A Veteran’s View on Why He Served (0:30)

Guest: Captain Frank “Gus” Biggio, Former US Marine, Author of “The Wolves of Helmand: A View from Inside the Den of Modern War”

Millions of American men and women have served in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan over the last 20 years. Most have seen the gains they fought for–whether it’s territory, or peace and stability for a region-lost as those conflicts drag on. How do veterans square that? Was the time away, the injuries, the trauma, the death of their comrades, worth it?

 

Restaurants Setting the Table for Gentrification (35:30)

Guest: Joshua Sbicca, Associate Professor of Sociology, Colorado State University

If you want to know which rough neighborhood in a city is about to become the next hipster enclave, look where a new coffee shop opens upselling organic brews and smoothies. An upscale restaurant is bound to follow. And maybe a pop-up farmer’s market on the weekend. And before long you’ve got new condos and art spaces moving in, along with wealthier–and often whiter–residents. Why is a thriving food scene such a reliable precursor to gentrification?

 

With Redistricting Power at Stake, Republicans Win Big in States (52:53)

Guest: Wendy Underhill, Director of Elections and Redistricting, National Conference of State Legislatures

While Democrats celebrate their victory in the Presidential Election, the picture on the state level is quite different. Republicans maintained control of all the state legislatures they held before the election, plus picked up New Hampshire. And because this is a Census year, that puts Republicans in charge of redrawing voting district boundaries in the majority of states.

 

App Gives Greater Access to Eating Disorder Treatment (1:09:45)

Guest: Ellen Fitzsimmons-Craft, Professor of Psychiatry, Washington University in St. Louis

Eating disorders are common on college campuses and extremely debilitating for students. In fact, almost all first-time cases of an eating disorder happen before age 25. Problem is, most college students with an eating disorder don’t get help. So a research team came up with an easier way for these students to get treatment through a phone app. And it’s working.

 

Disabled Actors Face Double-Standard in Casting (1:27:11)

Guest: Kurt Yaeger, Actor, Producer and Activist for Disabled Performers

It’s become politically incorrect for a white actor to play a character of a different ethnicity on screen. But those casting rules don’t apply to playing characters with disabilities. The vast majority of characters with disabilities in film and television are portrayed by actors who do not have the same disability. And not only is that considered acceptable, those actors often get all kinds of Oscar buzz for portraying the disability so convincingly. Actors with disabilities say they constantly battle a double-standard, where they only ever get cast to play characters with disabilities.