Purdue Prepares to Pay the Piper for Role in Opioid Epidemic

Guest: Jennifer Oliva, Associate Professor of Law, Seton Hall University

Purdue Pharma, the maker of Oxycontin, filed for bankruptcy this week as part of a settlement over the billions of dollars it made aggressively marketing addictive opioids. The company and its owners are facing thousands of lawsuits from states, counties, cities and Native American tribes.

Can You Hear the Stars Tonight? –Astronomy for the Blind

Guest: Allyson Bieryla, Manager of the Astronomy Lab and Clay Telescope in the Department of Astronomy at Harvard

The stars have been a source of wonder and guidance for centuries--but only to those with the eyes to see them. Harvard’s astronomy lab is creating interactive ways for the people with visual impairments to experience the night sky through touch and sound

John Lunn, Composer for Downton Abbey score

Guest: John Lunn

The Crawleys of Downton Abbey are back: That music alone is enough to send a shiver of anticipation down the spine of Downton Abbey fan like me. Luxurious estates, extravagant costumes –and so much drama for both the Crawleys and their servants! None of it would be as good without the lush musical background composed by John Lunn. He won two Emmys for the TV series and composed the music for Downton Abbey the movie, which is now in theaters

An Evangelical in the Trump Era

Guest: Richard Mouw, Professor of Faith and Public Life at Fuller Theological Seminary, Author “Restless Faith”

White evangelicals were important to President Trump’s election in 2016 and will be again in 2020. As a result, we’ve seen a number of prominent evangelicals publicly distance themselves from the label. They’re unhappy that being “evangelical” in America today equates with supporting a politician whose behavior, rhetoric and policies run contrary to the gospel of Jesus Christ. But Richard Mouw is sticking with the label “evangelical” –though he clearly wrestles with it in his new book, “Restless Faith.”

America Is Failing to Protect All Religions Equally

Guest: Asma Uddin, Religious Liberty Lawyer, Author “When Islam Is Not a Religion”

Let’s turn now to the experience of being Muslim in America today. Asma Uddin is a legal scholar and author of the new book, “When Islam is Not a Religion: Inside America’s Fight for Religious Freedom.” Asma Uddin, welcome back to Top of Mind.

Faking Out the Deep Fake Detectors

Guest: Christye Sisson, Professor of Photographic Sciences at Rochester Institute of Technology

It’s now possible for someone to doctor a photo of a video so professionally that even an expert eye can be fooled into thinking it’s real. The Department of Defense is concerned enough about the potential for this kind of “deepfake” technology to spark violence, influence elections and spread misinformation that it’s got a whole deepfake detection research project that includes paying scientists to make the most convincing fakes they can.