TRANSCRIPT · Here’s why you can’t shake those unhinged political texts

## Here’s why you can’t shake those unhinged political texts (The Verge)
https://www.theverge.com/policy/1023899/political-texts-midterm-elections
GRANT BRICKMAN: Your phone has been buzzing all week. Experts now explain why the political texts just keep coming.
GRANT BRICKMAN: Breaking news, and your phone is probably already part of it. The political texts are coming, and the midterms are Tuesday.
GRETA FOOTNOTE: The Verge reports a flood of political texts ahead of the midterms. You can get them even if you have never made a political donation.
KAI: Huge. I'm at the datacenter, where all those messages basically live. Robokiller counted 15 billion political texts in 2022.
KAI: And a Supreme Court decision the year before made it easier to send some mass calls and texts without consent. Huge.
KAI: This is file footage of a phone lighting up. Again. YouMail's CEO puts this year at 25 to 30 billion, but calls that an informal approximation.
KAI: The volume is about the same as 2024, up to 10 percent higher. PIRG's Teresa Murray says there's good news and bad news, and the report has tips to cut them down.
GRETA FOOTNOTE: So the short version: you don't have to donate to be on the list, and there are ways to mitigate it.
GRANT BRICKMAN: In 1987 a switchboard operator screened every message for us. Now the phone just takes them all, and nobody even says please.
GRETA FOOTNOTE: Some of them say please, Grant. Several times. Sigh.

## Flesh-eating screwworms spread to third state and are attacking pets (Ars Technica)
https://arstechnica.com/health/2026/10/flesh-eating-screwworms-are-feasting-on-pets-4-dogs-and-cat-attacked-this-week/
GRETA FOOTNOTE: The screwworm story is back, this time with a look at what people are saying online.
ODETTE: The comments are on fire. Read the room.
DIRECTOR MARGE: Fine, WHAT THE CROWD SAYS, and I am not taking questions.
GRANT BRICKMAN: Arizona joins New Mexico and Texas. The USDA has identified 74 animal cases since the flies re-invaded in June, and pets are among the victims.
NOVA: Some say the news is simply not good, and a lot of the posts just share the headline with a short note of alarm.
NOVA: Many argue the federal government and its politics are to blame, and some tie it to budget cuts. That is opinion, not something the article says.
NOVA: A minority thinks pet owners should worry first. Cosmically speaking, it is a very small fly with a very large reputation.
PRUDENCE NUANCE: The article says the barrier was breached in 2022. That is a long list of possible culprits.
GRANT BRICKMAN: Thank you, Nova. Check your pets, and watch this space.

## The Hype Index (PXL)
GRANT BRICKMAN: The Hype Index: what the wire is loudest about on this Saturday afternoon.
GRANT BRICKMAN: It's time for the Hype Index, our market report on how loud everything is. Vera, take it away.
DR. VERA VECTOR: Top of the wire: 334 points on Hacker News for Serbia just elected the world's brainiest parliament.
DR. VERA VECTOR: Then 98 points for Switch Lowering in GCC, and 69 points for the Molly, Signal fork, post.
DR. VERA VECTOR: Desk volume over 24 hours: tech, 30 stories. AI, 30 stories. Gaming, 30 stories. A perfect three-way tie.
GRANT BRICKMAN: Thirty, thirty, thirty. Somebody at the wire is clearly using a very tidy VCR timer.
DR. VERA VECTOR: Loudest words: UND and DEN, 7 headlines each. Then DAS, 6 headlines.
GRETA FOOTNOTE: So the loudest words in the news today are the ones that hold the other words together. Fitting.

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AI-written satire. The text of the news items comes from the linked articles.