Have you had reason to visit an urgent care center for a medical service such as the flu, asthma or a sprain? You’re certainly not alone  It seems that they are popping up on every main street and retail cluster. We’re talking about an urgent care center. We wanted to find out why this phenomenon represents such a growing sector of the medical delivery system so we went to the Chief Executive Office of the Urgent Care Association, Laurel Stoimenoff, to find out.  The numbers are staggering. It’s an $18 billion industry that is expected to grow 5.8% annually. Let’s go deep on the increasing importance of these centers to our health and well being.

https://www.ucaoa.org/

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Jarl Jensen, a writer and inventor who, at 16 sixteen years of age, contributed with his father to a successful patent that led to the launch of a wound care company called Euromed.  As a result, he has been successful the whole of his adult life and can step back and assess how the economic fortunes of others are affected by many forces including Federal Reserve policy ands technological innovation. The basis of this episode is his work of fiction, ‘Optimizing America’, which considers real world issues affecting all of us.

https://www.amazon.com/Jarl-Jensen/e/B0781XQV4C

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Now, we offer another perspective on the financial crisis of 2008 from Attorney John Dellaportas.  He is the co-chair of Kelley Drye’s Securities Litigation and Enforcement practice. He defends clients in shareholder class action suits and in civil enforcement proceedings brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission

.https://www.kelleydrye.com/Our-People/John-Dellaportas

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Now how did that happen?  It was then President George W. Bush, who asked that question of his Treasury Secretary, Henry Paulson. So, if he didn’t know the financial collapse was coming, how could you have known?  We just commemorated the 10th anniversary of the collapse of the investment firm Bear Stearns an event that presaged the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. We go back with two financial experts to re-visit what went wrong and whether it could happen again.  In that process, we explore the remedies put in place at the time and whether they should provide any comfort that the steady growth of the economy since that time is real or built on another bubble ready to burst. In this episode, we are joined by Edward Pinto, who was chief credit officer for Fannie Mae in the 1980’s and no co-directs the American Enterprise Institute’s Center on Housing Markets and Finance.  He is also a former FDIC and Federal Reserve economist.

http://www.aei.org/

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

About a decade ago, it was believed that the generation after generation growth in cigarette smoking might come to an end.  Young people were beneficiaries of much scientifically valid information about its harmful effects and not bombarded with marketing by big tobacco.  Then, e-cigarettes came along. The goal espoused by many in the public health field was to use them as a cessation device to wean adult smokers off some of the more harmful effects of tobacco.  And then, the tobacco companies and new manufacturers realized that they could be used for the purpose of re-introducing a form of smoking to young people, offering the companies new customers going forward.  Congress and the FDA are now trying to get into the act to make the e-cigarette experience less pleasurable, but is it too late? We discuss the topic with Linda Richter, Phd., from the Center on Addiction.

GET MORE INFORMATION HERE

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

It depends who you talk to.  America dropped out of the Obama Administration derived nuclear freeze pact with Iran and tougher sanctions have been placed on Iran unilaterally by America.  And while many of the partners to the pact are still signed on, questions are emerging about their continuing willingness to trade with Iran. All of this is putting a great economic pinch on the Iranian regime, and its people, and America is being accused of causing this economic uncertainty and fomenting unrest.  Members of the Trump Administration and inner circle have given mixed signals about what they would like to see next in Iran.How will this all play out? We discuss this vital subject with Raheel Raza, a Canadian citizen who is a founding member of the Muslim Reformer Movement and an international human rights activist.

PLEASE CHECK OUT THEIR WEBSITE

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

We might imagine that circumcision is common practice in America, if not across the globe.  The truth of the matter is that those rates are falling in our country and are only 1 percent in Europe.  Worldwide, about one in three men is circumcised. So, we explore whether the practice is considered medically necessary and what the arguments are against it.  Anthony Losquadro, founder and director of Intaction (intaction.org), does not feel that the intact body, as he describes it, should be altered.  It’s a very interesting and serious discussion. Take a listen.

CHECK OUT THEIR WEBSITE

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Dr. Paul Levinson, of Fordham University, joins Larry and a live audience to discuss his concerns about the fake news industry and the ability to decipher real ‘fake news’ from fake ‘fake news’.  Sadly, we are there given our President’s masterful ability to obfuscate on this topic. It’s a compelling listen. The podcast was recorded on November 7, 2018 at the Prospect Public Library in Connecticut.  Funding provided by The Connecticut Humanities. Jon Krofssik engineered the podcast.

CHECK OUT HIS BOOKS HERE

CHECK OUT THE PROSPECT LIBRARY EVENTS

CHECK OUT THE GREAT WORK OF THE CONNECTICUT HUMANITIES

Podcast: Play in new window | Download