05/26/26
Good morning! It’s Tuesday, May 26th
National Paper Airplane Day
Here’s something – I was looking up paper airplanes (also, I’m never used their full biblical name when talking about them. They’ve always just been “paper planes”) because I was going to say that at the end of this episode, I’m going to talk about the cocktail Paper Plane (spoiler alert, at the end of this episode, I’m going to talk about the cocktail Paper Plane) and I learned that paper planes pre-date flying planes.
Foldable flying toys first appeared in China about 2000 years ago.
And then in the 15th Century, DaVinci used that design to test theories of aerodynamics.
Now, what other daily news podcast is giving you DaVinci facts, cocktail recipes, and news? None of em!
And now, the news.
Orange County Aerospace Tanks
-via AP News
Starting in Southern California (yeah, that’s right, take that, everyone! We’re finally first! That’s… probably not a good thing.)
Starting in Garden Grove, California (which is in Orange County, just a few miles away from Disneyland), where, on Thursday, the GKN Aerospace facility reported that one of their tanks had overheated and was leaking a chemical called methyl methacrylate.
Since then, officials have been working to cool the tanks to keep the chemical from overheating and prevent an explosion.
On Saturday, a small crack was found that allowed some of that pressure to release, and on Monday morning, officials officially officialized that the threat of a catastrophic explosion was off the table.
“But what of the pollution??”
Well, currently, pollution isn’t really an issue. They’ve been actively working to mitigate that this entire time and air monitoring shows that they’ve been successful. We’re just at normal Southern California levels of pollution.
As of this recording, and I’m recording around noon on Monday, the evacuation order for about 50,000 remains in effect, but so far, so much better.
White House Shooting
-via Seattle Times
In Washington DC on Saturday, 21-year-old Nasire Best opened fire at the White House.
He was shot and killed by Secret Service. A bystander was also struck by gunfire but it’s unclear if that was from Best or Secret Service.
Best was actually a known person to the Secret Service. Last July he was arrested for walking around a restricted area of the White House grounds and asking how to get into various entry points.
At the time of that arrest, he told officers, “he was Jesus Christ and that he wanted to get arrested.”
The President was home at the time of the shooting.
When asked for a comment, he said it only reinforced the need for the ballroom: “the most safe and secure space of its kind ever built in Washington.”
Update: Iran
On Monday, as negotiations continue for a deal between the US and Iran (and Israel, too) President Trump said any agreement should include a requirement that other countries, including Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, and others join the Abraham Accords.
Wait a minute. Wait…
This whole thing was started because… well actually we don’t know why. Trump really never said. Then he kind of was like, the US was in imminent danger. Then was like, Iran can never have a nuclear bomb. And correct, they shouldn’t. There was actually a plan in place for that… Trump pulled us out of it, but that’s… alright.
Okay but now he keeps saying that it’s all about making sure Iran never has a nuclear bomb. He literally said “The only thing that matters when I’m talking about Iran — they can’t have a nuclear weapon. I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation. I don’t think about anybody. I think about one thing — we cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon. That’s all.”
But the Abraham Accords basically recognize Israel as a sovereign country, something many of these countries haven’t wanted to do since its founding in 1948.
Holding this conflict hostage for that, kind of forces these countries to choose between this and Palestine because historically many of these countries have said: we’ll normalize relations with Israel when there’s a Palestinian state.
Trump’s always seen the Abraham Accords as one of his big achievements of his first term. That and insurrection. But the Accords were there first.
So I don’t know if he really gets what expanding them means or not, but by saying this, he’s risking delaying a peace deal again (which he has no problem with. Trump also told US negotiators this past weekend “not to rush into" a peace deal.) AND he’s forcing countries to choose: Iran, and kind of the broader future of the Middle East, or the future of Gaza and a possible Palestinian state. Because the Abraham Accords don’t say that can never happen, but it weakens the position.
And Trump, with his gold-plated AI-slop videos of his turning the Gaza strip into some horrific casino that you just know is sticky everywhere and you can never leave your drink unattended, has been very clear about what he wants to do with Gaza.
Either way, over the weekend there was a lot of talk about the deal with Iran being close to locked. I think at this point, we just need to go with – we’ll believe it when we see it.
South Carolina Stampede
-via ABC News
In South Carolina, at least 19 people were injured in a crowd stampede that appears to have been started by just one person running through the crowd for no reason at all. That caused a brief, though chaotic, chain reaction, and there we go.
Just one person!
I mean, I understand the instinct to run when others are running but still.
And that’s it. That’s the news.
Okay, here’s the Paper Plane cocktail – it’s equal parts bourbon, Aperol, Amaro Nonino, and lemon juice.
Amaro Nonino is like – it’s a little bittersweet but it’s warm. It’s great.
Equally great, and about half the price? Disaronno. It’s completely different tasting – this is sweeter (as is saving money)
Either way – they’re both great, just different final notes. Anyway, equal parts (like, ¾ oz) of each ingredient into a shaker. Shaker until your fingies hurt because the shaker is so cold. Ideally this is served up (that means no ice) in a Nick and Nora glass (that’s the one that looks like a cross between a coupe and a martini. It’s so cute – it makes my hand look big! Or normal-sized at least.
But also… do whatever you want. Don’t be pretentious.
Anyway, that’s the Paper Plane cocktail.
I’m proud of… planes. They get you where you need to go.
But more than planes. Because you travel through my mind all the time… I’m proud of you.