Ethiopia’s Internal War and Why it Matters (0:33)

Guest: William Davison, Senior Analyst on Ethiopia, International Crisis Group

Ethiopia’s prime minister has declared victory in a month-long fight with a regional government in the North of the country. The UN this week says the Ethiopian government has agreed to allow humanitarian aid into the Tigray region as hunger grows and hospitals run out of basic supplies.

 

Evidence Suggests Women Hunted in Prehistoric Hunter-Gatherer Societies (18:07)

Guest: Randy Haas, Archaeologist, Professor of Anthropology, University of California Davis

Before ancient humans turned to farming, they were hunter-gatherers. Anthropologists have long believed that work was divided down gender lines: the men hunted, and the women gathered. But a 9000-year-old skeleton of a young woman found in Peru is changing that narrative.

 

Far-reaching Impacts of Biased School Discipline (35:52)

Guest: Charles Bell, Professor, Department of Criminal Justice Sciences, Illinois State University

Black students are twice as likely to be suspended from school as their white peers. Illinois State University Criminal Justice professor Charles Bell has concluded from his research that often Black students are expelled because of misunderstandings. And that suspending a student doesn’t actually do much to encourage better behavior, but it is very likely to harm the student’s educational opportunities and may even push the student to transfer to another school.

 

An Arab, A Jew, and the Heart of the Middle East (52:20)

Guest: Sandy Tolan, Professor of Journalism, USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, Author of “The Lemon Tree: An Arab, a Jew, and the Heart of the Middle East”

The conflict between Israelis and Palestinians seems intractable. “Locked in a dangerous paralysis” is how one top UN official described the state of things. The deep disillusionment and distrust on both sides of the conflict make the story of Dalia and Bashir as stunning today as it was in 1998, when it was first told. Dalia is an Israeli Jew. Bashir is a Palestinian. Both claim the same house as their home. And that house–with a lemon tree in the yard–brought them together in unlikely friendship more than 50 years ago.

 

Star Wars, AFOLs and the Secret to LEGO’s Enduring Popularity (1:31:25)

Guest: Joe Meno, Founder of BrickJournal, Co-Author of “The Cult of LEGO”

The hottest toys this holiday season are classics–Hot Wheels, Barbies, Care Bears, LEGOs. The pandemic seems to have a lot of us feeling nostalgic. LEGOs are always a top request to Santa, though. How has the company managed to stay popular for so long? Probably because they’re not just for kids.