Is Media Anti-Trump,Twitter and Employment, Caffeine Danger

06/07/17 • 102 min

Is the Mainstream Media Anti-Trump? Guest: Tom Patterson, Bradlee Professor of Government and the Press, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University Does the media have an anti-Trump bias? That's how President Trump sees it, certainly. He often complains about his unfair treatment at the hands of the mainstream media. An analysis of media coverage during President Trump's first 100 days in office suggests he's got a point. We talk to the author of a report from the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. Ghosts of Twitter Past Haunt Job Seekers Guest: Steve McDonald, PhD, Associate Professor, Director of the Graduate Program of Sociology at North Carolina State University When you post something to Facebook or Instagram, does it cross your mind how a future hiring manager might look it? What if you applied for a job and before you even got an interview, your social media posts were the first impression you made? Hiring managers are turning to social media more and more as they evaluate job applicants. But without any clear guidelines on when and how such techniques are okay, there’s a lot of gray area. Caffeine Can Kill Guest: Barbara Crouch, PharmD, Professor of Pharmacotherapy at University of Utah; Executive Director of the Utah Poison Control Center Caffeine perks you up and can give you the jitters if you overdo it, but did you know that at high enough concentrations it can be very dangerous – even deadly? Getting to that threshold is easier than you might think. Apple Seed Guest: Same Payne, Host of BYUradio’s “The Apple Seed” American folktales. Bridges on the Verge of Collapse Guest: Madeleine Flint, PhD, Assistant Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Virginia Tech Summer tourists hoping to drive scenic Highway 1 on the California coast will have to take a detour around the popular Big Sur cliffs. It’s there that, during the wettest rainy season on record, mudslides blocked the road and damaged the Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge, which remains closed until the end of September. The road itself could take a year to fix. Engineering experts say bridges across the country are not being designed to meet the reality of today’s weather, wear and tear. Courtroom Sketches from Famous Trials Guest: Bill Robles, courtroom sketch artist Charles Manson once looked right at him with disdain. Michael Jackson was so impressed with him, he asked for a meeting, and OJ Simpson struck him as incredibly arrogant. Our next guest is courtroom sketch artist Bill Robles and he’s drawn many of the most notorious criminals and biggest stars of the last half-century. When cameras aren’t allowed in court, Robles is there to document the drama. The Library of Congress has just acquired a trove of courtroom sketches, including many by Robles. They are on display until late October. His work is featured in the book “The Illustrated Courtroom: 50 Years of Court Art.”

