ISIS, Dental Flossing, Antiquities Act, End of Privatized Prisons

Assessing the Status of ISIS Guest: John Macfarlane, Adjunct Professor of Political Science and Terrorism Studies at Utah Valley University Daily, it seems, there’s another attack somewhere in the world which ISIS claims to have inspired. More than 50 people were killed this week at a wedding in Turkey by a suicide bomber authorities say may have been just 13 or 14 years old. When President Obama last gave an update on the US strategy to defeat ISIS – which he calls ISIL – the news was good and bad. The President rattled off a list of key defeats in Iraq and Syria, noting that ISIS’ territory has now shrunk to basically two strongholds – Mosul in Iraq and Raqqa in Syria.  Why You Should Keep Flossing Guest: Julie Rezk, DMD, Assistant Professor of Dentistry at Vanderbilt University  There’s a flap going on about flossing. While dentists and health agencies have been recommending we do it regularly for decades, there turns out to be very little research evidence that flossing prevents gum disease or cavities. The proof is so scant that this year, the federal government dropped flossing from its recommended health guidelines.  Which is a great relief to irregular flossers like me. But not so fast. Dentists have come out in force urging people to keep up with the floss.  Antiquities Act Controversy Guest: John Freemuth, PhD, Executive Director for the Cecil D. Andrus Center and Professor of Public Policy at Boise State University This week marks the 100-year anniversary of the National Park Service, so let’s take a moment to consider how spectacular landscapes are preserved. Nearly a quarter of America’s national parks – including the Grand Canyon and Zion – were created first as national monuments through special power given to the president of the United States. Only later, did Congress come along and turn them into National Parks.  The president has this authority through the Antiquities Act of 1906, and it has not been without controversy over the last century. Just today, President Obama used it to des