Pandemic Stimulus for Business (0:30)

Guest: Romina Boccia, Director, Grover M. Hermann Center for the Federal Budget, The Heritage Foundation

Pandemic stimulus checks of up to $1,200 are beginning to arrive this week in the bank accounts of taxpayers. Record numbers of people are also filing for enhanced unemployment benefits. The two-trillion-dollar pandemic relief package Congress passed a few weeks ago includes loans for businesses that pledge to keep employees on the payroll, even if they don’t have enough work for them right now. So far, the Small Business Administration says more than 587,000 applications have been approved worth over $151 billion in relief. That’s half the total Congress allocated for low-cost loans to companies with fewer than 500 employees.

 

Pandemic Crisis Got You Planting a Garden? Join the Club. (18:23)

Guest: Rose Hayden-Smith, PhD, Kellogg Food and Society Policy Fellow, Emeritus Professor of Agriculture and Natural Resources for the University of California, Author of "Sowing the Seeds of Victory: American Gardening Programs of WWI"

The pandemic has sparked a moment of “crisis gardening” among Americans. It’s not much different from the Victory Gardens that sprung up in yards around the country during World War I, and then again in World War II.

 

We’re All in This Together: Voices From Around the World During a Pandemic Part II (28:26)

No matter where you live on the planet, you’ve been affected by the pandemic. It’d be nice to reach out to people around the world and hear how they’re doing. How are they coping? We’ve spoken with people in 15 different countries, and we’re playing those conversations for you all week here on Top of Mind. They’ve helped us feel more connected and inspired. We hope they do the same for you.

Jean-Luc Butel in Singapore

Maryn Tan in France

Jose Galdos in Peru

Erin Hale in Turkey

 

Citizen Scientists Can Help Save the Butterflies (51:36)

Guest: Mary Ellen Hannibal, Journalist, Author of "Citizen Scientist: Searching for Heroes and Hope in an Age of Extinction."  

Most of America is staying put, but Monarch butterflies are on the move. As the butterflies head North from their overwintering spots in Mexico and California, researchers need your help to track the migration. Sightings from everyday citizens have helped to document the decline in butterfly populations around the world, including the Monarch.

 

Underwater Forest Could Help in Providing New Medicines (1:10:58)

Guest: Dan Distel, Director of the Ocean Genome Legacy Center, Northeastern University

When Hurricane Ivan ripped through the Gulf of Mexico 16 years ago, it scooped a bunch of sand from the sea floor and unearthed an ancient forest. The underwater grove of cypress trees off the Alabama coast is now home to lots of sea creatures, including shipworms that are feeding on the ancient wood. A shipworm’s ability to digest wood could unlock new medicines for humans.

 

Teaching Kids Digital Literacy (1:29:41)

Guest: Rachel Wadham, Host, Worlds Awaiting on BYUradio, Education and Juvenile Collections Librarian, BYU

We’re all hungry for information about the pandemic in our local communities, so we can make the best decisions for ourselves and our families. Unfortunately, inaccurate information – and even outright lies – abound on the internet.