Millions of Americans Lack Access to Clean Water and Indoor Plumbing (0:35)

Guest: George McGraw, Chief Executive Officer, DigDeep

You don’t think about it when you flush the toilet or turn on the sink, but access to clean, reliable running water and safe sanitation are a real privilege. And right now, in the America, more than two million people lack that privilege. A person’s race is the strongest predictor of whether they’ll have access to clean water and sanitation. (Originally aired 11/20/2019).

 

Combatting Extremism: Use Peer Pressure, Not Logic or Fear (17:05) 

Guest: Nafees Hamid, PhD Candidate, Department of Security and Crime Science, University College London

When someone commits unthinkable violence for the sake of an extreme belief –whether it’s strapping on a suicide vest in the name of jihad or posting a racist manifesto and gunning down immigrants in a parking lot –surely that person is a psychopath. But that’s not what researchers found when they scanned the brains of people who support a radical Islamist terror group. Their insights are important to the discussion going on in the US right now about how to combat extreme white nationalism. (Originally aired 08/09/2019).

 

The Man Collecting One Million War Letters (36:49)

Guest: Andrew Carroll, Director of the Center for American War Letters at Chapman University

Historian Andrew Carroll is on a mission to collect a million letters from soldiers during wartime. He’s already collected tens of thousands, and they span 250 years of American conflicts from the Revolutionary war to the present day. One of them was even written on Hitler’s own stationary. (Originally aired 11/20/2019).

 

Behind the Scenes of the Sound Design for Hollywood’s Hits (52:50)

Guest: Richard King, Supervising Sound Editor and Designer

Movies are a visual medium, obviously. Color and camera angles matter enormously to the experience you have in the theater. But so does sound. In fact, it’s maybe sound most of all that pulls you into a film. Makes you feel the wind and sea spray like you’re one of the rescued soldiers huddled on a small boat at the end of the World War II movie Dunkirk. As an enemy plane bears down, it’s the sound of it that makes your heart race. And the spray of bullets that makes you wince and momentarily shut your eyes. (Originally aired 08/14/2019).

 

Our Obsession With Natural Products (1:14:12)

Guest: Alan Levinovitz, Associate Professor of Religion, James Madison University, Author of "Natural: How Faith in Nature's Goodness Leads to Harmful Fads, Unjust Laws, and Flawed Science"

We’re told–and a lot of us agree–that natural is always better, whether it’s food, flavors and fibers or skin care and supplements. But did you know that the FDA doesn’t even define what “natural” means on a food label? It’s basically just a marketing ploy to catch your attention –and it works. Lifestyle brands like Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop have made obsessing about all things natural into a lucrative business. Setting aside the often dubious health and wellness claims attached to anything “natural,” why do we place so much value in the idea of it? (Oringally aired 01/30/2020).

 

A Book Designed to Help You Feel for Honeybees (1:27:55)

Guest: Candace Fleming, Author; Eric Rohmann, Illustrator of “Honeybee: The Busy Life of Apis Mellifera”

Bees pollinate a lot of our food. And they’re in decline for a lot of reasons. So we’re supposed to be nice to bees. But when one comes buzzing around you or your kid, how are you supposed to fight that panicky urge to swat – or squash?  Maybe start by taking in a gorgeous new picture book called “Honeybee.” (Originally aired 03/04/2020).