Why California is Getting into the Drug Manufacturing Business (0:29)

Guest: Geoffrey Joyce, Chair, Department of Pharmaceutical and Health Economics, University of Southern California

California is about to become the first state to develop and sell its own line of generic drugs. The state’s legislature and governor signed the measure into law last week, as an effort to improve the quality of generic drugs and bring down prices. It’s a very unusual move that other states will be watching.

 

New Cooling System Would Cut AC Emissions in Half (16:50)

Guest: Eric Teitelbaum, PhD Graduate, School of Architecture and Materials Science, Princeton University

As the world gets hotter, air conditioning is ever more in-demand. But traditional AC requires a lot of energy and is an important contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, globally. So, the world needs more efficient ways to cool off. Let’s hear about one solution put to the test in hot, humid Singapore this summer.

 

Photographing California’s Worst Wildfire Season Yet (34:24)

Guest:  Jeff Frost, Artist and Photographer

It’s been another record-breaking wildfire season for California. More than four million acres have burned, state officials said over the weekend. That’s more than double the acreage that burned in the last record-setting year, which was 2018. A key difference is that while fires have burned bigger this year, they’ve been far less deadly or damaging to property than the 2018 wildfire season. Artist Jeff Frost has been documenting the escalating fire situation in California for many years now. He uses time-lapse photography and created a 30-minute documentary not long ago called “California on Fire.”

 

Defeating Mental Health Demons through Dungeons & Dragons (52:50)

Guest: Megan Connell, Psychologist, Therapeutic Dungeon Master, Co-Creator of Geeks Like Us

The roleplaying game Dungeons & Dragons has gained popularity lately–perhaps partially because it entered the mainstream media through the TV show Stranger Things. But it’s not just a nerdy 80s game, it’s also good for mental health. In fact, licensed psychologist Megan Connell uses it as a therapy technique for anxiety, PTSD, and autism.

 

Can Smaller Reactors Revive Nuclear Power? (1:11:26)

Guest: Jacopo Buongiorno, Professor of Nuclear Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Without a big turnaround in the coming decade, nuclear power in the United States is headed for extinction. Nuclear plants all across the country are nearing the end of life and power companies are opting to shut them down rather than build new ones. A group of nuclear power proponents hope a radical redesign of the traditional nuclear reactor will revive the industry. US regulators recently approved the design for a “small modular reactor” as it’s called–though actually building one in the US is will require additional regulatory approval and nobody’s applied for that yet.

 

New Tech Gives Allergy Sufferers Real-Time Data (1:31:01)

Guest: Landon Bunderson, CEO, Pollen Sense

Pollen is still counted manually to give allergy sufferers 24-hour averages, if you can believe it. But that means the data is from the day before, which isn't helpful if someone wants to avoid going outside on a day that will be bad for their specific allergies. New technology could change all that - it gives real-time data on what pollen is in the air.