Sri Lanka Does Not Have a History of Islamist Extremism. How Did the Easter Sunday Attacks Happen?

Guest: Michael Kugelman, Deputy Director and Senior Associate for South Asia, Wilson Center in Washington, DC

ISIS has claimed responsibility for the bombings at churches and hotels on Easter Sunday that killed about 250 people. Sri Lankan police say they’ve arrested more than 70 suspects they believe may have been involved. Terror experts say the attacks are a wake-up call about the reach of ISIS into Asia.

 

Pregnant in Prison

Guest: Carolyn Sufrin, Assistant Professor of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine

Women are the fastest growing segment of America’s prison population. And sometimes they’re pregnant while in behind bars. We don’t know exactly how common that is because the federal government keeps track of deaths that happen in prisons, but not births. We do know that sometimes incarcerated women are shackled to a bed during labor as a guard stands watch. Carolyn Sufrin delivered a baby for a prisoner in that situation years ago and it launched her research to understand the scope of problem in America. She’s just published her results. 

 

The Great American National Parks

Guest: Becky Lomax, Author of “USA National Parks: The Complete Guide to All 59 National Parks”

There are 59 national parks in the US, and that makes it really hard to choose just one to visit next. Becky Lomax wrote a book covering all of them –her number one, must-do experience out of all the parks? See the ice crash into the water at Glacier Bay. Number two for her is seeing Old Faithful blow in Yellowstone. But number three really surprised us: wander through the wildflowers of Death Valley.

 

Mountain Unicycling (Originally aired November 27, 2018)

Guest: Kris Holm, Early Pioneer of Mountain Unicycling and Founder of Kris Holm Unicycles

Kris Holm has climbed the highest mountain in Central America –and the3rd highest in North America. He’s also traversed the trade-routes across the Himalayas in Bhutan, traveled the Great Wall of China, and climbed a dormant volcano in Bolivia that’s nearly 20,000 feet high. And he did it all on one wheel.

 

Synesthesia Mixes Senses (Originally aired December 20, 2018)

Guest: Richard E. Cytowic, Clinical Professor of Neurology, George Washington University

What does the sound of my voice smell like to you? Are Monday and Tuesday different colors? Does chocolate taste like a circle or a square? If those questions do not sound too strange, you might have synesthesia –or at least you’ve heard of it. Synesthesia is a mixing of two or more senses –and about four percent of people have it.

 

Why More Deer Must Die (Originally aired January 7, 2019)

Guest: Don Waller, Professor of Botany and Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison

A generation of American children learned that deer hunters are villains to Disney’s Bambi. However, the amount of hunting being done in the US is at its lowest level in 25 years, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service. Which is great for Bambi, but bad for ecosystems increasingly overrun with deer.