Burkini Bans, Divorce, Nordic Theory, Juan Gabriel

Burkini Bans, Divorce, Nordic Theory, Juan Gabriel

Top of Mind with Julie Rose

  • Aug 30, 2016 11:00 pm
  • 1:41:31 mins

Burkini Bans and the Law Guest: Elizabeth Clark, JD, Associate Director of the International Center for Law and Religion at BYU Until a French court intervened last week, dozens of cities and towns in France had banned full-body bathing suits called “burkinis” on public beaches. Many of these beaches allow topless sunbathing, but women covered head-to-toe were the ones being cited by police for offending public sensibilities. The burkini bans laws typically refer to them as inappropriate displays of religious affiliation and a risk to public order at a time when France has been the target of terror attacks. Divorce Is Causing More Americans to Stay Put Guest: Thomas Cooke, PhD, Geography Professor at the University of Connecticut Over the last fifty years, Americans have done a lot less moving from one state to another – about half as much, in fact. That’s a big decline and one that demographers have puzzled over. Is the economy limiting people’s willingness to move? Is it the aging baby boomers who hit retirement and settle in? The Nordic Theory of Everything Guest: Anu Partanen, Finnish Journalist and Author of “The Nordic Theory of Everything: In Search of a Better Life” For many Americans, the idea of being truly free includes being free from too much government intervention in our lives. We abhor the “nanny state” and recoil at policy recommendations that are “socialist.” But what if people who live in countries with big governments that provide free health care, education and such, are actually more free than we are? Focus on Bringing Kids Up to Grade Level Holds High Achievers Back Guest: Jonathan Plucker, PhD, Education Policy Scholar and Professor of Talent Development at Johns Hopkins University More than a decade of education policies in the US have been focused at making sure kids perform at their grade level. We want to leave “No Child Left Behind,” ensure that “Every Student Succeeds.” There’s been little or no focus on what’s happening at the other end of the spectrum – how many kids are performing beyond their own grade level? How many millions of dollars are being spent to teach children things they already know?  The Soundtrack for Generations of Mexican Lives Guest: Ignacio Garcia, PhD, Professor of Latin American and Chicano History at BYU Mexico’s most prolific and popular singer-songwriter died on Sunday of a heart attack. “One of the greatest musical icons of our country,” is what the Mexican president tweeted about the passing of Juan Gabriel. TV stations abandoned regular programming for wall-to-wall coverage of the pop star when news broke of his death. Juan Gabriel was 66 at his death. He was as flamboyant performer who wrote aching love songs and catchy mega-hits. The Most Important Thing a Teen Can Learn in School Guest: David Yeager, PhD, Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin Here’s the thing about teenagers – at that age everything is such a big deal. Especially the social stuff. The popular kid turns you down for the dance and you’re convinced no one will ever love you. It’s so nerve-wracking to strike up a casual conversation with someone you don’t know well and suddenly you’re sure that you’ll always be painfully shy and have to live as a hermit. There might be a way to inoculate teenagers against the long-term effects of such adolescent angst. It has to do with training young people to understand that how they are today is not how they’ll always be.