The Battle to Compensate Ground Zero First Responders

Guest: Bill Groner, founder & CEO, SSAM Alternative Dispute Resolution, co-author “9/12: The Epic Battle of the Ground Zero Responders”

When the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers fell to terrorists on September 11, 2001, an army of first responders rushed to Ground Zero. First it was a rescue effort. But for months and months after that –well into the following year –thousands of people worked in and around Ground Zero and at the landfill where debris was dumped and sorted. Construction workers, coroners, fire and police officers. All breathing dust that we now know contained toxic chemicals. In the years that followed, many would develop serious lung illnesses –and even cancers.

Finding fake volcanoes and dealing with the real ones

Guest: Janine Krippner, PhD., Volcanologist at the Smithsonian Institute Volvanologist Program and host of the Popular Volcanics podcast

There are fewer volcanoes today than there were just a few weeks ago thanks to people like volcanologist Janine Krippner. She works at the Smithsonian and one of her jobs is to sniff out imposters on the official list of volcanoes. Yes, there’s an official list. And best beware if you’re a volcano-wannabe, cause Krippner has no qualms killing your dream.

Is Compassionate Release an Option for Aging Prison Populations?

Guest: Tina Maschi, PhD, Associate Professor at the Fordham University Graduate School of Social Service in New York City 

The number of elderly prisoners in the US is going up, and fast. Some projections estimate that by 2030, one third of prisoners will be age 55 and up. As those inmates get older, many will get sick and some will die in prison. Not only does that mean more taxpayer dollars to take care of them, but it also creates a moral dilemma: do you let someone die alone behind bars?

President Trump Says Deal with Taliban is Dead. What Next?

Guest: Michael Kugelman, Deputy Director and Senior Associate for South Asia, Wilson Center in Washington, DC

It’s been 18 years since Al Qaeda’s terrorist attacks on US soil. And 18 years since the US struck back in Afghanistan, where the Taliban was giving safe haven to Al Qaeda. That’s now America’s longest war. But a peace deal between the US and the Taliban had been close at hand. Imminent, we were told. And American troops would be coming home soon. But now? “(The talks) are dead, as far as I’m concerned they’re dead,” said President Trump on Monday. “(The Taliban) thought they had to kill people in order to put themselves in a little better negotiating position. When they did that they killed 12 people. One happened to be a great American soldier.”

Kenneth Feinberg on Deciding What a Life is Worth

Guest: Kenneth Feinberg, Former Special Master of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, Author of “What Is Life Worth?” And “Who Gets What?”

2,977 people died when terrorists hijacked commercial airplanes and crashed them into the World Trade Center towers, the Pentagon and a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. More than 6,000 others were injured. Just eleven days after the attacks, Congress created a $7 billion fund to compensate those victims and their families. The man tasked with deciding who would get what –how much each life was worth in dollars and cents –was Kenneth Feinberg. Since then, he’s overseen victim compensation funds for mass shootings in Aurora, Newtown, Orlando and Las Vegas and for the Boston Marathon Bombing. BP hired him to award compensation to victims of the Gulf Oil spill. He’s now handling compensation for victims of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church and for the families of people who died in the Boeing 737 plane crashes.