EP 243 5G–Whizz!!

EP 243 5G–Whizz!!

http://www.aei.org/publication/5g-wireless-when-it-makes-sense-to-regulate/ It’s on its way. The fifth generation of wireless technology, called 5G, promises to grow the world’s economic output, add millions of new jobs and create breakthroughs in driver less cars, smart homes and even remote surgery sure to change our lives in ways we cannot yet fully imagine. Can you fathom speeds that …

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EP 242 The Next American City

EP 242 The Next American City

https://www.amazon.com/Next-American-City-Promise-Midsize/dp/039957509X It seems as if midsize cities in America are having their moment.  While the nation’s largest metro areas lost residents to smaller ones for the first time since the Great Recession, the new middle is thriving.  And this according to Mick Cornett, the four term mayor of Oklahoma City, who has presided over a …

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EP 241 Junk Food Ads Target Black and Hispanic Kids

EP 241 Junk Food Ads Target Black and Hispanic Kids

http://uconnruddcenter.org/faculty-and-staff-jennifer-harris  Black and Hispanic children see TV ads for sugary drinks, unhealthy snacks, and fast foods far more than anything else and it’s no accident.  They are targeted by the food companies that know the addictive qualities of their ‘food products’. According to the latest study by the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity …

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EP 240 America’s Baby Bust

EP 240 America’s Baby Bust

http://www.aei.org/press/birth-rates-are-declining-in-america-and-a-major-recovery-seems-unlikely/ Americans are having fewer and fewer babies.  In fact, we are not having enough babies simply to replace ourselves.  The total fertility rate has been declining for seven years and last year represented the biggest drop in recent history. There are so many factors involved–cultural and economic–and we explore them in this podcast.  Perhaps, …

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EP 239 How America Helped Crash the World Economy and Then Save It

EP 239 How America Helped Crash the World Economy and Then Save It

https://www.amazon.com/Crashed-Decade-Financial-Crises-Changed/dp/0670024937 While this podcast has done a number of episodes on the financial crisis over a decade ago, because its effects are still felt on our politics today, none of our previous episodes explained the crisis in such global terms as the one you will hear today.  Adam Tooze, author of ‘Crashed: How a Decade …

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EP 238 American Fix: Inside the Addiction Crisis

EP 238 American Fix: Inside the Addiction Crisis

https://ryanhampton.org/american-fix/ The impact of the opioid epidemic in America has twin tentacles in the legal dispensing of prescription painkillers and the the cheap and illegal flow of heroin, as well as synthetics, like fentanyl, into this country.  Underlying the use of these drugs is a country awash in emotional pain, often many years in the …

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EP 237 Can America Keep Social Security and Medicare from Going Broke?

EP 237 Can America Keep Social Security and Medicare from Going Broke?

https://www.aei.org/scholar/james-c-capretta/  America, the country, has amassed more debt than any nation in history.  How that reality isn’t cause for screaming front pages headlines daily is something of a mystery, except for the ‘full faith and confidence’ the world has in the creativity of the American economy to grow over time and correct its imbalance.  How …

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EP 236 False Information Can Travel as Fast As Viruses: Ask the Anti-Vax Movement

EP 236 False Information Can Travel as Fast As Viruses: Ask the Anti-Vax Movement

https://www.voicesforvaccines.org/  Vaccines have literally erased some diseases from the face of the earth, but in most cases they can reoccur if populations ignore the concept of ‘herd immunity’ and begin to doubt their value.  It turns out that the very success of these immunizations makes it harder to see their value to some–‘what me worry’? …

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EP 235 Scientific Fact: Pop Songs Have Become Angrier and Sadder and That’s No Accident

EP 235 Scientific Fact: Pop Songs Have Become Angrier and Sadder and That’s No Accident

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-01/ltu-cas012419.php As our society has gotten angrier and more frustrated, our music has reflected that as the soundtrack of our discontent.  Researchers have analyzed lyrics in best selling songs from the 1950’s to 2016 and found that expressions of anger and sadness have increased, while words about joy have dropped.  The study analyzed the lyrics …

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EP 234 What’s Wrong With Jury Trials?

EP 234 What’s Wrong With Jury Trials?

https://www.thejurycrisis.com/ The concept of a jury of our peers is one of the most sacrosanct in our American system of justice.  Yet, it’s astonishing how few trials ever get to a jury in the first place. And when they do, you may be rocked by what you learn about the process of deliberation in the …

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