Security Warnings, Transportation Revolution, Life Beyond Earth

The Serious Risks of Ignoring Warnings and Leaking Intelligence Guest: Richard A. Clarke, leader of counterterrorism efforts for Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, Co-author of “Warnings: Finding Cassandras to Stop Catastrophes” In the aftermath of the Manchester bombing, British intelligence officials briefly stopped sharing information with their American counterparts because a number of details about the investigation were leaked to US media – including the attacker’s name and detailed photos of the bomb scene. President Trump has called for an investigation into leaks from US Intelligence agencies, although in at least one instance, Trump himself was the source of leaked intelligence to Russian officials in the Oval Office. Counterterrorism expert Richard A. Clarke says the US has now developed a reputation as a leaky boat and will not get the level of detail we need from allies who share intelligence with us. Clarke’s new book, “Warnings” explores a variety of disasters – including the rise of ISIS in Syria – which could have been prevented had we heeded the warning of at least one expert who saw the crisis coming.  Can Everyone Eat Local? Guest: Elliott Campbell, PhD, Associate Professor of Environmental Engineering, UC Merced The “local food” movement has gone beyond a handful of hip, progressive towns to touch nearly every city in America. Farmer’s markets and locally-grown produce are fairly easy to find these days. But even the most devoted locavores have to get some of their diet from beyond the 50-mile radius generally considered the boundary of “local.”  If one day all Americans decided they wanted to eat only local food, would anybody starve? University of California-Merced’s Elliott Campbell analyzed food production and population trends across the country and found that, surprisingly, about 90 percent of the country could be fed by food grown nearby.  A Real Transportation Revolution Requires Ride-Sharing Guest: Lew Fulton, Co-Director at the Sustainable Transportation Energy Pathways Program, UC Davis Institute of Transportation Studies Driverless cars are the future, judging by the billions of dollars being invested in them, and electric cars are well on their way to American roads. It seems that combining the two movements would guarantee cleaner air and fewer traffic jams, but, according to an analysis by the Institute of Transportation Studies, the only way to get to that future is by adding a third piece to the puzzle—ride sharing.  Apple Seed Guest: Same Payne, Host of BYUradio’s “The Apple Seed” America’s Troubled Relationship with its Police Guest: Samuel Walker, PhD, Emeritus Professor of Criminal Justice, University of Nebraska at Omaha Jury selection is underway in the trial of the Minnesota police officer who fatally shot Philando Castile last summer. Castile’s death was streamed on Facebook Live by his girlfriend and fueled the ongoing national debate over how police use deadly force and how they treat African Americans.  Samuel Walker explains the roots of America’s often fraught relationship with the police. Europa’s Ocean Hints at Its Habitability Guest: Edward Garnero, PhD, Professor of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University Astronomers last week dug into a trove of new photos and up-close data about Jupiter and its intense, swirling atmosphere. A NASA spacecraft called Juno will continue circling Jupiter until next February, when it will steer itself straight into the gassy giant and burn up. Why the suicide mission? Because NASA doesn’t want to risk Juno crashing into Europa – which is one of Jupiter’s moons and the place in all the solar system now believed to have the best chance of extraterrestrial life. If any bacteria or spores from Earth are still alive on the Juno spacecraft and end up on Europa, “we could possibly contaminate an entire alien ecosystem,” says one NASA scientist. A close look into what makes that moon such a good candidate for sustaining life. Click here for a video from NASA explaining why Europa has such a good chance of life and why it has liquid water, even though it's so far from the sun.