COVID-19 Vaccine Ahead of Schedule, But Likely Spring Before All American Adults Can Get One (0:29)

Guest: William A. Petri, Jr., Wade Hampton Frost Professor of Epidemiology, Professor of Medicine, Pathology, Microbiology, Immunology & Cancer Biology, Division of Infectious Diseases, University of Virginia School of Medicine

The first doses of a vaccine for COVID-19 could be available to the public in a matter of weeks. What does this mean?

 

Vanishing Sounds of Nature (17:57)

Guest: Bernie Krause, Soundscape Ecologist, Wild Sanctuary

When listening to the sounds of nature, we might not be able to get much. The wind, some water, a couple of animals. But to Brian Krause it can be so much more. From a soundscape, he can determine the health of an ecosystem and just how much of an impact climate change has had. He says that picture is worth a thousand words, but a soundscape is worth a thousand pictures.

 

Why Gifted Youth May Not Want to Skip Out on Grade-Skipping (35:07)

Guest: David Lubinski, Professor of Psychology and Human Development, Vanderbilt University

If a child is really smart and learns quickly, they could take advanced classes, skip a grade, and/or graduate early. But should they? There’s been a lot of question if academic acceleration like that could have negative psychological effects on the student. So a research team followed some people for more than 35 years and found no evidence of harm from moving ahead in school.

 

The Addiction Treatment That Offers Prizes for Clean Drug Tests (52:17)

Guest: Dominick DePhilippis, Clinical Psychologist, National Coordinator for Implementation of Contingency Management, Philadelphia Center of Excellence in Substance Addiction Treatment and Education (CESATE), Department of Veterans Affairs

The nation’s early warning system for detecting trends in drug abuse is picking up a strong signal right now from cocaine and methamphetamine. Increasing numbers of overdose deaths involve those stimulants, often in combination with opioids. But unlike with opioids, where methadone and suboxone have proven very effective at treating addiction, there is no medicine that can treat addiction to cocaine and methamphetamine. The most effective treatment we know of right now is a bit controversial, but it’s widely used in health clinics run by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

 

Billions of Dollars of Delinquent Power Bills—Who Will Pay? (1:11:44)

Guest: Ted Kury, Director of Energy Studies, Public Ultility Research Center, University of Florida

Since the pandemic, many states have implemented a moratorium on disconnecting utilities. That’s kept the lights on and water running for millions of people unable to pay their utility bills. But those moratoria are expiring and already unpaid electric and gas bills total more than $10 billion nationwide. How are those debts going to be paid?

 

Knitting the Pandemic Away (1:25:10)

Guest: Perri Klass, Professor of Journalism and Pediatrics, New York University, Author “A Good Time to Be Born: How Science and Public Health Gave Children a Future”

Home arts and handicrafts have been booming this year. Bread making, canning, knitting. Perri Klass isn’t surprised at all that knitting is having a moment. She’s been writing about its benefits for years–often in the health column she writes for the New York Times. See, Perri Klass is a pediatrician and a knitter. The two have always been compatible for her.