Talking Turkey (and its economic crisis)

Zack, Jenn, and special guest Matt Yglesias discuss the economic crisis crippling Turkey — and how its feud with the Trump administration over a detained American pastor is making things even worse. On Elsewhere, Jenn and Zack examine the very real and very disturbing pirates of the Caribbean. Zack demonstrates his thorough mastery of Turkish acronyms, Matt challenges Turkey’s right to the biggest airport, and Jenn reveals the lengths she’d go to protect her dog. References: For some background on Erdogan, watch this Vox video on Erdogan’s slide toward authoritarianism. Zack mentioned the history of military coups in Turkey, but we couldn’t go into it in detail. Here’s an in-depth piece with the long, bizarre backstory. A little more on Erdogan’s son-in-law as finance minister. As Zack mentioned, there have been lots of Turkish megaprojects, including an airport and a bridge. The Washington Post article Jenn quoted to describe the situation for people living in Turkey. Jenn talked about Erdogan’s possible deal with Putin. If you want more details, she recommends this Wall Street Journal article. All the ins and outs of the fight over Pastor Brunson that Jenn described. And more information on the tariff hikes and retaliatory measures touched on at the end of the first segment. We’ve described the situation in Venezuela on Worldly before, but this is also a great Vox video on the collapse of Venezuela. Zack referenced this Washington Post article “They Be Pirates.” And Jenn cited this Bloomberg Businessweek piece about the collapse of Venezuela’s fish industry and how the Venezuelan Coast Guard and National Guard are also getting involved in piracy.