2020
March
18
Wednesday

Monitor Daily Podcast

March 18, 2020
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Mark Sappenfield
Senior global correspondent

Today’s stories examine how to handle the virus of misinformation, the challenges of one-party rule in Oregon, a shift to a more open Saudi Arabia, the scientific wonders of a prehistoric “chicken,” and a little help for your garden.

What if Tom Brady is not who we think he is?

Today, we learned that the most successful quarterback in National Football League history is leaving the New England Patriots – with whom he won a record six Super Bowls – and joining the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The chatter has begun: Who will fare better, Brady or the legendary coach he is leaving behind, Bill Belichick?

For 20 years under Belichick, Brady was the image of his boss – businesslike, corporate, always hewing to the company line. But as a Buccaneer, he’ll be working with Bruce Arians, a coach who once sang an off-color impromptu gospel song about sacking quarterbacks for a television show. Who one former player described as having “crazy swag.” And who berates employees who stay at the office instead of attending their children’s piano recitals. Bill Belichick, he is not.

And that could mean a new Brady at age 43. Said Hall of Famer Steve Young on ESPN: “The Buccaneers are getting a guy that really wants to enjoy the last little bit of his career, and Bruce Arians is perfect for that. [Tom] loves football and you’ve seen him love it in a unique Patriot way – now I think you’ll see him love it in a unique Tom Brady way.”


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Today’s stories

And why we wrote them

Taylor Luck
Tour guide Minza Al-Rmothi leads a group of tourists at the diwan, a Nabataean-carved meeting place, in Al Ula, Saudi Arabia, Feb. 29, 2020.
Courtesy of Daniel J. Field/University of Cambridge
Daniel J. Field of the University of Cambridge holds a three-dimensional printed version of the skull of a newly discovered fossil bird, Asteriornis. The fossil is 66.7 million years old.

Books

Karen Norris/Staff

The Monitor's View

AP
Adnan Al-Zurfi, seen here in 2005 as governor of Najaf, and now prime minister-designate of Iraq.

A Christian Science Perspective

About this feature

A message of love

Jason Redmond/Reuters
Lori Spencer and her husband, Michael Spencer, visit her mom, Judie Shape, who tested positive for coronavirus, outside her room at Care Center of Kirkland, the Seattle-area nursing home that is one of the epicenters of the coronavirus outbreak, in Kirkland, Washington, March 17, 2020.
( The illustrations in today’s Monitor Daily are by Jacob Turcotte. )

A look ahead

Thank you for joining us today. Please come back tomorrow when Harry Bruinius looks at how those who live a life of service to others – such as pastors and service providers – are navigating the call for social distancing. 

Before you go, a quick editor’s note about the Christian Science Perspective column that appeared in the March 17 issue. Due to a technical error, the audio version of this article was incomplete. We apologize for the inconvenience and are working to correct the problem.

More issues

2020
March
18
Wednesday
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