Marriage and Religion

Guest: Jason Carroll, Professor of Marriage and Family Studies, BYU

More and more adults in wealthy countries the world-over are skipping marriage or putting it off until they’re older. In the United States, this shift coincides with a move away from religion and more Americans say they do not affiliate with any religious tradition. Are those two things related? Religion typically encourages marriage, but it can also fuel conflict and inequality within couples. A global survey of marital satisfaction found –perhaps surprisingly to many –that highly religious couples enjoy higher-quality relationships and more sexual satisfaction, compared to couples who are not religious or those where one partner is less religious than the other. 

The Wettest 12 Months in Recorded U.S. History

Guest: J. Marshall Shepherd, Professor of Geography and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Georgia

The United States is right now in the midst of the wettest 12-month stretch on record.   All across the Midwest, South and East, states have experienced above-average rainfall. Communities along the Mississippi River are under extended flooding because of relentless spring rainfall. Even dry Western states are largely flush with H2O. What’s going on?

Burnout Isn’t Caused by Working too Much

Guest: Josh Cohen, Psychoanalyst and Professor of Modern Literary Theory at Goldsmiths, University of London, Author of “Not Working: Why We Have to Stop”

“I need a vacation. I am burned out.” A lot of us have said a version of that at some point. The implication is burnout comes from working too much. So then, you take that vacation, wrangling kids and luggage through airports, racing through your packed itinerary while keeping one eye on your phone for crises back home. And when you get back to the work of your daily life –whether it’s at home or on the job –that same feeling of running in place, never getting ahead but unable to jump off the treadmill is still there and the burnout embers are ready to flare.

Why Do People Fall for False Stories? Emotions

Guest: Erik Nisbet, Professor of Communication, Ohio State University

Social media companies like Facebook are trying to keep false information from spreading like wildfire. They’ve got algorithms to catch –and kill -fake stories before they go viral. And they periodically shutdown “bot” accounts that exist to spread misinformation. But that’s a little like trying to save us from ourselves. The fact is that people decide to click and share this stuff, when they ought to know better. Why are we so gullible?

Determine if Your Online Shopping Is Becoming Compulsive

Guest: April Benson, Psychologist, Author of “To Buy or Not To Buy: Why We Overshop and How to Stop”

Amazon Prime has made it so easy to shop for stuff, I sometimes forget what I bought until it arrives on the doorstep and then it feels like Christmas. As someone who hates driving all over town looking for that one thing I need, online shopping is a gift. But is it also making us shopaholics?

The Wildest Ballgame Ever

Guest: Kevin Cook, Author of “Ten Innings at Wrigley: The Wildest Ballgame Ever, With Baseball on the Brink”

On a windy day in Chicago’s Wrigley Field forty years ago, fans, announcers and the players on the field were all shaking their heads in disbelief. 23 to 22 was the final score –the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Chicago Cubs. It remains one of the highest scoring games in major league history. It’s certainly one of the wildest. The Cubs were down 12 at one point and then came back to tie it up, before losing with a whimper.