Another Inspector General Gets the Boot (0:31)

Guest: Ryan Vogel, Director of the Center for National Security Studies, Utah Valley University

In the last six weeks, President Trump has removed the inspectors general of the Intelligence Community, the Defense Department, Health and Human Services and, most recently, the State Department. In each case, the independent watchdogs had either been critical of the President and his allies or were caught in political crossfire.

US Military v. COVID-19 (20:36)

Guest: Chuck Hagel, Former Secretary of Defense, Former US Senator from Nebraska Senator 

According to the Pentagon, more than 7,000 active duty and civilian members of the US military have been diagnosed with COVID-19 during the pandemic. How might that affect the military’s ability to respond to an attack? Should we be worried that our adversaries will take advantage of the pandemic to strike while we’re down?

Chessboxing is the Ultimate Brain vs. Brawn Sport (37:22)

Guest: Matt Thomas, Founder of @BrawlforaCause, Former Chessboxing World Champion, Captain of Team USA

I can’t think of two past-times more different than boxing and playing chess. But somehow, they’re combined in the aptly named chessboxing.

The Apple Seed (50:42)

Guest: Sam Payne, Host, The Apple Seed, BYUradio

Sam Payne salutes the 2020 high school graduates.

New Fossil of Spinosaurus Tail Tells a Tale (1:02:00)

Guest: Nizar Ibrahim, Palentologist, Assistant Professor of Biology, University of Detroit Mercy

In the age of dinosaurs, most were land-dwellers. A few were airborne and their descendants are still with us today in the form of birds. But it’s long been thought that none of the dinosaurs were aquatic. Now paleontologist Nizar Ibrahim at the University of Detroit Mercy has uncovered evidence that at least one dinosaur was actually a very good swimmer.

Mossville: A Community Lost to Industrial Pollution (1:17:25)

Guest: Erica Jackson, Former Mossville Resident; Destinee Jones, Former Mossville Resident; Alex Glustrom, Filmmaker, “Mossville: When Great Trees Fall”

Many communities in America have an industrial plant nearby. Few have as many, per capita, as tiny Mossville, Louisiana. “The first time I visited Mossville, I cried,” says Monique Harden, an environmental justice attorney featured in the new documentary Mossville: When Great Trees Fall. “You’ve got 14 industrial facilities where there’s tons of leaks, lots of fugitive emissions and tremendous potential for releases every day. The facilities are operating as though it was not a community, as though there weren’t children, as though there weren’t homes where people slept. In parts of the country that are tucked away, this is what industrialization looks like.” Mossville has all but disappeared in recent years as chemical plants have expanded. The documentary about it is screening virtually with independent movie theaters and will air on PBS at the end of May.