Religious Freedom and LGBT Rights Back at the US Supreme Court

Guest: Luke Goodrich, Vice President and Senior Counsel, Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, author of “Free to Believe: The Battle Over Religious Liberty in America”

The US Supreme Court heard arguments this week in what could settling a long-running dispute in America over whether using taxpayer dollars for tuition at religious schools violates the separation of church and state. Last fall, we talked about the significance of that case on the Supreme Court’s docket with Luke Goodrich, Deputy General Counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. At the time of our conversation, the Supreme Court had just heard a case that strikes at the heart of the conflict between religious freedom and LGBT rights. That’s the case we talked about first. The Supreme Court has yet to issue a ruling on either. (Originally aired 10/23/19)

U.S. Supreme Court Leaves Gerrymandering Prevention to the States

Guest: Joshua Douglas, Professor of Law, University of Kentucky

New Jersey’s governor just signed a bill into law this week that will make the state’s district voting maps easily available online. The hope is that if the public has better access to these maps, it will discourage lawmakers from excessive gerrymandering –that’s when politicians draw district boundaries to favor their own party. It’s legal, but public outcry and a series of court rulings in recent years have begun to demand the lines be drawn in a less self-serving way. A series of court rulings in recent years have drawing voting maps in favor of Democrats or Republicans. (Originally aired 9/24/2019)

Research Shows How Ostracism Can Lead People to Extremism 

Guest: Andrew Hales, postdoctoral researcher, University of Virginia

Being excluded never feels good. It didn’t feel good as a kid on the playground and, it doesn’t feel good when you get left out of a lunch with coworkers or old friends. The question is, so what? Does being ostracized lead people to behave in worrisome ways? Sure, parents, teachers and bosses care about the answer. But, so do leaders of nations where whole groups of people are ostracized because of their race, religion or immigrant status. (Originally aired 9/25/2019)

Holocaust Resilience: One Family’s Story of Hope and Triumph Over Evil

Guest: Judy Stone,  Judy Stone, MD, author of “Resilience: One Family’s Story of Hope and Triumph Over Evil”

Judy Stone grew up knowing any questions about the war were off-limits to her parents, aunts and uncles--all Hungarian Jews who lived through the Holocaust. It was only near the end of her mother’s life, that Judy Stone began to hear the stories of suffering and survival in her family. She spent the next decade interviewing relatives and tracking down genealogical records. The result is a book called, “Resilience: One Family’s Story of Hope and Triumph Over Evil.” (Originally aired 10/17/2019)

How One Fungus Could Wipe Out the Banana As We Know It

Guest: Randy Ploetz, Professor of Plant Pathology, University of Florida in Homestead

Members of the global fruit and agriculture industries met this week in Germany to come up with a plan to fight a banana crisis. A fungus has been wiping out banana plantations in Asia, Australia, and Latin America. If something doesn’t change soon, the bananas we’re most familiar with may eventually disappear from grocery stores. Back in the fall, the Colombian government declared a national emergency over the banana crisis. (Originally aired 9/3/2019)