War has been in our headlines again recently. What do we know about the effects of war on subsequent violence between family members and neighbors? On this episode, we talk with Jocelyn Kelly, Director of the Program on Gender, Rights, and Resilience at the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative.

On this episode, we hear from students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill who worked with Professor Carmen Gutierrez to produce stories exploring current health policy issues. Content has been edited for time. Opinions expressed do not represent the views of WNCU or underwriters. 

The arrival of a new year can be a stressful time both in terms of opportunities and challenges. What is stress and how do social scientists measure it? On this episode, we talk with anthropologist Achsah Dorsey of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, about stress and everyday life. 

JAMA Psychiatry recently reported that in the United States we have seen an increase in deaths of despair, instances in which people die from suicide or alcoholism or substance use. Boys and men are particularly likely to suffer in that way. On this episode, we talk with Richard Reeves of the Brookings Institution about his new book, Of Boys and Men: Why the Modern Male is Struggling, Why it Matters, and What to Do about It.

Every day government officials and researchers and journalists attempt to explain new developments in science or to share insights based on science. Even though that work often involves empirical facts, we sometimes overlook the roles of human emotion. On this episode, we talk with Faith Kearns, environmental science expert and author of Getting to the Heart of Science Communication: A Guide to Engagement. [Technical note: episode includes minor audio inconsistencies.]

A force that animates all of our lives in some way is the concept of death. What if we had more certainty about what happens when we die? What if a preview of death could inform our life? On this episode, we talk with Marieta Pehlivanova of the University of Virginia about her research on near-death experiences.

Headlines about traffic accidents are common, but those stories might not tell the whole story. On this episode, we talk with Seth LaJeunesse of the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center about how we do -- and should -- talk about traffic injuries and transportation safety.

Can you tell how well children in a neighborhood are doing just by looking at the neighborhood? On this episode, we talk with Terri Sabol of Northwestern University about the health of school neighborhoods and how geography, education, and student success are related. 

We take a break from our usual interviews on this episode to share speeches from a celebration of The Measure of Everyday Life and a new book based on the show, Measuring Everyday Life, held at North Carolina Central University in September 2022.  

More than ever, we need to connect scientists and various audiences to promote understanding of science and to get input from people about what science should be done. On this episode, we talk with John Besley of Michigan State University and Anthony Dudo of the University of Texas at Austin, authors of a book called Strategic Science Communication: A Guide to Setting the Right Objectives for More Effective Public Engagement.