Trump Administration Revives Executions on Federal Death Row

Guest: John Blume, Samuel F. Leibowitz Professor of Trial Techniques, Cornell Law School and Director, Cornell Death Penalty Project

Twenty-five people were executed by states around the country last year. That’s a record low. Nearly half of states have outlawed capital punishment all together. There’s also a death row for the federal government –but it’s been more than a decade since any of the inmates there have been executed. That’s about to change. US Attorney General William Barr has ordered five executions to take place in December of January.

 

Where Do Pets Go During Natural Disasters?

Guest: Sarah E. DeYoung, Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology &Criminal Justice and the Disaster Research Center, University of Delaware

In emergency situations like a hurricane, people are obviously the number one priority. But what about pets? Many view their dog or cat as another family member, yet for most people and places, evacuation plans for animals are minimal at best. That can put pets and their owners in serious danger.

 

Collecting Scientific History

Guest: Peter L. Jakab, Chief Curator of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum

When Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to walk on the moon 50 years ago, they had a camera mounted to the lunar lander, capturing everything and beaming those images back to earth. The original videotape recordings NASA made of that momentous event just sold at auction for $1.8 million to an anonymous buyer. Luckily, we’ve got the digital versions everyone can watch online. But what will become of those original tapes? Who knows? A surprising amount of the world’s science and technology history is held by private collectors. Moon landing artifacts. Nobel Prize statues. Einstein’s handwritten notes.

 

How Much is Too Much? When Curiosity Kills the Cat

Guest: Ming Hsu, Associate Professor, Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley

The instant gratification of having the internet at your fingertips is often irresistible, isn’t it? I’ll be watching TV and suddenly need to know right now what else the show’s creator has done, what else the main actor has been in, who that star is married to, how old they are, how tall they are. . . it’s an endless rabbit hole of curiosity for useless information. And meanwhile, I end up missing key plot points because I can’t put the phone down.

 

The Challenges of Finding a Universally Healthy Diet

Guest: Andrew Chan, Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Gastroenterologist, Massachusetts General Hospital

In theory, dieting should be straight forward. Stick to the calorie and nutrient limits of the plan and you’ll see results. Except it doesn’t always work because –and this will come as no surprise to anyone who’s tried –diets are not one-size fits all. In fact, it may be that each of us has our own unique ideal diet for optimal health.

 

Thirteen Reasons Why Announced the Removal of a Graphic Suicide Scene from Season One

Guest: Dan Reidenberg, Executive Director, Suicide Awareness Voices of Education

The controversial Netflix show 13 Reasons Why has removed a graphic scene of the teenaged main character’s death by suicide. The scene was part of the show’s first season and Netflix had defended it for two years, saying it was meant to deter people from suicide by showing how disturbing and painful it is. But now, with the show’s third season arriving, Netflix has deleted the scene on the “advice of medical experts.” Back in 2017, before the show began airing, Netflix asked psychologist Dan Reidenberg for his thoughts on the depiction of suicide. Reidenberg, who heads the suicide prevention organization SAVE, told Netflix not to release the show at all.