Why is insulting someone’s intelligence such a potent put down? It’s more than saying someone lacks knowledge or book learning. It’s a statement of a person’s worth – of their potential to be successful. And for that, we can thank the IQ test. In this podcast episode, we explore how the IQ test was created and continues to shape our collective understanding of intelligence and disability. We hear from a mother struggling with the pros and cons of having her daughter with Down Syndrome routinely IQ tested at school. A school psychologist tackles common misconceptions about the nature of IQ testing. And we consider how the IQ test’s narrow definition of “intelligence” affects people with dyslexia and autism, which have historically been conflated with intellectual disability.

Guests:

Pepper Stetler, professor of art history, Miami University, author of “A Measure of Intelligence: One Woman’s Reckoning with the IQ Test” (https://www.pepperstetler.com/)

Terisa Gabrielsen, professor of school psychology at Brigham Young University (https://education.byu.edu/directory/view/terisa-gabrielsen)

Quincy Hansen, neurodiversity and autism advocate, author of “Shake It Up: How to be Young, Autistic, and Make an Impact” (https://speakingofautismcom.wordpress.com/)

Tim Odegard,  Editor in Chief of the Annals of Dyslexia, professor of psychology at Middle Tennessee State University (https://dyslexia.mtsu.edu/staff/)

More than a quarter of Americans are estranged from at least one family member. Parent/child estrangement is the most common – especially between dads and their kids. There’s a lot about modern American life that has made family estrangement more common, and younger generations are more willing to talk about it on social media. But reconciliation happens more than you might think. On this episode of Top of Mind, we explore the reality of estrangement from both the parent and the child's perspective. And we hear what it takes to reconcile.

Guests:

Charlotte Gill, author of Almost Brown: A Memoir (https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/705633/almost-brown-by-charlotte-gill/)

Sheri McGregor, author of Done with the Crying and Beyond Done with the Crying (https://a.co/d/93JwJ4C)

Joshua Coleman, clinical psychologist and author of The Rules of Estrangement: Why Adult Children Cut Ties and How to Heal the Conflict (https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/622584/rules-of-estrangement-by-joshua-coleman-phd/)

Can America guarantee free expression of religion in public as an officially secular, but culturally Christian nation? Expressing religious faith in public is both protected by law and socially acceptable. As a secular nation, the US has no official religion, but since two-thirds of American are Christian, most of the displays of religion in public places we see represent one faith. For example, Christmas is the only religious holiday observed by the that’s also a federal holiday when all government services and most private businesses are closed. And some argue that, because of our history and founding, America was intended to be a Christian nation.

On this episode of Top of Mind we explore how free non-Christians in America actually feel to express their religious identity and beliefs in public? What’s the fairest way to approach the topic of religion in public places? Did the American founders intend to establish a Christian nation - and what does that complicated history mean for freedom of religion in the United States today?

Guests:

Linda K. Wertheimer, journalist and author of Faith Ed: Teaching About Religion in an Age of Intolerance (https://www.lindakwertheimer.com/?page_id=722)

Rim-Sarah Alouane, PhD in Law and researcher at Université Toulouse Capitole in France (https://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/posts/the-weaponization-of-laicite)

John Fea, professor of American History at Messiah University and author of Was America Founded as a Christian Nation? A Historical Introduction (https://www.amazon.com/Was-America-Founded-Christian-Nation/dp/0664235042)

Trust in institutions like the media, the medical system, public schools, all branches of government, and science is at an all-time low. When it comes to vaccines specifically, fewer than half of Americans think childhood vaccines are "extremely important." That's the lowest level in 25 years. The pandemic sparked new vaccine hesitancy, driven by shifting health guidelines and vaccination mandates. And it shook America’s trust, especially in vaccines. But it also taught us something about building trust in institutions.

On this episode of Top of Mind, we're taking a closer look at what happened to America's relationship with vaccines during the pandemic to see what we can learn about building - and maintaining - public trust. We'll hear a range of viewpoints exploring what it was like to gain trust, to lose it, and to try and foster it. This is not an episode about whether or not people should get vaccinated. Vaccines are just a useful lens to get at the deeper issue of how and why we trust institutions.

