Coronavirus Quarantine Tips (0:33)

Nina Shapiro, MD, professor, UCLA, author of “Hype: A Doctor’s Guide to Medical Myths”

So school is canceled, meetings of more than 50 people are canceled and you’re working from home because of the coronavirus pandemic.  But you feel fine and so do your kids. As far as you know you haven’t come into contact with anyone who has the virus. Do you and your family really need to stay locked down?

The CIA’s Failed Quest to Develop Mind Control (11:55)

Guest: Stephen Kinzer, Author of “Poisoner in Chief: Sidney Gottlieb and the CIA Search for Mind Control”

The CIA has developed the ability to reprogram minds and wipe away inconvenient memories. At least in the movies, it can. That’s what the CIA did to assassin Jason Bourne once they were finished with him. And that’s where the Men in Black got their flashing pen-like “neutralizer” to erase knowledge of aliens from ordinary folks. So that’s all fun and fiction, but for 10 years during the Cold War, the CIA really did have a secret mind control project. Instead of flashing pens, they were experimenting with LSD. And instead of a little harmless amnesia about aliens, the CIA was wreaking havoc on the minds of prisoners, children, sex workers and even some of their own government employees. (Originally aired 11/7/2019)

Why It’s Not all Doom and Gloom When it Comes to Climate Change (49:30)

Guest: Alejandro Frid, Ecologist and Science Coordinator, Central Coast Indigenous Resource Alliance, Author of “Changing Tides: An Ecologist's Journey to Make Peace with the Anthropocene”

Humans are ruining the planet. That’s the key message you might take away from the steady warnings about climate change and carbon emissions. The atmosphere and oceans are warming. Droughts, wildfires and storms are getting more intense. Species are going rapidly extinct. Pollution threatens our drinking water. And basically, it’s too late to reverse course. We’re headed for a climate apocalypse unless the whole planet ditches fossil fuels and stops eating meat right now. I wish I were exaggerating here, but honestly, that’s how dire and hopeless the situation feels. Still, marine ecologist Alejandro Frid thinks there is room for optimism. (Originally aired 12/5/2019)

You Know You’re a Standup Economist if...You’re Yoram Bauman (1:25:41)

Guest: Yoram Bauman, Standup Economist, Co-Author “Cartoon Introduction to Economics” and “Cartoon Introduction to Climate Change”

Yoram Bauman travels the country trying to make people laugh at college gatherings and corporate events. He introduces himself as the “world’s first and only standup economist.” Jokes about economics can be tricky, but if you get the right crowd, Bauman kills. And there’s enough demand for economist jokes that this has been Bauman’s full-time gig for a decade. (Originally aired 12/5/2019)