The Antitrust Woes of America’s Tech Titans (0:32)

Guest: Paul Stancil, Professor of Law, J. Reuben Clark Law School, BYU

It was an unusual spectacle in Washington, DC on Wednesday. The titans of American technology squared off against Congress. You had Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg who is no stranger to the hot seat at Congressional hearings, but it was Amazon’s Jeff Bezo's first time. Apple CEO Tim Cook was also there, and Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google’s parent company, Alphabet. Congress has been investigating these four companies for the last year, looking into antitrust concerns. Recommendations on what to do about those concerns are expected form the House committee on antitrust in the coming weeks.

 

What’s So Exciting About Comet NEOWISE? (23:59)

Guest: Amy Mainzer, Astronomer, Professor at University of Arizona, Principal Investigator on the NEOWISE Project.

You’ve seen the pictures of a bright star with a fuzzy tail on the horizon at sunset all over social media. It’s not too late to catch a glimpse of the buzzy comet for yourself, but you’ll need to move fast. Comet NEOWISE will only be visible for a few more weeks. Where’s it headed and why are people so excited about it?

 

Pricing a COVID-19 Drug During a Pandemic (40:03)

Guest: Craig Garthwaite, Herman R. Smith Research Professor in Hospital and Health Services Management and Director of Healthcare at Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University

The only drug that’s been so far proven to help patients with COVID-19, and has emergency approval in the US and Europe, is called Remdesivir. It’s made by Gilead Sciences, which is charging American patients with private insurance roughly $3,000 for a five-day course of the drug. That’s not as expensive as investors in Gilead would like to see the drug cost. They want to make money, of course. But it’s more expensive than some politicians and patient advocates think is appropriate. What is the right balance between profit and public good in a pandemic?

 

Why Life Behind Bars Differs Dramatically From Prison to Prison, Country to Country (52:55)

Guest: David Skarbek, PhD, Associate Professor of Political Science, Brown University, Author “The Puzzle of Prison Order”

Worldwide there are more than 10 million people in prison. Almost a quarter of those inmates are in US prisons, because America incarcerates people at a higher rate than any other country. And the vast majority of people locked up in the United States will eventually go home, bringing with them whatever experiences they had in prison. So it’s worth considering what those experiences are. You might think all prisons are the same – rows of cells filled with violent men ruled by officials with an iron fist and powerful prison gangs. But life behind bars varies dramatically from country to country and even right here in the US.

 

The Pandemic’s Effect on Kids in Cars (1:32:10)

Guest: Sue Auriemma, Vice President, KidsandCars.org

An important message now for anyone with small children around. Since the start of the pandemic, there’s been a spike in children climbing into a parked car on their own, getting trapped and dying of heat exposure.