Why Statelessness Is On the Rise Globally

Guest: Fernand de Varennes, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues

Around the world there are at least 10 million people who are “stateless,” according to the United Nations. Which means, they belong nowhere. They’re not simply refugees or individuals living without citizenship status in a country. These stateless individuals have no “home” to go back to, even if they wanted to.

 

How the Chinese Government Controls Information

Guest: Margaret (Molly) Roberts, Professor of Political Science, University of California, San Diego

The ongoing –and increasingly violent –pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong are testing China’s ability to censor information within its borders. Outside of China it’s easy to find social media posts and news articles that depict the Hong Kong protestors as young people exercising their democratic right to demand more freedom. Inside China, the government controls the media and censors the internet, so people are more likely to encounter the Chinese government’s official take on the Hong Kong protestors –which is that they’re terrorists provoked by the West.

 

Fighting Loneliness in Seniors with Virtual Reality

Guest: Kyle Rand, Co-Founder and CEO of Rendever

Many elderly people have lost mobility and the strength to travel, and that can leave them feeling isolated and depressed. Moving into a care facility can also make some feel like they’ve lost their freedom. But a virtual reality program is giving seniors new life and inspiration. All they have to do is strap on a pair of goggles, and they can do things they normally couldn’t like going scuba diving, visiting their childhood home, or seeing the Eiffel Tower.

 

Canada Now Leads the World in Refugee Resettlement. America Used to Hold That Title. What’s Changed?

Guest: Geoffrey Cameron, Research Associate at the Global Migration Lab at the University of Toronto, Author of the Forthcoming Book, “Send Them Here: Religion and the Politics of Refugee Resettlement”

Since President Trump took office, the United States has steadily taken in fewer refugees. Last week, the Trump Administration announced a limit of 18,000 who will be allowed to resettled in America next year. That’s down from a cap of 110,000 two years ago. What that means is that for the first time in 30 years, the United States no longer leads the world in refugee resettlement. Canada now takes in more refugees than we do.

 

Why Isn’t There a National Weather Service App?

Guest: J. Marshall Shepherd, Professor of Geography and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Georgia

One of the first things I do in the morning is check the weather app on my phone to see what I should wear that day. Like me, more and more people are getting weather information from apps, and there are plenty to choose from. That is, unless you’re looking for one directly from the US National Weather Service–the weather information source paid for by our taxes. Unlike some other countries, our weather service doesn’t have an app.

 

What Do We Do with Confederate Monuments?

Guest: Andrea Douglas, PhD, Executive Director, Jefferson School African American Heritage Center

City officials in Charlottesville, Virginia would like to remove two prominent statutes in public parks –one of Confederate General Robert E. Lee and the other of Stonewall Jackson. When white supremacists marched in Charlottesville two years ago and murdered a counter-protester, they said they were defending the General Lee monument. Why can’t the city just take them down? Because Virginia, like many southern states, has a law that prohibits removal of war memorials and a judge says these monuments are covered by that law.