Random Acts of Knowledge

Random Acts of Knowledge

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Random Acts of Knowledge episodes

  • S1 Ep10: Poems from the La Brea Tar Pits
    It all started with a box of bones hidden under a bed. 

    The La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles have preserved the bones of animals trapped there centuries before. 

    Poet Cathy Gilbert says that learning about a personal connection with the Tar Pits inspired her work.

    Gilbert discusses volunteering to clean artifacts at the La Brea Tar Pits and excavating her own family's history.

    View the transcript here.
    33 min
  • S1 Ep9: Demystifying your tax questions

    Unless you are a tax professional you might complete the annual task of completing and filing your return each year and be left with some questions.

    Did I maximize my number of deductions?

    Did I forget something?

    Should I have paid someone else to do this?

    Taxes can be complicated. And there are plenty of changes every year in the tax code. 

    Accounting professor Paul Kelson digs into some common tax scenarios and says the wisest approach may be thinking about your taxes long before you receive your W-2.

    24 min
  • S1 Ep8: Turbine Talk - Powering a College with wind
    One of the first thing people notice about Heartland College's campus is the towering 1.65 megawatt wind turbine.

    Not only does this turbine provide over 40% of the College's power, it is a research site.

    But how do these things work? And what does it take to keep them running? And do they kill birds?

    Administration, faculty and staff involved with the Heartland wind turbine weigh in.

    View transcript here.

    16 min
  • S1 Ep7: Mini Therapy Horses
    Few people expect to go to the library or the classroom and see a horse.

    Yet, it really happens.

    Deb Murphy brings her miniature therapy horses to schools, nursing homes, hospitals, and even parking lots. They always draw a crowd.

    The horses are full grown, yet the tallest of them measures less than collarbone high.

    She discusses the impact these animals have had on the lives of those who have struggled with disability or suffered trauma.

    View the transcript here.

    15 min
  • S1 Ep6: Spring Break after the hurricane
    The term “spring break” evokes images of beaches, bikinis and beer bashes.

    But for one group of Heartland Community College students spring break is something very different.

    Instead of getting rest in the sun these students tore out walls and sorted ruined electronics.

    And they learned the human impact of a natural disaster.

    View the transcript here.

    17 min
  • S1 Ep5: Getting a handle on your life on paper
    Sometimes we keep secrets without even knowing we are doing it.  

    This can be the case with important records that we don't use every day... and information that we use every day but don't share.

    Sonja Reece discusses the importance of organizing personal documents and information to make your life easier today and to help anyone else who might need to find out what you've been keeping to yourself.

    View the transcript here.
    22 min
  • S1 Ep4: The secrets of truck driving
    What's the hardest part of driving a big rig?  What can drivers see that you don't know about? Is it harder to haul flammable material or a trailer full of cows?

    Dave Keim teaches students the finer points of truck driving, including parallel parking with a 53-foot trailer.  Keim fills us in on what truckers want you to know while they are on the road... and what they don't tell you about bathroom breaks.

    View the transcript here.

    20 min
  • S1 Ep1: The death of Viola Liuzzo
    Viola Liuzzo left her middle class life as a homemaker in suburban Detroit to join the civil rights movement.

    Less than a year later, the white mother of four died at the hands of the KKK in Alabama. And the FBI protected her murderer.

    We talk with criminal justice professor Dewhitt Bingham about his book "Viola Liuzzo, a True Martyr."

    View the transcript here.

    19 min

About Random Acts of Knowledge

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Heartland Community College presents Random Acts of Knowledge, a podcast where we explore the worlds of continuing education.