Why is the Government Going After Google? (0:31)

Guest: Paul Stancil, Law Professor, Brigham Young University

When you want to find something out, you Google it. It’s so ubiquitous that it’s now the word we use for search. Is that just because Google’s so great we’ve all chosen it? The US Department of Justice says it’s because Google has illegally protected its monopoly on internet search.

 

Why Do We Love Boy Bands? (21:31)

Guest: Maria Sherman, Author of “Larger Than Life: A History of Boy Bands from NKOTB to BTS”

Serious music fans love to hate on boy bands for the floppy hair and cheesy dance moves and–maybe most of all–the hysterical fan girls. But let’s take a quick walk back through the history of boy bands in America and tell me you haven’t tapped your foot along to a hit from at least one of these groups. Right now, the biggest boyband in the world is the K-Pop group BTS. Before there was BTS, there was One Direction, and the Jonas Brothers. O-Town and NSYNC, of course gave us Justin Timberlake. And NSYNC’s big rivals The Backstreet Boys. Hanson came MMM-Bopping along in there, too. And Boys II Men, which you might argue is not a boy band, but stay tuned. New Kids on the Block. Maybe you thought that was the original boy band? Nope. There was a boy band called New Edition, billed as a “new edition” of . . . The Jackson Five. And before them . .. The Beatles. They’re a boy band. So, turns out you are a fan? Well you’re in good company. 

 

How Do You Motivate People to Innovate? (41:46)

Guest: Luciano Kay, Research Associate, Institute for Social, Behavioral and Economic Research at the University of California Santa Barbara

If you want to get people to do something, offer a cash prize, right? Just yesterday our company offered $20 for anyone who could recite the mission and vision statements of the organization by heart at the next staff meeting. People are all over that, believe me. But when you want to encourage big stuff–like inventing a toilet to solve the world’s hygiene problems, or a robotic car that can drive 150 miles without human intervention, or a faster, more accurate COVID-19 test–do cash prizes work?

 

Barnstorming Ohio to Understand America (52:48)

Guest: David Giffels, Author of “Barnstorming Ohio to Understand America,” Professor of English, University of Akron

The chances are very good that whoever takes Ohio in the upcoming election will be our next president. Ohio, more than any other state, has a track record of picking the winner in presidential races. Why?

 

What are Native Land Acknowledgements About? (1:33:26)

Guest: Christine McRae, Executive Director, Native Land Digital

Recently, I’ve started noticing speakers at public events acknowledging that they are ancestral lands of Native Americans. In one of the more high-profile examples, actor and director Taika Waititi acknowledged native land at this year’s Oscars. “The academy would like to acknowledge that tonight we have gathered on the ancestral lands of the Tongva, the Tataviam, and the Chumash.” Hearing these acknowledgments, two questions have come to mind–what’s the value of this? And, if I wanted to do it, how would I figure out whose traditional territory I’m on?