Worlds Awaiting: Outdoor Play and Literacy

Guest: Phil Windley, PhD, Adjunct Professor, Computer Science, and Enterprise Architect for the Office of the CIO, BYU “The federal government will stop micromanaging the Internet.” That’s the promise made late last week by Ajit Pai, whom President Trump appointed to lead the Federal Communications Commission. Pai has proposed eliminating regulations passed by the Obama Administration in 2015 that prohibit internet service providers like Comcast and Verizon from picking and choosing who gets fast speeds online and who doesn’t. The FCC is expected approve Pai’s proposal in two and a half weeks.  If you’ve seen the words “net neutrality” pop up anywhere in your social media feeds over the last week, you know how heated this debate is. So let’s get some explanation on what it is and why it matters.

Guest: Tracie Afifi, PhD, Associate Professor of Community Health Sciences and Leader of the Childhood Maltreatment Research Team, University of Manitoba To spank or not to spank? Using any kind of physical punishment on a child is illegal in more than 50 countries. But not here in the US. And surveys find the majority of Americans agree that a child sometimes needs “a good hard spanking.”  But researchers who study the effects of spanking on children say the debate should be over. In fact, University of Manitoba professor Tracie Afifi’s latest paper on the topic argues that being spanked as a child should be considered an “adverse childhood experience” – on par with being abused or neglected as a kid.

Guest: Rebecca Bendick, Professor, Geo-Sciences, University of Montana There are certain places in the world that are prone to earthquakes. We're sitting on a fault line right here at BYU that scientists say will probably eventually cause a large earthquake. But predicting when, where and how large, an earthquake will be, is impossible, according to the US Geological Survey. Scientists keep looking for the secret. Imagine how much life could be saved if earthquake prediction were possible? Recently University of Montana geo-scientist Rebecca Bendick caused a stir with a paper that suggests quirks in the way the Earth spins on its axis could provide a heads-up that some big tremors are coming.

Guest: Michael Bown, MBA, Associate Professor, Construction and Facilities Management, BYU If you live in a part of the country that’s had unseasonably warm weather this fall, you might get caught off guard when winter finally rolls in. It’s time now, before snow piles up and temperatures plunge, to do some preventative home maintenance. After all, your home is probably your greatest financial asset. Let's take a minute to remind ourselves what our homes need to be ready for winter.

Guest: Sara DeWitt, Vice President of PBS KIDS Digital If your kids spent some time watching a show or playing a game on a screen of some sort this morning while you were trying to get everyone out the door, you can stop beating yourself up about it. We’ve been conditioned to fear digital devices as mindless, addictive and all around terrible for our kids. But what if that fear is keeping you from harnessing the positive potential of these devices for your kids?