What Do We Know for Sure about the COVID-19 Virus at This Point? (0:32)

Guest: Sankar Swaminathan, MD, Chief of Infectious Diseases Division, University of Utah Health

All of the decisions governments, schools and businesses are making right now about how to proceed with COVID-19 cases on the rise, depend on having good information about how the virus spreads. And that information has been in flux. Does the novel coronavirus spread through droplets only? Can you get infected by touching a surface that has the virus on it? Why do some people get really sick and some don’t even have symptoms? How accurate are the tests for COVID-19?

 

Microaggressions and the Harm They Inflict (20:50)

Guest: Ronald E. Hall, Professor of Social Work, Michigan State University

You’re not a racist. Of course you’re not. And you’d never do something like call an African American the “n-word.” But there are many little ways to be racist-or sexist. They’re are called “microaggressions” and you may not even realize you’re doing them. You probably mean no harm. But they can be harmful.

 

The Widening Racial Gap of Home Ownership (36:33)

Guest: Jacob Rugh, Professor of Sociology, Brigham Young University

Eighteen years after the housing crisis hit the US, homeownership rates have rebounded for every racial group except Black Americans. Right now, while only 41% of Black Americans own homes compared to 75 percent of Whites. Latino homeownership has climbed to just under 50%. Why does this disparity exist? What are its implications for the 2020 election?

 

Migration is Natural & Inevitable; Trying to Prevent It Only a Distraction From Real Solutions (52:52)

Guest: Sonia Shah, Science Journalist, Author of “The Next Great Migration: The Beauty and Terror of Life on the Move”

In the natural world, migration is an ingenious survival adaptation. Birds and butterflies do it–of course. Did you know even forests can migrate? So why does society consider it a problem when people do it?

 

More than 200 Offensive Words are Getting Banned From Competitive Scrabble (1:32:08)

Guest: Josephine Flowers, Competitive Scrabble Player, Tournament and Club Director

The North American Scrabble Players Association–which hosts competitive Scrabble events for people who take the word game very, very seriously–has announced it will ban the use of hundreds of offensive words, including racial slurs. The decision was very controversial among competitive Scrabble players.