Hong Kong Protests –and Police Response -Turn More Violent as They Drag On (0:32)

Guest: Rui Zhong, Program Associate, Kissinger Institute on China and the United States at the Wilson Center

The protests in Hong Kong have taken a violent turn in the last week. One student protester has died. Another was shot at point blank by a police officer and is in critical condition. Some protesters set a man on fire who was allegedly pro-Beijing and criticizing the protests. By all reports, whole aspects of life in Hong Kong are disrupted. Universities are cancelling classes for the rest of the semester. Storefronts along protest routes are closed indefinitely. Protesters are occupying major roads, bridges and train tracks, cutting off commerce and commuting.

Does it Really Matter if Political Ads Are Allowed on Social Media? (16:36)

Guest: Adam Durfee, Managing Director of YDigital Agency, Brigham Young University

Heading into this presidential election, Twitter has decided to ban political advertising from its platform. Campaigns should earn their exposure on Twitter, says CEO Jack Dorsey. They shouldn’t just be allowed to reach a bunch of people by paying for it. Facebook is making the exact opposite argument. CEO Mark Zuckerberg sees his site as a public square where the ability to speak freely matters, including through paid political advertising which Facebook plans to continue selling.

The Future Is Peat (33:48)

Guest: Jonathan E Nichols, Associate Research Professor at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University

Let’s talk about peat. That’s P-E-A-T. It’s a strange, miraculous thing. Bodies buried in peat bogs end up so well-preserved their faces and clothing are completely intact. Something about the chemistry of the peat stops body tissue from decomposing in corpses. Google “Bog Bodies” and you’ll see what I mean. It’s wild stuff. But peatlands are more than just ancient burial grounds. They’re also a really important part of the Earth’s system for keeping carbon dioxide levels in balance.  In fact, they’re way more important than previously thought, based on calculations published recently in the journal Nature.

Memoir Reflects on Family Divided By the Berlin Wall (51:09)

Guest: Nina Willner, Author of “Forty Autumns: A Family’s Story of Courage and Survival on Both Sides of the Berlin Wall”

The Berlin Wall came down 30 years go and within a year, East and West Germany were officially reunited. Families were reunited when the wall came down, too. We’re going to hear about one of them now. The Willners. After World War II, the Willners find themselves stuck behind the Iron Curtain. Oldest daughter Hanna makes a harrowing escape to freedom at age 20, but the rest of the family remains trapped in East Germany. Eventually Hanna ends up in America and has a daughter named Nina, who grows up to become a US Army Intelligence Officer running surveillance missions behind the Berlin Wall at the height of the Cold War. Nina Willner’s book about her family is called “Forty Autumns: A Family’s Story of Courage and Survival on Both Sides of the Berlin Wall.”

Your Questions About Seasonal Depression (1:26:55)

Guest: Sherri Melrose, PhD, Associate Professor of Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing, Athabasca University

Winter is closing in. For some, that means seasonal depression. So we asked what questions you have about the mood disorder, and an expert on seasonal affective disorder answered them.