EP 92 HAVE YOU CAUGHT THE LAZINESS EPIDEMIC?
It’s going around. And it seems to have caught up with people of all ages. And in Britain, where the population shares medical expenses, there is grave concern about its impact on society as the amount of time exercising plummets and the pounds abound. Naveed Sattar, a professor of metabolic medicine, at the University of Glasgow joins us to discuss whether we’re entertaining ourselves to death and what we, as individuals must do to avoid the many temptations of our sedentary lifestyle.
https://www.amazon.com/ABC-Obesity-Naveed-Sattar/dp/140513674X
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It’s a painful reality but we have seen corporate behemoths taken down by upstarts because they failed to focus on the changes in society and stuck to their outdated processes, often because they had so much invested in them. (Read: Kodak 
If you want to go back to when America started hot wars in a manner at odds with the Constitution a good place to start might be Vietnam, though some would go back to Korea. This podcast frames the issue of war powers by way of the Gulf of Tonkin resolution, as Americans went off to fight and die under the most flimsy of pretenses. John White, author of ‘The Gulf of Tonlin Events-Fifty Years Later: A Footnote to the History of the Vietnam War’, describes it as a false flag operation and explains how he ended up revealing the lies that served as justification for a war in which 58,000 American soldiers died. It’s a compelling, and disheartening, story. Will Congress ever re-assert its proper role in the process? We discuss.
From racially insensitive photo filters to ride hailing apps that quietly track user movements, the digital tools and products that define our lives today often include cultural biases. According to Sara Wachter-Boettcher many of these design failures can be traced to the cultural uniformity of the companies behind our modern digital landscape. How easy is it to detect biases in our on-line world and what are the impacts to our lives? We discuss these issues with Sara, author of ‘Technically Wrong: Sexist Apps, Biased Algorithms, and Other Threats of Toxic Tech’ on this episode.
The NBA champion Golden State Warriors are considered a dynasty in the making as well as a well-run business, successful in ways far beyond Steph Curry’s three pointers and Draymond Green’s suffocating defense. With Silicon Valley venture capitalist, Joe Lacob, at the helm, they recognize that they are ‘a sports, media and technology entity’. They use data, science and technology in new ways to enhance the players’ efficiency, improve the fan experience and fatten the bottom line. Some years ago we learned about baseball’s ‘Moneyball’ and now just down the road from the Oakland Athletics we get introduced to the concept of ‘Betaball: How Silicon Valley and Science Built One of the Greatest Basketball Teams in History’. Author Erik Malinowski is our guest.
Dictatorships flourish in place where truth is subjective and where the institutions meant to put a check on power, like the press and the courts, are demeaned and undermined. It’s beginning to sound eerily familiar to a place we all care about. Dr. Brian Klaas delves into the worsening state of democracies around the world and the growing concern that the beacon of freedom, America in the Trump era, is taking on characteristics of those regimes. In this podcast, we look at how America’s interest in promoting democracy around the world is on the wane just as our own is being subverted from within. And who gains from these trends. Finally, Dr. Klaas tells us the four scenarios he’s sees for America in 2020. Make certain you stay for his conclusions.
Dr. Tracey Wilen has has had a distinguished career as a researcher and speaker on the impact of technology on society, work and careers. She has worked at Apple, HP and Cisco Systems and was a visiting scholar at Stanford University. Her latest book, ‘Digital Disruption: The Future of Work, Skills, Leadership, Education, Careers in a Digital World’, offers compelling insights into the the digital disruption that is occurring and will have an impact on your life. Make certain to listen next to her ten disruptive predictions for the year ahead.
How often have you heard that statement in recent years? There’s no doubt that our religious beliefs and practices have been, and still are, undergoing radical transformation. Are you still practicing the faith of your birthright? Do you attend conventional services? Are you involved in a religiously complex relationship? You’re not alone. Kenneth Woodward, a great scholar of religion, says we are in ‘the most volatile religious period in American history’ and it’s having an impact on everything, including our politics. We share his insights from the book, ‘Getting Religion’.
Do you think the Constitution is a living, breathing document meant to adapt to the times or one embedded in stone with principles that are sacrosanct and not malleable? It’s an age old question. One of the afherents of the latter interpretation of the Constitution, Ilan Wurman, joins us for a thoughtful discussion of what that means and how, in his view, progressives, libertarians and conservatives can claim the mantle of originalism. And as the conversation goes on we tie it to the 2nd Amendment and whether gun laws can be changed and still adhere to originalist doctrine. Get your thinking caps on and enjoy this nuanced exchange
Did you hear about the New York City man who works, lives, eats, sleeps and exists in one building in the concrete jungle? It’s true. He never has to leave that environment because he has everything he needs under one roof. Or does he? While most of us like to get outside, at least once in a while, what have we done to the natural environments surrounding us?