Guests:

Heather Simpson, co-founder of website "Back to the Vax" (https://backtothevax.com/)

Maya Goldenberg, professor of philosophy at the University of Guelph and the author of Vaccine Hesitancy: Public Trust, Expertise, and the War on Science (https://upittpress.org/books/9780822966906/)

Jennifer Sharp, filmmaker and director of the Anecdotals (http://www.jennifersharpfilms.com/)

Bill Petri, doctor, scientist and professor at the University of Virginia (https://dailyprogress.com/life-entertainment/local/wellness/dr-william-petri-lions-bears-and-covid-an-update-for-the-summer/article_e7747372-2422-11ee-a785-d3f1e0a035ef.html)

Links:

Episode on trust in elections: https://www.byuradio.org/top-of-mind-what-will-it-take-to-rebuild-american-trust-in-elections

Episode on trust in media: https://www.byuradio.org/68e6b06a-73bb-4a0f-ace8-5f2b55bd066f/top-of-mind-with-julie-rose-can-the-news-be-trusted-americans-arent-too-sure

Care work is the labor essential to life. But two-thirds of caregiving goes uncompensated. What do we miss when we don’t value care work and how does this affect care workers? If we multiplied all the hours spent in a year on unpaid caregiving in America by the local minimum wage, it would be worth one trillion dollars. Yet none of it is accounted for in the official measures of the nation's economic health or productivity. And the vast majority is done by women. Meanwhile, the paid care sector has a critical shortage of daycare staff, home health aides and certified nursing assistants. America is in a care work crisis.

In this podcast episode, we talk to a therapist and struggling mother about how she changed her mindset on care work. Then we talk to a former direct care worker about her experience in the field and her efforts to improve the paid care sector. Finally, we discuss the care economy with a mother and author who has struggled with her identity as a caregiver.

Guests:

- KC Davis, creator of the StruggleCare platform and author of How to Keep House While Drowning (https://www.strugglecare.com/)

- Diondre Clarke, former direct care worker and field organizer for the National Domestic Workers Alliance (https://www.domesticworkers.org/)

- Elissa Strauss, author of When You Care: The Unexpected Magic of Caring for Others (https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/When-You-Care/Elissa-Strauss/9781982169275)

There are more than 100,000 people on the waitlist for an organ transplant. Every day 17 of them die. Most organs for transplant come from deceased donors. But the organs in highest demand for transplantation are kidneys and livers – both of which can be donated while a person is still alive. So, we could save thousands of lives each year if more people were willing make a living organ donation. Some advocates say giving donors money would increase organ donations enough to eliminate the entire waitlist. But federal law makes it illegal to buy or sell organs. Ethicists have real concerns about coercion and exploitation, too. In this podcast episode, we're exploring America's organ shortage and asking whether paying donors could close the gap.

Guests:

David Galbenski, liver transplant recipient and co-founder of the Living Liver Foundation (https://livingliver.org/)

Elaine Perlman, kidney donor, Executive Director of Waitlist Zero and leading advocate for the End Kidney Deaths Act (http://waitlistzero.org/)

Kathleen McLaughlin, journalist and author of Blood Money; The Story of Life, Death, and Profit Inside America's Blood Industry

Al Roth, Nobel-prize winning economist, Stanford University, expert in market design and game theory (https://marketdesigner.blogspot.com/)

Meet the teams behind Top of Mind and Uncomfy in this special crossover episode, where we share stories of sticking with a challenging perspective while working on the shows. We are exposed to a lot of nuanced viewpoints as we put podcast episodes together, which gives us the perfect opportunity to practice what we preach: choosing to lean into discomfort instead of lashing out or shying away. We’ve found clarity about our own beliefs, empathy for the people around us, and also developed the skills to tackle tough conversations. Tune in to Top of Mind to practice engaging with important, complicated topics. Check out Uncomfy, too, where we’re sharing stories of people choosing to engage in an uncomfortable moment instead of stepping back. And if you’ve had an “Uncomfy” experience lately, share it with us by emailing [email protected].

Guests:

Top of Mind producers - Alayna Beck, Caleb Leach, Vanessa Goodman, and James Hoopes.

Uncomfy producers - Samuel Benson and Henrique Prado.

