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Over the Transom | 04.18.25

6 days ago | substack.com | Katie Colaneri |Lauren Chooljian |Jason Moon |Cariad Harmon

Before we get to this week’s edition, one exciting announcement:Although our posts will never be paywalled, you can now purchase a subscription to this newsletter and the funds will help sustain everything we do. Here at Transom, are committed to fostering the art of audio storytelling and honoring the original public service, educational, and creative goals of public broadcasting.
Airplanes hijacked on 9/11 for mass murder leave cockpits vulnerable to attack today

1 week ago | substack.com | Susan Edelman

Nearly 24 years after the September 11, 2001 terror attacks, I saw up close how a commercial pilot’s cockpit is still vulnerable to an intruder’s attack. I was traveling from LA to NJ on American Airlines - whose Flight 11 was the first to crash into the World Trade Center. Terrorists stormed the cockpit after stabbing a passenger and a flight attendant. They slaughtered the pilots and flew the doomed plane into the North Tower.
Roman Cleary | Substack

1 week ago | substack.com | Roman Cleary

University of Memphis Class of 2026 | Memphis Tigers men’s basketball beat writer for Bluff City Media | NFL & WWE junkie | The Oxford comma is useless garbage.
A presentation on the UK economy and monetary policy

1 week ago | substack.com | Julian Jessop

Here are the slides from a presentation I gave earlier today to the Shadow Monetary Policy Committee hosted by the IEA.
Man! I feel like a human.

1 week ago | substack.com | Jennifer Boylan

There they are, in their Chevrolet Colorado, five dudes bouncing up and down as the truck grinds through the rugged American high country. Two guys up front, three in the back. Shania Twain is blasting. The fellow in the middle is singing along. “Oh, I want to be free, yeah, to feel the way I feel. Man, I feel like a woman!”The other guys look deeply worried. But the person in the back just keeps happily singing away, even as the dude next to him moves his leg away. Just to be on the safe side.
Heal, Survive, Resist

1 week ago | substack.com | Rachel Donald |Mike Small

I see dead people. So do you. Every day. Living through a livestreamed genocide and in times of war in Europe and a surround-sound of violence - whether that be the war on the poor, the attacks on the most vulnerable in society, omnicide, or a constant stream of normalised racism, means a choice we are told: watch, or disconnect. This is a false dichotomy. This Substack is reader-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
Ride to Spring, Day 4: Into the rain-drenched hills of Tuscany

1 week ago | substack.com | Christian Cummins

By the time I woke up in Mantua for the fourth day of a riding, the rhythm of bike-packing life already felt entirely natural. You wake up, pull on the same cycling clothes that have been drying in the cramped hotel bathroom, stuff your already malodorous evening-wear in sausage like saddle bags and launch yourself enthusiastically into the breakfast buffet. Life is simple and calories are, for once, your best friend.
Tehran leans on electricity crisis to justify nuclear drive

1 week ago | substack.com | Dalga Khatinoglu

Nuclear power currently accounts for just one percent of Iran’s electricity generation. To make up for the country’s 25,000-megawatt shortfall, Iran would need to build 25 nuclear plants the size of Bushehr—which took 25 years to complete, even with Russian assistance. Since its launch in 2011, the Bushehr nuclear plant has produced just 70 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity—worth less than $6 billion on regional markets.
Why China can still win a trade war with the US

1 week ago | substack.com | Julian Jessop

As every student of economics or history show know, free trade is a win-win. The escalation in the tariff war between the US and China will therefore be a lose-lose for both parties. Nonetheless, China is more likely to come out on top. This may seem counter intuitive. After all, China benefits from a huge trade surplus in goods with the US, which was worth nearly US$300 billion last year, driven by exports of US$440 billion. These exports could easily halve as tariffs bite.
How a Sliver of Glass Changed My Life

1 week ago | substack.com | Jennifer Boylan

One day, 20 years ago, my life changed. I had already broached the topic of gender issues with my beloved, and she knew that I was struggling, trying to express myself nowand again, without going into full-on transition. I didn’t want to harm her, or our kids, or the other people I loved. Back then, the idea of being out as transgender seemed impossible to me. I thought that that life promised only mortification and loss, possibly even violence.