National Debt is the Impending Crisis America Doesn’t Want to Talk About (0:30)

Guest: Mark Sanford, former Republican Congressman and South Carolina Governor

In the last year, the US Government spent nearly one trillion dollars more than it brought it. That’s what’s known as the federal deficit, and it’s been growing steadily for the last four years, even though the economy has been doing well. Normally, you’d expect to go deeper into debt during hard economic times. But the US Government is doing the opposite and Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell recently warned the financial path we’re on as a country is unsustainable. Mark Sanford calls it “the most predictable financial crisis in the history of man.” He’s a Republican, a former Congressman and Governor from South Carolina. And he just ended what turned out to be a pretty short bid to challenge President Trump. 

 

Retail Stores Aren’t Dead, They’re Just Different Now (21:04)

Guest: Barbara Kahn, professor of marketing, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, author of “The Shopping Revolution: How Successful Retailers Win Customers in an Era of Endless Disruption” 

The biggest shopping season of the year is upon us. Will you battle the crowds on Black Friday or be at your computer early Monday snagging cyber-deals? Probably both because we shop in all the places now - websites, apps, stores. Catalogs are even making a comeback, which you know if your kids have been poring over the toy catalog Amazon sent out this year. An honest-to-goodness, glossy-paged magazine of toys for sale on Amazon. What will they think of next? Wharton School marketing professor Barbara Kahn has some ideas. She’s author of The Shopping Revolution: How Successful Retailers Win Customers in an Era of Endless Disruption.

 

Ask An Expert: Preparing a Great Thanksgiving Feast (35:47)

Guest: Chef Todd Leonard, Associate Professor -- Culinary Arts, Utah Valley University

Our listeners have all sorts of Thanksgiving Dinner questions. Chef Leonard's answers provide some great ideas to help you create a wonderful Thanksgiving Dinner and still have a great time making it.

 

Nonprofit Teaches Kids to Write and Produce Music in Exchange for Good Grades (51:11)

Guest: Brandon Steppe, Founder and Executive Director at The David’s Harp Foundation

There was a point about 15 years ago when Brandon Steppe set out to become a rapper and music producer. He even built a recording studio in his garage. And then a visit from a neighbor kid, changed everything. Today, Steppe runs a nonprofit called the David’s Harp Foundation in San Diego. He mentors disadvantaged young people and gives them free access to his recording studio. But to earn studio time, kids have to get good grades. 

 

This Thanksgiving, Rediscover How America’s Indigenous People Ate Before the Colonists Came (1:10:38)

Guest: Sean Sherman, Founder, CEO, The Sioux Chef, author of “The Sioux Chef’s Indigenous Kitchen”

Thanksgiving is a fraught holiday for many Native Americans. In Massachusetts at the site of the alleged First Thanksgiving, descendants of the indigenous people who were murdered and displaced by the Colonists mark the fourth Thursday of November as a “National Day of Mourning.” Many find the warm-fuzzy Pilgrims and Indians school pageants deeply offensive for perpetuating stereotypes and giving the impression that America’s native inhabitants were treated well by European colonists. They were not. Is there a better way to think about Thanksgiving? Lakota Sioux Chef Sean Sherman has some ideas. 

 

How Do Alternative Approaches to Grading Affect Learning? (1:27:35)

Guest: Jesse Stommel, PhD, Senior Lecturer of digital studies and digital learning fellow at the University of Mary Washington

Students across the country are barreling toward final exams before the holiday break, hoping for As and Bs. In Jesse Stommel’s courses at the University of Mary Washington, the students will be grading themselves. Stommel doesn’t believe in giving letter grades and he’s managed to avoid doing it the 20 years he’s been a college professor. More high school and college professors are joining him, of late. Hear why Stommel is so committed to “ungrading.”