Mother Courage, Death Do Us Part, Beyonce's Police Boycott

Mother Courage, Death Do Us Part, Beyonce's Police Boycott

Top of Mind with Julie Rose

  • Mar 15, 2016 9:00 pm
  • 1:41:55 mins

Why Americans Are So Worked Up (1:01)  Guest: Jacob Hickman, PhD, Professor of Anthropology at BYU  Donald Trump has been criticized for incidents of violence against protesters and the press at a number of his rallies. Trump says he doesn’t condone violence, and blames protesters for being so “dangerous” they need to be controlled or ejected.  We’ve heard recently on Top of Mind how 2015 saw an increase in hate group participation, fueled partly by angry political rhetoric. There was also a rise in anti-government groups like the militia that occupied a wildlife refuge in Oregon for more than a month. Hateful threats against Muslims are increasing, too. Experts say the anger is driven by lots of things—including a sense of economic disenfranchisement, toxic political partisanship and the fear that terrorism is an increasing threat in our communities.  Mother Courage and Her Children (26:23) Guest: Barta Heiner, Founder and Director of BYU’s Bachelor of Fine Arts Acting Program  High school students in the US today have never known a time when American troops were not deployed abroad, when the nightly news was not consumed with grim reports of conflict abroad. Even the experts express dread that there’s no clear end in sight to the wars gripping many parts of the world.   Against this backdrop, a play written in 1939 by German exist Bertolt Brecht has renewed currency. “Mother Courage and Her Children” is considered by some to be the greatest play of the 20th century and maybe the greatest anti-war play of all time. It’s set during the Thirty Years War that took place in the 1600s across Central Europe and centers on a woman – nicknamed Mother Courage – who is so dedicating to profiting from the conflict that she loses everything in the process.  BYU is staging the play on campus this week with Barta Heiner in the lead role.  Death Do Us Part (51:50) Guest: Kyle Bourassa, PhD Candidate in the University of Arizona’s Clinical Psychology Program  Nearly 14 and a half million Americans have been widowed by the death of a spouse, according to Census data. And even though the common marriage vow is “until death do us part,” many people who’ve lost a partner in this life continue to be influenced by them. Psychologists at the University of Arizona found the influence can be both positive and negative. But what’s most surprising is that the association between a deceased and surviving spouse is just as strong as the association between partners who are both living.  Prenatal Stress (1:04:56) Guest: Darlene Kertes, PhD, Assistant Professor in the University of Florida’s Department of Psychology  Being pregnant is stressful. And unborn babies seem to pick up on that – not that they’re prone to making things any better with their kicking and shifting and basically taking over much of mom’s insides. But just how does the stress a mother experiences affect the health of her baby at birth? To gauge this, researchers from the University of Florida went to one of the most stressful places in the world to be a woman: the Democratic Republic of Congo.  Beyonce’s Influence (1:22:35) Guest: Kristin Matthews, Program Coordinator of BYU's American Studies Program  When she performed the new song Formation at the Super Bowl, she ignited heated debate about her overtly political messages and role as a black female icon.

Episode Segments

Why Americans Are So Worked Up

25m

Guest: Jacob Hickman, PhD, Professor of Anthropology at BYU  Donald Trump has been criticized for incidents of violence against protesters and the press at a number of his rallies. Trump says he doesn’t condone violence, and blames protesters for being so “dangerous” they need to be controlled or ejected.  We’ve heard recently on Top of Mind how 2015 saw an increase in hate group participation, fueled partly by angry political rhetoric. There was also a rise in anti-government groups like the militia that occupied a wildlife refuge in Oregon for more than a month. Hateful threats against Muslims are increasing, too. Experts say the anger is driven by lots of things—including a sense of economic disenfranchisement, toxic political partisanship and the fear that terrorism is an increasing threat in our communities.

Guest: Jacob Hickman, PhD, Professor of Anthropology at BYU  Donald Trump has been criticized for incidents of violence against protesters and the press at a number of his rallies. Trump says he doesn’t condone violence, and blames protesters for being so “dangerous” they need to be controlled or ejected.  We’ve heard recently on Top of Mind how 2015 saw an increase in hate group participation, fueled partly by angry political rhetoric. There was also a rise in anti-government groups like the militia that occupied a wildlife refuge in Oregon for more than a month. Hateful threats against Muslims are increasing, too. Experts say the anger is driven by lots of things—including a sense of economic disenfranchisement, toxic political partisanship and the fear that terrorism is an increasing threat in our communities.