, Everything, Everywhere, All at Once, came out way ahead of the pack with 11 nominations. What's it about and what did you think of it?
--:-- Christian Toto: You know, it's funny. It's a very hard movie to describe. It's got elements of humor, science fiction. It's surreal at times. It's about a woman who's thrust into this adventure. She's played by Michelle Yeoh, who I think is the favorite for Best Actress.
--:-- Christian Toto: But I think what's wonderful about it is it caught everyone by surprise. It bounced around different genres. It really needs to be seen to be believed. And it's just a movie that it's, it had no reason to be a breakaway smash. And it was, and it did come out earlier in the year.
--:-- Christian Toto: That's often a negative factor in Oscar voting, but it was so beloved and people really rallied behind it. So I'm not surprised it led the pack.
--:-- Christian Toto: Now, for the first time in a few years, we're seeing some blockbusters on the Oscar list. Do you think this could be the year that populist movies make a comeback?
--:-- Christian Toto: Well, I think that's happening in theaters already. But I think the bigger question is, When will Oscars re-embrace the populist movie? It wasn't always the case that arthouse films came out on top, but that's mostly what happens these days.
--:-- Christian Toto: So to see a film like Avatar, Top Gun Maverick, even Elvis, which made more than $100 million, be in the Best Picture race is a good sign. But will any of them win? I don't know. I don't think so. I think that the Oscar voters are more traditionalist at this point.
--:-- Christian Toto: I think something like The Fablemans, which is a Steven Spielberg movie, has a better chance. So I appreciate sort of widening the field, embracing more populist fare for best picture. But if you're not going to win, if you don't have a great shot at winning, I don't know how much it means at the end run.
--:-- Christian Toto: Now, do you think that including some of those blockbusters on the nomination list may just be a bid to expand the audience at this point?
--:-- Christian Toto: It's hard to deny that. But I also don't want to be smirched the films in question because Top Gun Maverick made a lot of money. There's no doubt about that. But at the same time, it's an excellent film. It's well-crafted. There's lots of things to enjoy about the film. It's not just the special effects. There's good performances. There's a redemptive arc. There are surprises.
--:-- Christian Toto: So I think just kind of saying, oh, it's the best moneymaker of the year, it's more than that. So I think it deserves a place in that role. But at the same time, will it be the best picture winner? I just don't see it.
--:-- Host Georgia Howe: All right. Well, Oscar night is March 12th this year. And my producer, Lisa, and I are already planning our party. Christian, thanks for coming on.
--:-- Christian Toto: Oh, my pleasure.
--:-- Host Georgia Howe: That was Daily Wire contributor and editor of Hollywood in Toto, Christian Toto.
--:-- Host Georgia Howe: Lab-grown meat is picking up steam and could be a major player in the meat industry in the near future. Cultivated meat as it sometimes called was just given a massive boost by the FDA but it still has a way to go before it goes to market.
--:-- Host Georgia Howe: Here to give us the details is Daily Wire Charlotte Pence Bond.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: So Charlotte, we recently ran a segment about plant-based meat, but this is regular meat. It's just grown in a Petri dish or a medium of some kind, correct?
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: That's right. The FDA recently showed its support for meat grown in a lab. It said that it considers chicken cultivated from cells as safe for humans to eat. That was after a review of a chicken product from Upside Foods, which is a company out of Berkeley, California.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: But it will still need to get the sign-off from the Department of Agriculture before it can be sold in this country. The USDA and FDA share the supervision of meat cultivated from cells. That said, getting this far with the FDA is a huge step. They said they had no further questions about the safety claims that Upside Foods made.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: So what exactly is lab-grown meat? How is it made?
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: Well, the meat is cultivated from animal cells, and Uma Valeti, the CEO of Upside Foods, says they are, quote, like a starter dough.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: Here's Valeti talking about the meat in 2017. If I didn't have that little caption that what you're seeing on there is product that is real meat that is grown from animal cells without growing a full animal. If I didn't put that in there, if you were in the room and this was being cooked, or if you're smelling or if you're tasting it, you wouldn't have known.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: Businesses use stem cells taken from an animal and then put those into vats filled with materials like amino acids, nutrients, and sugars, where they're stored at the correct temperature. The cells form tissue, which makes the meat chewy.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: After about three weeks, they take the cells out and make them into recognizable forms that people out shopping for meat would be used to buying. To be clear, lab-grown meat is not vegetarian. The lab still sometimes slaughters animals or copies cells from a fertilized egg or a living animal.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: Far fewer animals need to die to obtain the same amount of meat. Now, we recently reported that plant-based meat has struggled to gain traction with consumers. Is there a reason to believe that this lab-grown meat is going to be more popular?
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: Well, there are currently more than 80 startup companies betting that it will be. And there appears to be some demand for it, especially from consumers who rejected plant-based meat for various reasons.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: But of course, there are lots of questions still to be answered. How safe lab-grown meat is is still unknown. The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics has reportedly highlighted, quote, the need for a better understanding of the long-term health effects of cultured meat and poultry products in a letter to the USDA.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: And food we eat is really processed as it is, so this could be an additional layer to that. And whether or not it's scalable is another big factor. The cost right now is excessively high. The first lab-grown beef burger cost more than $300,000 to create back in 2013, but Valetti said they got that price down to under $2,400 a pound in 2017.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: The company is hoping to someday offer prices that compete with normal meat. And this is just one of the companies that the FDA is reviewing, so we will likely hear more about lab-grown meat soon. And we'll likely hear a lot more concerns raised about it as it gets closer to our plates.
--:-- Host Georgia Howe: All right, well, I have some mixed feelings about this. Charlotte, thanks so much for reporting.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: Thanks for having me.
--:-- Host Georgia Howe: That was Daily Wire's Charlotte Pence Bond.
--:-- Host Georgia Howe: Thanks for listening to Morning Wire. We created this show to bring more balance to the national conversation. If you love our show and you stand with our mission, consider subscribing, leaving us a five-star rating, and most importantly, sharing our podcast with a friend.
--:-- Host Georgia Howe: That's all the time we've got this morning. Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back tomorrow with the news you need to know.