Find links to the podcast episodes referenced in this conversation below:

What Does it Mean to Be White in America?: https://www.byuradio.org/top-of-mind-what-does-it-mean-to-be-white-in-america

The Changing Ways We Decide Who Gets into College an Why it Matters: https://www.byuradio.org/top-of-mind-the-changing-way-we-decide-who-gets-into-college-and-why-it-matters

Why We’re So Anxious About Retirement in America — And How We Can Fix It: https://www.byuradio.org/top-of-mind-why-were-so-anxious-about-retirement-in-america-and-how-we-can-fix-it

What Can We Do About America’s Money in Politics Problem?: https://www.byuradio.org/top-of-mind-what-can-we-do-about-americas-money-in-politics-problem

Spending a Day with People Who Think You Hate Them – Jefferson Shupe: https://www.byuradio.org/e14-spending-a-day-with-people-who-think-you-hate-them-jefferson-shupe

Only 44% of Americans say they have a "great deal" or "quite a bit of confidence" that the results of the 2024 election will be accurate. But party affiliation is a big part of the story. If you break down that 44%, only 1 in 4 Republicans have high confidence, compared to nearly 3 out of 4 Democrats. The reasons that so many Americans currently lack trust in elections differ on the political left and right, but a representative democracy like ours relies on all voters having a high level of confidence in the results of an election no matter who wins. Without it, people stop voting, losing candidates don't concede, winners can't lead effectively and the transition from one administration to the next is no longer guaranteed to be peaceful. In this episode, we hear what leads people on the left and right to lack trust in the integrity of U.S. elections. We meet a county clerk who ran for office because of his concerns about fraud and mail voting. Now he’s administering his first presidential election and trying to convince other voters to trust the system. Then we explore the recommendations of a group of Democrats and Republicans who came together in search of common ground around restoring trust in elections.

Guests:

Lenny Mirra, Republican former Massachusetts State Representative, “Red” member of the Braver Angels Trustworthy Elections Initiative leadership team (https://braverangels.org/trustworthy-elections/)

Catherine Roeske, city clerk of Oak Creek, Wisconsin (https://www.oakcreekwi.gov/government/departments/clerk/elections)

Aaron Davidson, Clerk of Utah County, Utah (https://vote.utahcounty.gov/home)

Jay Young, Senior Director of Voting and Democracy, Common Cause (https://www.commoncause.org/issues/stopping-voter-suppression/)

Reena Bernards, creator of Common Ground Workshop, “Blue” member of the Braver Angels Trustworthy Elections Initiative leadership team (https://braverangels.org/trustworthy-elections/)

Presidential elections in the US are twice as expensive as they were just a decade ago, and so are the most competitive Congressional races. Even state and local elections now routinely see record spending – typically from “outside groups” that have no restrictions on what they can raise or spend.

The current state of money in politics is a rare point of bipartisan agreement in America. Overwhelming majorities of Republicans and Democrats think the cost of campaigns makes it hard for good people to run for office and that big donors and special interest groups have too much influence over politicians. Plus, political donors and special interest groups are more ideological than the average citizen, making political campaigns more polarized.

In this podcast episode, we explore what’s changed in the last decade to dramatically increase the flow of money in US elections. And we look at a wide range of efforts underway to address the influence of money in politics.

Guests:

David Jolly, former Republican Congressman from Florida’s 13th District (https://davidjolly.com/)

Jeff Clements, constitutional Lawyer and CEO of American Promise, sponsors of the “For Our Freedom Amendment” (https://americanpromise.net/)

Ray La Raja, professor of political science at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and co-author of “Campaign Finance and Political polarization: When Purists Prevail” (https://www.fulcrum.org/concern/monographs/h702q709t)

Rene LeBeau, Democracy Voucher Program Manager for the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission (https://seattle.gov/democracyvoucher)

Alan Durning, CEO of Sightline Institute (https://www.sightline.org/)

A trial by jury is an important American right, enshrined in the 6th and 7th amendments of the constitution. But do jury trials work the way we want them to? Not all countries use citizen juries in their justice systems, and the ones that do generally don't give them quite as much power as America does. But juries are also becoming rare in the United States. Only 2% of criminal trials ever make it in front of a jury because prosecutors pressure defendants to take plea deals as a faster, cheaper alternative to trial. And most of us dread getting called to serve on a jury. Should America continue to lean away from juries, or press to make them more present in our system - and perhaps more just? In this podcast episode, we talk to someone who’s served on a jury, and someone who was wrongfully convicted by one. We'll also talk to experts about where juries fall short and what we can do about that.

Guests:

Kristen Cambell, CEO of Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement (PACE) (https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-jury-duty-yes-duty-changed-my-life-riyzc/)

Herman Lindsey, executive director of Witness to Innocence (https://www.witnesstoinnocence.org/single-post/herman-lindsey)

James Binnall, lawyer and professor at California State University Long Beach, author of "Twenty Million Angry Men: The Case for Including Convicted Felons in Our Juries" (https://doi.org/10.1111/lapo.12015)

Valerie Hans, law professor at Cornell University (https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4168115)