Islamic State Has a New Leader after ISIS Founder al-Baghdadi Killed in US Raid (0:31)

Guest: John Macfarlane, Adjunct Professor of History & Political Science, Utah Valley University

The Islamic State terror group has named a new leader to replace the group’s founder Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who died in a US military strike a week ago. President Trump said in that announcement that “capturing or killing Baghdadi has been the top national security priority “of his administration. And ISIS, in announcing Baghdadi’s successor has pledged to make America pay for the assassination.

 

How Emojis are Impacting the Law (18:25)

Guest: Eric Goldman is a Professor of Law at Santa Clara University School of Law, Co-Director of High Tech Law Institute

There are two emojis I use a lot in texts: the winking face and the thumbs up icon. I know what I mean when I use them. I have no idea how the people I’m texting are interpreting those emojis. Usually that’s not a big deal. But what if our text thread ends up as evidence in court and now a judge or jury has to decide exactly what my thumbs-up emoji meant? Was it a firm commitment to do something? Was it just a passive aggressive way of ending the conversation? I’ve used to both ways, to be honest.

 

Why is Antisemitism on the Rise and What Can Be Done About It? (30:40)

Guest: Bill Bernstein, West Coast Director, American Society for Yad Vashem

Anti-Semitic attacks worldwide rose last year, particularly in major Western democracies like the US, France, Britain and Germany. Most of those were cases of vandalism or threats of violence. But 2018 also saw the deadliest attack ever against Jews on US soil, when a gunman stormed the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh last October, killing 11 worshippers. And in New York City, right now, police say anti-Semitic hate crimes are up 63% compared to last year. Those include Orthodox Jewish men being violently attacked in the street.  Why is this happening?

 

Clam Gardens Provide Stable Food and Unite Generations for Indigenous Groups in Pacific Northwest (51:10)

Guest: Skye Augustine, Clam Garden Project Coordinator at Parks Canada

Thousands of years ago, indigenous people living in the Pacific Northwest had an ingenious way of cultivating clams for food diet. As America was colonized and tribes were displaced, those farming techniques were abandoned. But clam populations along the West Coast are suffering today, so there’s an effort underway to help indigenous groups reclaim the “clam gardens” their ancestors built along the shoreline. Skye Augustine is heading up one such project for the national parks system in Canada.

 

What Do Food Date Labels Mean? (1:08:30)

Guest: Emily M. Broad Leib, J.D., Assistant Clinical Professor of Law and Director of the Harvard Law School Food Law and Policy Clinic

When you go to the grocery store, everything has a date. The milk may say “best used by next week,” while a box of crackers might say you have a year. But what do those dates really mean? Confusion over date labels can lead to perfectly good food being thrown out. It is estimated that in American, between 30-40% of available food is wasted.

 

BYUradio Hosts Tackle Trivia from National Geographic (1:19:31)

Guest: Cara Santa Maria, Science Journalist, Host of Talk Nerdy podcast and Quizmaster for National Geographic’s Almanac 2020; BYUradio Hosts Sam Payne, Steven Kapp Perry, Lisa Valentine Clark, Cole Wissinger, Marcus Smith

I’m a sucker for a surprising factoid. Though, I am terrible at trivia –definitely not a Jeopardy contender here –but National Geographic’s Almanac 2020 recently landed on my desk and I loved their take on this. It’s packed full of cool facts about the natural world –each section starts with trivia questions curated by science journalist and podcast host Cara Santa Maria.