07/05/2026: Elemental Crisis, The Knowledge, Banana Ball

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In what might be the ultimate front of the U.S. trade war with China, correspondent Jon Wertheim reports from the only active rare earth mine in the U.S., deep in the Mojave Desert near the California-Nevada border. Today, China holds a near-monopoly over the strategic metals that are key components in smartphones, robotics and EVs, but also fighter jets, drones and radar technology. Wertheim looks at the private company, now partly owned by the federal government, that is ramping up rare earth mining, processing and magnet-making in response to China’s threats to cut off rare earths. Graham Messick is the producer. As tech companies promise that AI-powered autonomous vehicles will…