The Cut Sheet begins with Flock Safety CEO Garrett Langley arguing that privacy and safety can coexist through compromise. We push back on the broader post-9/11 expansion of surveillance, from the Patriot Act to cameras that now appear across everyday life, while Rooney separates concerns about Flock’s actual plate-reading capabilities from wider distrust of large technology companies. Amazon’s coming South Jersey drone deliveries then return to the conversation as we wonder about crashes, delivery costs, lost driver jobs and whether getting a five-pound package in half an hour is worth filling the sky with delivery drones.
Our Amazon argument keeps rolling as Nick recounts his family’s experience buying catcher shin guards, the crew debates unreliable product reviews and Rooney looks at how automation could change warehouse and delivery jobs. That carries us into the decline of in-person shopping and customer service before Target’s Halloween controversy takes over. We look at the clown costume the company pulls after complaints, the child model wearing it and Target’s apology, then ask whether corporate leaders are too quick to surrender to a tiny number of offended customers.
Charles Barkley gives us the next Cut Sheet fight after appearing with Michael Smerconish and blasting the partisan shouting on CNN despite working for the network himself. Barkley argues that voters should think independently rather than automatically choosing a team, which sends us into a much broader argument about modern Democrats and Republicans, Black voters, Stephen A. Smith and whether public figures privately vote differently from what they tell their audiences. Dawn then discusses how television journalism has changed and why openly admitting political bias could be more credible than pretending it does not exist.
Back-to-school season shifts the hour toward parental power and school choice. We discuss parent anger at school-board meetings, including the fight in Lower Merion, before hearing Linda McMahon state that children belong to their parents rather than the federal government. The crew debates the Department of Education, competition between schools and the new Education Freedom Tax Credit, including how public-school families can benefit from the $1,700 federal credit rather than the policy being limited to private-school tuition.
Aug 25, 2026
