Asian Americans Divided On Affirmative Action

Guest: Van C. Tran, PhD, Associate Professor of Sociology, The Graduate Center, CUNY

Last week, Harvard won the lawsuit brought against it by a group of Asian Americans challenging the school’s admissions policies. The students claim Harvard requires Asian applicants to clear a higher bar than applicants of other races. Having lost this first round, the students are appealing in hopes of eventually landing at the US Supreme Court. What makes this case unusual is that typically affirmative action policies are challenged by white people. Here, it’s Asian Americans making the claim that affirmative action is harming them –and that’s controversial within the Asian American community.

Little Free Libraries Bring Free Books to Neighborhoods Near You

Guest: Margret Aldrich, Media and Programming Manager at Little Free Library, Author of "The Little Free Library Book"

You may have come across a birdhouse-shaped box with books inside and a sign that says, “Little Free Libraries.” There are 90,000 of them in 91 countries. Take a book, leave a book. This year marks ten years since the project started as a way for a book-lover to honor his schoolteacher mother. What surprises me is that this whole project has flourished in the digital age when, you’ve got endless reading material on the phone in your pocket. Who wants to pick from a handful of random books available in a box on someone’s lawn?

Organization that Cleans Oceans Offers Recycling Tips

Guest: Emilie Johnsen, Education Supervisor, 4Ocean

Around the world, there’s plastic in the ocean, on the beaches, even in our food. It’s safe to say that we have a major plastics problem. The answer is to recycle more, right? Well, how you recycle may be hurting more than it’s helping.

Water Sommelier Martin Riese stays hydrated professionally

Guest: Martin Riese, Water Tasting Educator, Water Sommelier at Petit Ermitage Hotel in West Hollywood

When you go on vacation, can you taste the difference in the tap water? It might be subtle, but I can. And Martin Riese definitely can. He’s a professional water taster –a water sommelier, even. At the Petit Ermitage Hotel in West Hollywood he oversees a menu of waters and recommends pairings for diners. Which, I know, sounds so LA

Humans Drank Milk 6,000 Years Ago

Guest: Sophy Charlton, Researcher of Biomolecular Archaeology, University of York

The average American consumes more than 600 pounds of dairy products per year. But it definitely didn’t used to be that way –humans couldn’t always drink milk. Ancient adults were lactose intolerant, and it’s still a mystery why so many humans aren’t anymore. That’s why it was a big surprise when researchers from the University of York examined teeth from people who lived 6,000 years ago and discovered that they consumed dairy.

Human Trafficking

Guest: Amy Farrell, Associate Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Northeastern University

Human trafficking still happens right here in the United States. And it’s happening more often than the official data suggest. Police departments often don’t have a category for “human trafficking” when recording crimes in state and federal databases. Criminologist Amy Farrell at Northeastern University says that – coupled with insufficient training of police officers – has led to a “massive undercount” of human trafficking cases in the US.