Previous Episode

US vs. Europe, Subconscious Bias, Gun Laws

US vs. Europe Guest: Wade Jacoby, PhD, Professor of Political Science, BYU Just where we stand with regard to our European allies is a bit unclear at the moment – at least diplomatically speaking. President Donald Trump rankled British leaders with Tweets critical of London’s mayor after the weekend’s terror attack. And last week, he went against all of Europe, and the rest of the world, by pulling the US out of the Paris Climate Accord. Are transatlantic relations at a record low? Looking Abroad to Revive American’s Middle Class Guest: Steven Pressman, PhD, Professor of Economics, Colorado State University President Trump made it clear in the last week he wants to do what’s right for Pittsburgh, not Paris. But if he really wants to “Make America Great Again,” he’ll need to bolster America’s middle class. And to do that, our next guest says the President actually should look to Paris, because France’s middle class is doing better than ours. Lawyers Aren’t Immune from Bias Guest: Andrea Curcio, Professor of Law, Georgia State University Children who can reason, argue, and debate from a young age are often told “you should be a lawyer.” Lawyers have the reputation for being tough critical thinkers--logical and dispassionate. And law students often believe that their training makes them immune to bias. But Andrea Curcio, a professor of law, frequently shocks her students by revealing to them their own bias and prejudice as part of their training. How New is the New Wonder Woman? Guest: Sarah Langsdale, PhD, Lecturer of Philosophy and Religion, University of North Texas Mixed in with all the excited anticipation for the new Wonder Woman movie was a fair amount of reservation among female comic-lovers, worried that Hollywood was going to ruin it by making Wonder Woman yet another one-dimensional take on female power rooted solely in sexuality or vengeance. Well, those fans seem to have breathed a collective sigh of relief over the weekend because this Wonder Woman is strong, brave and sexy, yes, but also sincere and even vulnerable. State-by-State Gun Law Database Guest: Michael Siegel, MD, Professor of Community Health Sciences, Boston University How and where you can buy or carry a firearm depends entirely on where you live. Since relatively few gun laws have been passed by Congress, it’s up to individual states to decide if, for example, you need a permit to carry a concealed weapon. Or if someone convicted of domestic violence can have a gun. Would it surprise you to learn that the number of gun laws on the books in each state varies dramatically? California has 104 gun laws. Alaska has just 4. A comprehensive new database of state gun laws offers a way to track the effects of restricting access to firearms. You can see the database here. Tracking US Migrations with DNA Guest: Ross Curtis, PhD, Manager of Computational Genomics, AncestryDNA People have been using DNA tests through the genealogy company, Ancestry, to find out where they’re from. The tests are conducted using test tubes of saliva sent in by people all over the country who are curious about their ancestry. After collecting so many, the company has decided to do something productive with all the left over DNA samples. They used the samples to map out how groups of people with common heritage have migrated around North America over the years. You can see the map here.

Next Episode

Israel's Six-Day War 50th Anniversary, Paula Poundstone

50 Years after the Six Day War, Consequences Persist Guest: John Macfarlane, Adjunct Professor of Political Science, Utah Valley University Fifty years ago this week, conflict erupted between Israel and its largest Arab neighbors – Egypt, Syria and Jordan. Six days later, it was over and Israel had beaten its much larger Arab rivals. The Six Day War of 1967 had a profound effect on the Middle East, even setting the stage for modern-day terrorism. Paula Poundstone: How to Find Happiness Guest: Paula Poundstone, Author of “The Totally Unscientific Study of the Search for Human Happiness” Comedian Paula Poundstone has a new book. It took nearly a decade to write, because she wasn’t just writing, she was experimenting with how to find happiness. In the name of science, she sweat a lot, threw stuff away, got a Twitter account, drove a Lamborghini, took swing dancing lessons, meditated, volunteered at a nursing home and hugged a lot of strangers. And now the rest of us can cheat by using her field notes, helpfully compiled in her book, “The Totally Unscientific Study of the Search for Human Happiness.” Translating a 1700-year-old Obituary (originally aired: Sept. 14, 2016) Guest: Lincoln Blumell, PhD, Associate Professor of Ancient Scripture, BYU When contemplating how we’ll be remembered after we’re gone, a common hope is that our gravestone can say something about having loved and been loved. Late last year, BYU ancient scripture professor Lincoln Blumell helped translate a small and exceptionally sweet epitaph carved into limestone that’s languished in the archives of the University of Utah’s library for decades. Art Critics Losing Their Jobs (originally aired: Jan. 17, 2017) Guest: Jed Gottlieb, Music and Theater Critic, Boston Herald It’s pretty rare to find a newspaper anywhere in the country with a full-time writer dedicated solely to covering theater, music or books. These are tough times for print journalism and it seems arts critics are among the first to go in layoffs and buyouts. So, do newspapers really need someone dedicated full time to arts, or have internet reviews and friend recommendations on social media taken over? Summer Homework (originally aired: May 14, 2015) Guest: Denise Pope, Senior Lecturer, Stanford University, Co-founder of Challenge Success At the start of summer, kids race home from the last day of school, ditching their backpacks in hallways and kitchen corners. Inside will likely be a packet the kids—and their parents—prefer to forget for now. Summer homework assignments are meant to counter the "brain drain" that can leave kids a little rusty when they show up for school again in the fall, but is homework the answer?