Postal Service Under Political Pressure (0:30)

Guest: Richard Geddes, Professor in the Department of Policy Analysis & Management at Cornell University, Visiting Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, Author of “Saving the Mail”

The head of the US Postal Service spent Friday and Monday being grilled by members of Congress. Democrats are concerned that Postmaster General Louis DeJoy is intentionally hobbling mail delivery to undermine voting by mail in November. President Trump does not want to see wide-spread voting by mail this election and has opposed stimulus funds for the Postal Service. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has promised to prioritize ballot delivery, but still plans an overhaul of the system after the election. Is the controversy purely political? Or does the US Postal Service really need fixing?

 

Methane Leaking from Under Sea Floor in Antarctica (22:05)

Guest: Andrew Thurber, Professor of Microbiology, Oregon State University

Scientists have discovered methane leaking from the sea floor in Antarctica. Gas bubbles up from the ocean all the time–but this is the first active methane leak ever discovered in Antarctica, and it’s given researchers to answer some questions about what’s known as the “methane cycle.”

 

The Trouble with Diagnosing a Mental Illness (36:48)

Guest: Terrie Moffitt, Professor of Psychology, Duke University

Diagnosing a mental illness is not an exact science, despite the very detailed Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders psychiatrists use as a guide. A patient could visit three different psychiatrists and get three different diagnoses. And new research tracking psychiatric patients for forty years found their diagnoses changed over time, too.

 

1963 March on Washington Unified a Movement. Can 2020 March Do the Same? (52:47)

Guest: Clayborne Carson, Centennial Professor of History, Stanford University, Founding Director of The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute

On Friday in Washington, DC, civil rights leaders, labor unions and the families of black men and women killed by police will lead a protest march. It’ll be the 57th anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s historic March on Washington, where he delivered the iconic “I Have a Dream Speech.” In the months after hundreds of thousands gathered for that march, Congress passed laws prohibiting racial discrimination. Organizers of the march on happening this Friday are calling for criminal justice reform and police accountability.

 

Automating the Scientific Method (1:09:42)

Guest: Ross King, Professor of Machine Intelligence, Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden

There’s a global quest underway to create a robot capable of winning a Nobel Prize. 2050 is the target date for that. But why would scientists want to make themselves obsolete by inventing robots that can do their jobs better?

 

Natural Disaster Fit for 2020: Fire Tornadoes (1:28:40)

Guest: Ben Gelber, Meteorologist, NBC4, Columbus, Ohio

Firefighters in California are currently battling two of the largest wildfires the state has ever seen. Hot dry wind and lightning are making the fight harder. Last week, the National Weather Service even issued a rare warning of fire tornados in the region. Meteorologist Ben Gelber couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw them pop up on the doppler radar measuring velocity: What new horror will 2020 cook up next?