Contested Conventions

Guest: Margaret Gilmore, Senior Associate Fellow with Royal United Services Institute  The investigation into terror attacks in Belgium widened over the weekend to Italy where police arrested a suspect thought to have provided false identification documents to the Islamic State militants, allowing them to evade authorities while plotting attacks in Belgium and France.  A picture is emerging of missed opportunities and poor communication between security agencies as the attackers moved throughout Europe. At least one of the brothers who blew himself up in the Brussels attack had been in Turkey last summer trying to cross over into Syria to join Islamist militants. Turkish authorities stopped him and deported him to the Netherlands. Belgian officials knew about this, but somehow the would-be suicide bomber was able to get back into Belgium and become involved in the terrorist plot.

Guest: Michael Kofler, Ph.D, Assistant Professor and Director of Children’s Learning Clinic at Florida State University  One out of every ten kids in the US today has been diagnosed with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, according to CDC data. Which means there’s usually at least one in every classroom, struggling to sit still, making it a challenge for the teacher trying to maintain order.  Researchers at the Children’s Learning Clinic at Florida State University have uncovered new insight into just why those kids fidget so much and how it might be beneficial to let them keep doing it when working through complex problems.

Guest: Ghada Ahmed, Researcher with the Duke University Center on Globalization, Governance & Competitiveness  Embattled Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad is celebrating a military victory – his forces regained control of the ancient city of Palmyra from the so-called Islamic State which took the city last summer. Progress in a brutal war like this is often measured in territory: who controls which cities, which roads. But gaining power in Syria really boils down to who controls the oil, the water and the bread.

Guest: Rod Gustafson, Film Reviewer at ParentPreviews.com  We discuss “Batman vs. Superman” and “My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2.”

Guests: Steven Graves, Ph.D, Professor of Biochemistry at BYU; Mike Alder, BYU’s Technology Transfer Office