How the $2 Trillion in Pandemic Relief Is Supposed to Help the Economy (0:31)

Guest: Richard Evans, PhD, Associate Director and Senior Lecturer, Master’s Program in Computational Social Science, University of Chicago

Congress has so far approved a little more than $2-trillion in stimulus and relief to deal with the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic, but will it be enough?

 

How Much Do We Actually Know About Medical Marijuana? (18:02)

Guest: Staci Gruber, PhD, Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, Director of the Marijuana Investigations for Neuroscientific Discovery Program at McLean Hospital.

Marijuana use for medicinal purposes is now the norm in America – all but a few states allow it. And in 11 states, it’s legal for adults to use marijuana recreationally – no doctor’s note required. But we still know very little about how cannabis affects the body and brain. This is a case of policy outpacing science.

 

Growing Lettuce (And Other Food) in Space (34:51)

Guest: Gioia Massa, PhD, Plant Scientist, NASA Kennedy Space Center, Veggie Project Lead 

NASA is working on sending humans back to the moon and then onto Mars in the next decade.  Gioia Massa is working on making sure the astronauts who go on those long space missions have fresh produce in their diet.

 

How to Protect Your Children From Accidental Poisoning (50:39)

Guest: Sadiqa Kendi MD, Medical Director, Safe Kids DC and Children’s National Safety Center at Children’s National Hospital

Parents working at home all day with little kids underfoot is a tricky situation. It’s impossible to keep a close eye on them at every moment. So these pandemic quarantines may boost the risk of kids getting into medicines. During normal times, a kid with accidental medicine poisoning shows up in an emergency room somewhere in America every ten minutes.

 

Immune Booster Myths (1:06:54)

Guest: Alice Knoedler, M.D., Fellow in the Division of Asthma, Allergy and Immunology, University of Virginia School of Medicine

We’re all trying to stay healthy right now. Is there anything that can boost the immune system’s ability to fight off infection? Quick fixes abound on the internet. 

 

Movies to Help Kids Talk About Pandemic Fears (1:19:26)

Guest: Kirsten Hawkes, ParentPreviews.com

How’s the stress level in your home right now? Movies can be a great way for families to spark a conversation about feelings and coping with scary stuff, so Kirsten Hawkes of Parent Previews.com has a few recommendations for you today.