Ep. 36 – The Challenges of Being a Social Media Star
The road to social media stardom is difficult and rarely pays well. Brooke Erin Duffy shares stories of success and offers advice and a warning for those looking to make it big.
The Practicalities of Presidential Prosecution
Brian C. Kalt— Practicalities As they were designing the presidency, the delegates at the Constitutional Convention in 1787 discussed hypothetical criminal presidents. In recent decades—the era of the independent counsel—things have gotten less hypothetical, with serious investigations affecting Presidents Nixon, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, and Bush. Nixon and Clinton came closest
What is Religion?
Richard Holloway— As with many useful words, symbol comes from Greek. It means to bring together things that had come apart, the way you might glue the bits of a broken plate together. Then a symbol became an object that stood for or represented something else. It still had the idea of
Ep. 16 – The Importance of a Good Night’s Sleep
Everyone could use more sleep. Global sleep expert Dr. Meir Kryger has tips for doing just that along with an explanation of what happens to a body that doesn’t get enough sleep.
Equal Rights in President Donald Trump’s America
Richard D. Brown— “We are a nation founded on the truth that all of us are created equal,” President Trump just declared. “We are equal,” he said, “in the eyes of our creator, we are equal under the law, and we are equal under our Constitution.” These words are true.
Ep. 23 – How Retailers Strip Your Privacy
Your personal data isn’t safe even when you shop offline. Retailers are tracking your behavior and evaluating your value as a customer in physical stores. Privacy expert and author Joseph Turow discusses the ways they are doing this and what you can do to protect your privacy.
The Paleo Diet in Ancient Civilization
James C. Scott— I am neither an advocate nor a practitioner of the Paleo diet. I love bread, pasta, butter, and yogurt far too much to forsake them altogether. On the other hand, I have made an effort to understand the dietary consequences of “civilization,” of the food ways typical
The Historical Assault on the Language of the Deaf
Gerald Shea— Noam Chomsky, giving a lecture in Chicago in 1965, mistakenly defined language as “a specific sound-to-meaning correspondence.” When asked where this left the signed languages of the Deaf, Chomsky revised his definition on the spot, calling language a specific signal to meaning correspondence. The distinction was important, for it was
Ep. 24 – The Science and Mystery of Solar Eclipses
Solar eclipses have fascinated us since the beginning of human existence. Astronomer and anthropologist Anthony Aveni discusses the cultural history of eclipses, the science behind them, and gives some tips for watching two upcoming US total solar eclipses.