March on Washington Expects to Draw 50,000 Protesters on Historic Anniversary (0:30)

Guest: William P. Jones, Professor of History, University of Minnesota, Author of “The March on Washington: Jobs, Freedom and the Forgotten History of Civil Rights”

A protest march happening in D.C. on Friday is expected to draw tens of thousands of people from around the country. It’s being spearheaded by Reverend Al Sharpton, who announced the march–spontaneously–at the funeral of George Floyd–the black man killed by police in Minneapolis on Memorial Day.

 

Why A Lot of Experts Oppose Rent Control (19:12)

Guest: Christopher Palmer, Professor of Finance, Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

With racial disparities and rising housing costs, a handful of states have enacted some kind of rent control law. Californians will vote on a ballot initiative this November that would expand rent control in their state. Rent control gives the government the power to put a cap on how much landlords can charge for rent. The theory is that it will decrease inequality and make housing more affordable. But a lot of experts say it just doesn’t work.

 

The Pros and Cons of Telehealth (36:58)

Guest: Phillip Phan, Professor, Carey Business School, Department of Medicine, Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality, Johns Hopkins University

Telemedicine has been around for a while, but before the pandemic, you may have not known that was a thing or wouldn’t have even considered meeting with a doctor over Zoom as a viable option. It may now become widely adopted. But would that be a good thing?

 

How You Talk and What That Says About You (52:49)

Guest: Katherine Kinzler, Professor of Psychology, University of Chicago, Author of “How You Say It: Why You Talk the Way You Do and What It Says About You”

Every time you open your mouth, you’re being judged for how you speak. You may think you have no accent, but you do. We all do. And we all gravitate–innately–toward other people who sound like us. Discriminating against someone for having a foreign accent is one of the few forms of discrimination still socially acceptable in America.

 

Can Architecture Help People with PTSD? (1:29:20)

Guest: Farzan Sasangohar, Director, Applied Cognitive Ergonomics Lab, Texas A&M University

Our environment–the building we’re in and the things that surround us–can impact our mental health. So researchers decided to look at how architecture could be harnessed to help veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. They identified several things that could mitigate symptoms of PTSD.