Communist Party Celebrates 70 Years of Power in China

Guest: Rui Zhong, Program Associate, Kissinger Institute on China and the United States at the Wilson Center

China celebrated 70 years of Communist Party control today with an enormous parade of performers, soldiers and military vehicles.  Meanwhile, protesters pressing for more democratic freedoms in Hong Kong clashed violently with police. One demonstrator was shot by police with a live round. That’s a first and marks a major escalation since the weekly marches began in June.

Community Interaction Increases Trust in Police

Guest: Michael Sierra-Arevalo, Assistant Professor, Criminal Justice, Rutgers University –Newark

Most of the encounters that happen in America between police and the public are related to enforcement like a traffic stop or responding to a crime report. That can lead to a less-than-trusting, or in some cases outright hostile, relationship. High-profile cases of police brutality against people of color have only fueled that mistrust.

Bird Populations on the Decline

Guest: Ken Rosenberg, Ph.D., Applied Conservation Scientist, Cornell Lab of Ornithology and American Bird Conservancy

Backyard birdfeeders around the US and Canada are quieter than they were in the 1970s. Overall bird populations in North America have declined by thirty percent. Typical backyard birds like blackbirds, finches, larks, warblers and sparrows saw some of the steepest declines.

How Fear of Death Affects Us Day to Day

Guest: Sheldon Solomon, Professor of Psychology, Skidmore College

What makes us human? Is it our wisdom? How about our ability to makes tools or tell stories? Psychologist Sheldon Solomon believes the answer is our mortality–more specifically, our ability to comprehend that we will die. That creates a fear of death that affects how we treat each other, election outcomes, and even the environment.

After 16 Years in Prison, Sean Pica Reformed His Life and Now Helps Others Do the Same

Guest: Sean Pica, Executive Director of Hudson Link for Higher Education in Prison

When Sean Pica was 16, he murdered a man and went to prison. He spent the next 16 years behind bars –including New York’s notorious Sing Sing Prison. Along the way, he earned a college degree. And he says that is the reason he’s free today, when the majority of people in prison end up back behind bars after their release.

About Fresh puts grocery stores on wheels to fight food deserts

Guest: Annika Morgan, Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of About Fresh

There’s a nonprofit in Boston that loads up school buses with fresh produce and sells it at a discount in neighborhoods that lack grocery stores. Doctors in the community even hand out gift cards for the fruits-and-veggies-school-bus to patients who need a healthier diet. They’re literally prescribing food as medicine. Annika Morgan is co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of the nonprofit, called About Fresh