More Than a Million Syrians Blocked from Humanitarian Aid (0:29)

Guest: Vanessa Jackson, UN Representative, CARE International

Syrians still desperately need humanitarian aid, but the United Nations Security Council just passed a resolution that will shut down one of the two border crossings that allow aid shipments into the war-torn country. That means more than a million people could be without essential food and medicine.

Dissolving Forever Chemicals (20:17) 

Guest: Michael Wong, Chemistry Professor, Rice University

Have you ever heard of a forever chemical? Probably not, but do you own water-proof clothing? That’s made of forever chemicals. What about cook with a non-stick frying pan? Those are made of forever chemicals, too. They’re called forever chemicals because they don’t break down on their own. Problem is, they’ve been found in the blood of most Americans. But scientists at Rice University have stumbled on a way to break them down.

The Statue Debate: Topple or Save? (36:44)

Guest: Kevin Gaines, Professor of Civil Rights and Social Justice, University of Virginia

Offensive statues have been toppled across the country. But what should be done with them once they come down? Civil rights and social justice professor Kevin Gaines is worried about us “sanitizing” history if we just throw them awayand move on. So then what do we do with offensive statues?

Why America’s White Working Class Quit the Democrats (52:48)

Guest: David Paul Kuhn, journalist and political analyst, author of “The Hardhat Riot: Nixon, New York City and the Dawn of the White Working-Class Revolution”

If President Trump is to win re-election in November, he will need solid support from white working-class voters. They’re the factory workers and coal miners and steel workers he’s so often talked about. They got a shout-out in the President’s inaugural address, “The forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer!” The “Silent Majority” is another name Trump and past presidents have used to describe this group of voters that’s become more reliably Republican over the decades. But that’s only been in the last 50 years. And only because of some political missteps on the part of the Democrats.

What is a Spirit Bear?  A Black Bear with a Special Coat (1:25:24)

Guest: Douglass Neasloss, Chief Councillor and Resource Stewardship Director, Kitasoo/Xai’xais First Nation; Christina Service, Executive Director, Spirit Bear Research Foundation

There’s a rare kind of bear that roams the Great Bear rainforest in British Columbia. It holds special significance for the Kitasoo/Xai-xais First Nation people–they call them Spirit Bears. What makes them so unique? They’re white. No, they’re not polar bears, and they’re not albino. But recent research has identified what causes these black bears to turn white and how they need to be protected.