Ozarks at Large

First up today: Arkansas now gives booster vaccines to all adults, a big NIH award will help UAMS study health disparities in Arkansas, and the Cherokee Nation is studying a rise in the minimum wage.

The podcast Manic Episodes, hosted by Dr. Wyatt Paige Hermansen (UA alum) and Mary Lambert (two-time Grammy nominee) covers a wide range of topics in a welcoming style. The first-ever live event connected to the podcast was last night on the University of Arkansas campus and we asked the creators about the podcast.

Attorney General Leslie Rutledge is now seeking the GOP nomination for Lt. Governor. John Brumett, a political columnist with the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, considers what this means for the 2022 election. You can hear their full conversation on YouTube.

Our Militant Grammarian, Katherine Shurlds, loves an obscure language term. Paraposdokians is her latest find.

The Arkansas Arts Council each year (except the pandemic year of 2021) finds an artisan to be recognized as an Arkansas Living Treasure. We asked Scarlet Sims, Artist Services manager at the Arkansas Arts Council, about the nominating process.

On today's show, The Terrorism Research Center based at the U of A is investigating radicalization and domestic violent extremism in the U.S. Plus, learning more about the ground beneath us with soil judging, and much more.

The beginning of our show includes an update on medical marijuana dispensaries in Arkansas, an uptick in active cases of COVID-19 in the states, and the stories and experiences of people with Medicaid in Arkansas.

Researchers with the Terrorism Research Center, housed in the University of Arkansas Department of Sociology and Criminology, were awarded a major National Institute of Justice grant to conduct the most comprehensive comparative examination of risk factors associated with radicalization to terrorism and domestic extremist crime to date. We talk with lead investigators, Jeff Gruenewald and Katie Ratlcliff, the center's director and associate director about the grant project and the center's mission.

In October, a team of students from the University of Arkansas claimed four of the top five spots in the regional soil judging competition hosted by Texas A&M. The team is coached by Dr. Kris Brye, a professor of applied soil physics, who says it's critical to understand the ground beneath your feet.

The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Northwest campus in Fayetteville is now offering COVID-19 vaccines for kids age 5 to 11. The FDA approved the Pfizer pediatric vaccine earlier this month. The drive-thru clinic in Fayetteville is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.