Month: December 2021

TH 2021 Talk 02 US Presidential Election results

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 52:48 — 48.3MB)

Season 2021 – Talk 02 – US Presidential Election results from 1920 to 2020

In US Presidential Election results from 1920 to 2020 Rob Sykes tells us about the evolution of the political map of the United States in a century of elections. Because the talk makes great use of maps showing the result for each state in each election I suggest that you open the image gallery below.

Click a thumbnail below to view the image gallery that accompanies the talk.

The Electoral College:

We learn of the importance of the Electoral College in the election of the President. The number of representatives for each state is based on the population. Thus California, with a population of 39,538,223, has 54 votes (2024 and 2028) whereas Wyoming , which has a vast acreage, has a population of  576,851  and 3 votes. Therefore in California it takes 732,189 voters for each Electoral College vote whereas in Wyoming there are only 192,283 voters for the same voting power.

The states with the most Electoral College votes are:

  • California, with a population density of 253.6 per square mile – 54
  • Texas, with a population density of 114 per square mile – 40
  • Florida – 30
  • New York – 28

At the other end of the scale, each with 3 votes, are some states with a vast acreage:

  • Alaska – population density of 1.26 per square mile
  • Wyoming – population density of 5.97 per square mile
  • North and South Dakota

As well as some physically small states:

  • Vermont – population density of 67.7 per square mile
  • Delaware – population density of 469 per square mile

Plus the District of Columbia, because they have the same number as the  states with the smallest populations.

As you can see, a good strategist might target the states with the fewest voters for each Electoral College vote!

The popular vote:

Winning the largest number of votes across the nation, known as the popular vote, does not guarantee winning the Presidency. This has happened 5 times.

The most recent example is 2016 where Hilary Clinton receives 48.2% of the votes compared to Donald Trump who receives 46.1%. However Trump wins because he receives 77 more Electoral College votes.

This also happens in 1824, 1876, 1888 and 2000 when Al Gore wins the popular vote but George W Bush becomes President by a margin of 5 Electoral College votes.

The maps:

The maps clearly show the evolution of political allegiances in the United States over the century. This is illustrated by the political change in the Southern states, where the change is from Democrat to Republican compared to California where the reverse happens.

We also learn that the winning margin in a state can be very small however no matter how small the margin the winner usually takes all the Electoral College votes.

Please note:

This podcast is a recording of a talk on Zoom and there are a few extraneous noises.

The maps are from the website ©270 to Win and are used with their permission. You can visit their website here.

About this podcast:

This podcast is an edited recording of a talk first given to the Farnham u3a World History Group.

The Farnham u3a site is found here.

This podcast is also available through Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, Castbox , Deezer, Podchaser, Spotify, Stitcher and Vurbl and others.

AKM Music has licensed Media Magazine for use as the theme music.

© The MrT Podcast Studio and Farnham u3a World History Group 2018 – 2021

The Carbon Footprint of my glass of wine – SGF 12

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 30:39 — 28.1MB)

Episode 12 – The Carbon Footprint of my glass of wine

The Carbon Footprint of my glass of wine is a podcast made as part of the Surrey’s Greener Future initiative.

Surrey County Council asked people to submit ideas to help combat the climate crisis in September 2019 . They selected ten ideas from the submissions and these podcasts are one of them.

In this podcast I talk to Luke Landers, the Sustainability Lead, and James Crawford, the Skipper, at the Naked Wines UK business.

Who are Naked Wines?

Naked Wines are an Internet based mail order wine business operating in Australia, the UK and the US. Their wine makers tend to be small independent producers.

Customers comment on the wines they buy and the winemaker responds direct to the customer. Both customers and winemakers like this direct contact. Across the three businesses there are a total of around 950,000 active customers.

Making my wine:

Our discussion starts with a look at the production of wine. The public perception of Climate Change is currently high because of the media coverage.

Winemakers have lived with the realities of these changes for some time. We see floods in Germany, wild fires in Australia and California and severe frosts in France. All have a major effect on the wine that we drink.

We consider the impact on the climate and how the viability of wine making is changing.

Transport from winery to my local warehouse:

Transport is a key element in the industry. I learn about how the carbon footprint differs between ‘domaine or chateau bottled’ wine and wine that is bottled locally. When wine is transported in bulk and locally bottled the carbon footprint is significantly lower than transporting bottled wine.

The bottle also makes a significant difference. Many people believe that a heavy bottle means a better wine. A heavier bottle certainly means a bigger carbon footprint! Both for manufacture and also transport. Naked are actively looking at ways of reducing the weight of bottles.

We discuss the merits of boxed wines. The container is significantly lighter, often around 90% lighter, than a bottle. Naked are currently offering a limited range. The wine lasts for some weeks after opening and the customer reviews have been favourable.

Warehousing and Delivery

We discuss the work that is done to make the warehouse processes environmentally friendly and also the activities of the delivery provide. We also talk about delivery to my home is compared to collect from a local centre.

Ultimately it will be customer pressure that drives change:

Customers will pressure businesses to be greener. Naked has a responsibility to inform customers. They provide information, such as country, alcohol content, vegan etc. for each wine. James tells us that this will expand. You can find an example in the gallery (see the thumbnails below).

Naked Wines Charitable Trust:

The charity uses the strength of the customer base to provide funds. There has been help for wine making communities after the recent natural disasters, support for ‘Carmen’s Kids‘ where, over the past 6 years, Angels have contributed  over £825,000 to provide meals for hungry schoolchildren in South Africa, and, nearer home, causes in the UK.

Follow this link to find out more.

Listen to the podcast to find out more!

If you’d like to see larger pictures, please open the gallery by clicking on a thumbnail:

You can find the posts on the Naked Wines ‘Green Wings’ message board here. Please note: you need to be a Naked Wines Angel to post comments.

Go to the Naked Wines UK site please click here.

For the Naked Wines Australian site please click here.

To visit Naked Wines US site please click here.

The ‘Surrey’s Greener Future’ podcasts:

Please use any of the material in order to support your own initiatives to Combat Climate Change because each of us really can make a difference!

In addition to this web-page, this podcast is available on Amazon Music, iTunes/Apple Podcasts, Castbox, Deezer, Podchaser, Spotify and Stitcher and others.

Like to comment on this podcast?

 

AKM Music has licensed Blue Sky for use as the theme and  as incidental music in this episode.

© The MrT Podcast Studio 2021