Police Perspectives, Baby Talk, Obesity

Police Perspectives Guest: Rich Morin, Senior Editor at Pew Research Center The Obama Administration was marked by polarized debate over race and policing. The shooting deaths of several black men by white officers led to street protests in many cities and gave birth to the Black Lives Matter movement. Under President Obama, the Department of Justice investigated 25 police departments for misconduct and placed nearly a dozen under sanction. President Trump’s nominee to head the justice department has questioned whether the Obama administration has treated police departments fairly.  What do police themselves think? For one thing, most officers say the much-publicized, fatal encounters between blacks and police have made it harder to do their job. But a survey of police in large and mid-sized cities nationwide also finds a racial divide within law enforcement: black and white officers see the situation differently.  Check out "Behind the Badge" here. Baby Talk is Good for Baby’s Brain Guest: Catherine Laing, PhD, linguist and Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Duke University For some reason, when many of us encounter a baby, some switch seems to trigger in our minds and without thinking about it – without even wanting to really – we start talking differently. “Hi baby. Look how cute you are. Ohh, can you smile? Are you a happy baby?”  It’s silly. It’s annoying even. And it’s surely not helpful in teaching the baby how to speak properly. Then again, maybe it’s just what your baby needs as she’s learning to talk.  The Body Can Heal its Own Arthritis  Guest: Eric Robinson, MD, Physician at Intermountain Health It’s the largest and strongest joint in the human body, but it’s also the most prone to arthritis: the knee. Knee surgery for arthritis is a last resort, and one that may become less and less needed as doctors and researchers perfect ways for the body to use its own resources to heal itself and eliminate osteoarthritis of the knee. The Obesity Epidemic Guest: Dr. Nikhil Dhurandhar, Professor and Chair of the Nutritional Sciences Department, Texas Tech University Health experts have declared obesity a national epidemic affecting one-in-three US adults and one-in-six kids. Programs to address the program often focus on fitness and diet – much like former first-lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move!” campaign which aimed to “end obesity in a generation.” But what if our obsessive focus on obesity as a lifestyle problem misses other causes?  Will A.I. Be the Death of Us? Guest: Matt Johnson, PhD, Department of Computer Science Chair, California State University, East Bay Does the thought of robots that can learn and take over human functions seem scary? A robot to clean your house is one thing, but a robot that can outsmart you, and maybe prevent you from doing something you want to do—that’s something else altogether. In the here-and-now, robots and automation on assembly lines have elbowed out millions of human workers worldwide. Anger over those job losses contributed to President Trump’s election victory. So what are the real opportunities and threats posed by artificial intelligence? Worlds Awaiting: Presidential Biographies for Children Guest: Rachel Wadham, Host of BYUradio’s Worlds Awaiting  Rachel Wadham joins us now in studio. She’s the education and juvenile collections librarian here at BYU and host of Worlds Awaiting on BYUradio. It’s a show dedicated to encouraging a love of reading and discovery in children. It airs Saturdays at 1:30 p.m. Eastern and you can also hear it weekdays at 8:30 p.m. Eastern on BYUradio.