When Opioid Overdose is Treated as Murder, Who Gets Punished? (0:32)

Guest: Morgan Godvin, Activist, Author of “My friend and I both took heroin. He overdosed. Why was I charged with his death?” 

Across the country, more and more opioid overdoses are being treated as murder. States are passing “homicide-by-overdose” laws and prosecutors are going after the people who supplied the drugs in the overdose death. So far, there’s little evidence the approach is working to reduce overdose deaths. What it is doing is locking up people like Morgan Godvin, who was herself addicted to heroin when she sold her best friend some of her personal stash. Godvin’s friend overdosed and she was sentenced to 5 years in prison for her role in his death.

SpaceX’s Massive Satellite Launch Plans Could Ruin Astronomy (19:17)

Guest: James Lowenthal, Professor of Astronomy at Smith College

Within a few years, SpaceX plans to have thousands and thousands of communications satellites orbiting Earth, providing high speed internet service to even the most remote locations. Cool idea a lot of people support. But as SpaceX has begun launching the first big batches of those satellites, an unexpected problem has emerged. They’re starting to mess up the work of astronomers like James Lowenthal at Smith College.

How the Salvation Army’s Red Kettles Became a Christmas Icon (34:44)

Guest: Diane Winston, Associate Professor and Knight Center Chair in Media & Religion, University of Southern California, Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism

The Salvation Army bell-ringers are out in force with their red kettles, collecting donations for charity. Did you know the Salvation Army started out as a British evangelical church? So how did its bell-ringers become such an iconic, primarily American, Christmas-time tradition? Diane Winston wrote a book about it called “Red-Hot and Righteous: The Urban Religion of the Salvation Army.”

Can Brands Be True Advocates for Social Issues? (49:06)

Guest: Kim Sheehan, PhD, Professor of Advertising and Brand Responsibility, University of Oregon

When Dove soap touts body positivity, or Gillette makes a viral ad about toxic masculinity, or Burger King does a social media campaign about depression, what’s your response? Maybe you doubt their sincerity because they are, after all, companies out to make a profit. Or, perhaps you’re even more loyal when a brand embraces an issue you care about?

Florida’s Orange Plague (1:04:45)

Guest: Michael Rogers, PhD, Director of the Citrus Research and Education Center, Professor of Entomology and Nematology, University of Florida

For as long as most of us can remember, Florida has been synonymous with oranges. But a bacterial disease is driving Florida’s citrus growers out of business. Thousands of farmers have quit in the decade since the disease arrived in America. Two-thirds of the factories that processed juice have shut down. The University of Florida’s Citrus Research and Education Center is racing to find a solution that can save Florida oranges.

The Body Never Lies: A Day in the Life of a Forensic Pathologist (1:21:15)

Guest: Dr. Judy Melinek, Forensic Pathologist and Co-Author of “Working Stiff” and “First Cut”

Even on TV, being a forensic pathologist is not glamorous. The CSI investigators suit up and collect evidence at the scene, but the forensic pathologist is the one who has to cut open the body and weigh the organs and deal with all the gore of an autopsy. Why does someone go for a job like that? Judy Melinek wrote a memoir about switching from surgery to forensic pathology. It’s called “Working Stiff: Two Years, 262 Bodies and the Making of a Medical Examiner.”