Iranian Tensions and Israeli Elections

Guest: Aaron David Miller, Senior Fellow, Carnegie Endowment, former US State Department Middle East Advisor and Negotiator

The Trump Administration says an attack that knocked out more than half of Saudi Arabia’s oil capacity over the weekend was Iran’s handiwork.  Because Saudi Arabia is a close ally of the United States, there’s the possibility that we’ll be involved in retaliating for the strike. President Trump tweeted today that he’s ordered a substantial increase in sanctions on Iran.

 

Feral Pigs Harm Wildlife and Biodiversity as Well as Crops

Guest: Marcus Lashley, PhD Assistant Professor Department of Wildlife Ecology & Conservation at University of Florida

Feral pigs are roaming the United States. These are animals that were once domesticated but are now living in the wild. And they are doing tremendous damage.

 

Pumice Rafts Allow Corals and Other Marine Life to Hitch a Ride

Guest: Scott Bryan, Associate Professor of Geology and Geochemistry at Queensland University of Technology

You know pumice –that rock with the little holes in it? People use it to smooth off callouses on feet? Well there’s a giant clump of it floating in the Pacific Ocean right now. It’s bigger than the island of Manhattan, made up of pumice stones ranging from marble to basketball size. Really bad news for boats who come upon it. But the strange phenomenon is great news for marine life, apparently.

 

How Hunger Impacted German Civilians During and After WWI 

Guest: Mary Cox, William Golding Junior Research Fellow in the Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences at Brasenose College, Oxford University

The First World War was among the deadliest in history. Tens of millions of soldiers and civilians died. Millions more were maimed or emotionally scarred by the brutal fighting in the trenches and use of chemical weapons. Lingering effects of the Great War were also evident in the bodies of German children, who were malnourished throughout the conflict because of a very effective Allied blockade that kept food, fertilizer and military supplies out of Germany.

 

Apple Seed

Guest: Sam Payne of the Apple Seed

Sam Payne shares about the importance of storytelling in the world.

 

The Evolution of Playground Design and its Effect on Children

Guest: Alexandra Lange, is a Design and Architecture Critic and Author of “The Design of Childhood: How the Material World Shapes Independent Kids”

I miss merry go rounds. You hardly find them on playgrounds anymore. On the one hand playgrounds are much cooler than they were when I was a kid. But they also feel less risky. I’ve wondered if the design of playgrounds affects how kids develop.