Obsessing About Political News Is Not Good for Us or the Country (0:31)

Guest: Eitan Hersh, PhD, Associate Professor of Political Science, Tufts University, Author of “Politics Is for Power”

The political news these days just won’t quit. So much drama at the President’s State of the Union Address on Tuesday – did you see Speaker Pelosi tear up her copy of the President’s speech?! The Senate acquitted President Trump in the impeachment trial. And the all-important Iowa Caucus was a giant bungle for Democrats just as the Presidential race kicks into high gear. It’s not easy to keep up on it all, but for a lot of us, it kind of feels like a patriotic duty. Information is power, right?

 

Coronavirus Outbreak in China Is Having Global Economic Impact (19:58)

Guest: Nicholas R. Lardy, Anthony M. Solomon Senior Fellow, Peterson Institute for International Economics

As the scale of the coronavirus outbreak grows rapidly, America and other countries are evacuating their citizens from China. Major airlines have cancelled flights to China. Large retailers like Apple have closed their stores in China and carmaker Hyundai just announced it’s suspending production at its manufacturing plants in South Korea because it can’t get the parts it needs from factories in China that are closed.

 

The Widespread Problem of Weight Stigma Among Pregnant and Post-Partum Women (36:31)

Guest: Angela Incollingo Rodriguez, PhD, Professor of Psychology, Worcester Polytechnic Institute

The stigma around weight in American culture is deeply engrained and problematic. But you’d think that at least pregnant women would be free from that stigma. She’s growing another human inside her, for goodness sake? But two-thirds of pregnant and postpartum women recently surveyed reported experiencing some form of weight stigma. Two-thirds!

 

Can Philanthropy Change Democracy (50:33)

Guest: Katherina Rosqueta, Founding Executive Director at the Center of High Impact Philanthropy, Adjunct Faculty at the School of Social Policy and Practice, University of Pennsylvania

We’re seeing historic lows of American trust in the US government, according to the Pew Research Center. Not only do very few people believe that Washington will do the right thing, but we also aren’t very trusting of each other when it comes to politics. So what’s the solution? One group believes they’ve found the answer – philanthropy.

 

Poverty of Refugee Life Is More Disruptive to a Child’s Cognition Than War-Related Trauma (1:06:29)

Guest: Catherine Panter-Brick, Professor of Anthropology, Yale University

Child refugees uprooted by war have seen a lot of violence and experienced a lot of traumatic loss. But the constant stress of being poor is what seems to be most harmful to child refugee’s cognitive development – to his or her ability to focus, remember things and filter out distractions.

 

Should Nature Have Rights? Lake Erie’s Got a Bill of Rights (1:24:37)

Guest: Tish O’Dell, Ohio Organizer at the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund, President of the Ohio Community Rights Network

If corporations have individual rights under US law – like freedom of speech - why not a grant a lake or forest or river the same status?  New Zealand recognizes the legal rights of the Te Urewera forest. India considers the Ganges River a legal person. The first attempt at this in the US came last year when the citizens of Toledo, Ohio voted to give Lake Erie rights normally reserved for a person. The move is being challenged in court.