Impossible Burger

Guest: Scott Weathers, Senior Policy Specialist, Good Food Institute

There used to be no mistaking a veggie burger from a beef patty. No one has ever bitten into a black bean burger and thought –oh, this is some good meat. But the Impossible Whopper might fool you. It’s made of plants but bleeds like real meat and today Burger King is rolling them out in all its stores.

The Rise in Allergies and Asthma Might Be Our Fault

Guest: Cosby Stone Jr., Instructor in Allergy/Immunology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Vanderbilt University

Everyone I know has some kind of allergy to a food or medicine or fiber or plant or chemical. And you wonder if we’re all just a lot more allergic than people used to be, or if doctors are just better at diagnosing allergies.

An Astronomer’s View on Mauna Kea

Guest Lucianne Walkowicz, Astronomer at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago

Protests continue against plans to build a massive new telescope on Hawaii’s Maunakea volcano. The international consortium behind the Thirty Meter Telescope, or TMT, has received approval from the Hawaiian government to start the project, but many Native Hawaiians believe the mountain is sacred and are in their fourth week of blocking access to the summit.

Life and Breath in the Age of Air Pollution

Guest: Beth Gardiner, Environmental Journalist, author, “Choked: Life and Breath in the Age of Air Pollution”

America has some of the cleanest air in the world. And yet even here, more than 100,000 people die prematurely each year from poor air. It’s not just asthma or bronchitis scientists worry about. They’re discovering air pollution is linked to heart attacks, strokes, birth defects, cancer, dementia, diabetes and Parkinson’s disease.

Singing Builds Community

Guest: Eiluned Pearce, Research Fellow, University College London

Whether it’s at church, or a big game or just in the car with friends, we've all spent time singing with other people. Even if you’re the type who would rather die than be caught singing a solo, it’s still hard to deny that a bit of group singing in the right context is kinda nice. Why is that?