Kenneth Feinberg on Deciding What a Life is Worth (0:32)

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 Max plane crashes. (Originally Aired Sept. 11, 2019)

Why Statelessness Is On the Rise Globally (34:24)

Guest: Fernand de Varennes, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues

Around the world there are at least 10 million people who are “stateless,” according to the United Nations. Which means, they belong nowhere. They’re not simply refugees or individuals living without citizenship status in a country. These stateless individuals have no “home” to go back to, even if they wanted to.  (Originally Aired Oct. 8, 2019)

The Battle to Compensate Ground Zero First Responders (52:53)

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 terroristson 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.  (Originally Aired Sept. 11, 2019)

Will Oil Drilling in ANWR Further Threaten Polar Bears? (1:11:07)

Guest: Tom Smith, Wildlife Biologist, Brigham Young University

The Trump Administration approved a plan to sell leases for the right to drill in the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge a few weeks ago. Fifteen states are suingo ver the move. One concern, among wildlife biologists, is that more and more polar bear mothers are giving birth to their cubs in the coastal plain of the Arctic Ocean.  (Originally Aired Feb. 25, 2020)

How Much Do We Actually Know About Medical Marijuana? (1:27:13)

Guest: Staci Gruber, Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Director of the Marijuana Investigations, Neuroscientific Discovery Program, McLean Hospital

Marijuana use for medicinal purposes is now the norm in America–all but a few states allow it. And in 11 states, it’s legal for adults to use marijuana recreationally–no doctor’s note required. But we still know very little about how cannabis affects the body and brain. This is a case of policy outpacing science.  (Originally Aired Mar. 31, 2020)