MLK's Legacy, Stroke and Dementia, Public Apologies

Remembering MLK’s Legacy Guest: David Garrow, PhD, Pulitzer Prize-winning Author of “Bearing the Cross” Martin Luther King Jr. is often remembered for the soaring optimism of his “I Have a Dream” speech in the March on Washington. By the time he was assassinated on April 4, 1968, it had been five years since that march. The Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act had both passed in Congress. So, at the point of his assassination, did Dr. King feel his dream had been accomplished? With the 50th anniversary of his assassination, we explore Dr. King’s legacy.  The Secret Cause of Dementia Guest: Steven Greenberg, MD, PhD, Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School Stroke is often thought of as a single event – a big thing that happens to someone’s brain and has lasting effects. But there’s a slower, more progressive form of stroke that entails tiny vessels in the brain leaking blood over time. Researchers now believe this kind of stroke is closely tied to rising rates of dementia in America.   The Art of Public Apology Guest: Ashraf Rushdy, PhD, Professor of English, African American Studies, and Feminist, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Wesleyan University “I’m sorry.” Those words can be powerful. But not always. Take this recent apology by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg on CNN about the misuse of Facebook data by political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica: “This was a major breach of trust and I’m really sorry this happened.” What does that really mean? Is he sorry for the damage the breach may have done to Facebook users or American democracy? Is he mostly just sorry that he and his company have to deal with this?  John Wompas: American Indian, Real Estate Mogul, Swindler (Originally aired on Nov. 10, 2017) Guest: Jenny Hale Pulsipher, PhD, Associate Professor, History, Brigham Young University, Author, “Swindler Sachem: The American Indian Who Sold His Birthright, Dropped Out of Harvard, and Conned the King of England” out in June 2018 from Yale University Press The story of a fascinating American Indian starts about a decade after English settlers and the Wampanoag Indians gathered for a harvest festival we now consider the first Thanksgiving. John Wompas was born around 1637 near what today is Grafton, Massachusetts. He was a Nipmuc Indian, but he didn’t come from any royal lineage in the tribe. His father was not a chief – or “sachem,” as the tribe’s leaders were called. And yet, John Wompas would become prominent in both Nipmuc and English communities. He would study at Harvard. Become the first Indian involved in the transatlantic sea trade. Get rich off of real estate deals. End up in debtor’s prison in London and convince the King to lend him a hand.