US Politics, Weaponized Insects, UN Peacekeeping, Carbonated Ice Cream

Why are US Politics So Ugly Right Now? Guests: Chris Karpowitz, PhD, Professor, Political Science, BYU; Grant Madsen, PhD, Professor, BYU “Rock Bottom” is how a number of Republican Senators referred to the bitter battle to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. Why did it get so ugly? Is this a new level of partisanship? And what might this mean for the mid-term elections coming up in just a few weeks? How to Turn Bugs into Weapons Guest: Jeffrey Lockwood, PhD, Professor of Natural Sciences and Humanities, University of Wyoming Entomological warfare. That’s a fancy word to describe using bugs as weapons. Pits full of sheep lice, swarms of diseased fleas, BEE BOMBS? exploding wasp nests. Since humans first started fighting with each other, they’ve come up with some pretty strange and awful ways to weaponize insects. But this isn’t ancient history. America had a program during the Cold War to use yellow-fever-infected mosquitoes against our enemies. The threat of a biological attack using insects to spread disease or destroy crops remains today. Keeping the Peace with Guns: Conflict in the Central African Republic Guest: Louisa Lombard, PhD, Assistant Professor, Anthropology, Yale University In fourteen fractured countries spanning four regions of the globe, thousands of UN peacekeepers wearing blue helmets are monitoring elections, protecting civilians from violence and aiding international efforts to end conflict. But how, exactly, do they do that? And how effective are they? Carbonated Cartons of Ice Cream (Originally aired August 20, 2018) Guests: Michael Dunn, PhD, Professor, Food Science, BYU; Mike Alder, Director, Technology Transfer Office, BYU Ice cream is good and soda is good. Why not combine the two into carbonated ice cream? Not an ice cream float in a glass of soda, but a carton of ice cream you eat with a spoon that tastes like cherry cola or orange cream and gives you that carbonated tingle on your tongue. BYU food science professor Michael Dunn has developed spoonable carbonated ice cream and he’s in studio to explain how it works. How Not to Die Cookbook (Originally aired December 19, 2017) Guest: Michael Greger, MD, Author, “The How Not to Die Cookbook” This is the season when our best intentions to cut down on fat and sugar go out the window. But, there might be a few sneaky ways to work healthier fare into Christmas brunch or the New Year’s party spread.  Why We Should Listen to Bees (Originally aired June 7, 2018) Guest: Mark Winston, PhD, Professor and Senior Fellow, Simon Fraser University's Center for Dialogue, Professor of Biological Sciences If you encountered a buzzing swarm of bees, your first reaction might be to back away slowly. But poet Renée Sarojini Saklikar (Sair-oh-jeenee Sack-lick-ar) and biologist Mark Winston make the case in their book for “listening to bees” more closely. Bees can teach us quite a bit about being better humans.