History and Significance of Early Primaries

History and Significance of Early Primaries

Top of Mind with Julie Rose - Radio Archive, Episode 218 , Segment 1

Episode: Primaries, Gene Editing, Video Games, Weight Discrimination

  • Jan 26, 2016
  • 22:23 mins

Guests: Christ Karpowitz, PhD, Professor of Political Science at BYU; Grant Madson, PhD, Professor of 20th Century American History and Politics  The Iowa Presidential Primary is a week away - next Monday, Feb. 1. Then New Hampshire’s primary on the 9th and South Carolina’s on the 20th. And by then, maybe, we’ll know who among the crowded Republican field of candidates is likely to be crowned the party’s nominee and whether or not Bernie Sanders really is a threat to Democrat Hillary Clinton. But why is tiny Iowa first? Wouldn’t it make sense for a more populous state like California or New York to be first in line?

Other Segments

Gene Editing

16 MINS

Guest: Charis Thompson, PhD, Chancellor’s Professor and Chair of Gender and Women’s Studies at UC Berkeley  Scientists have figured out how to edit DNA. The process is cheap and easy to harness. It’s not super-precise yet, but it’s only a matter of time before a researcher could tweak the genes of an unborn child to make sure he’s not born with a genetic disease that afflicts his parents. Even more remarkable, researchers could go into the DNA of the egg and sperm before they become an embryo and snip out the genetic disease so the resulting child and all of his offspring would be free of it.  We’re talking about genetically-engineering the building blocks of the human race.  Which is amazing. And also terrifying, when you consider how easily we humans seem to slip into eugenic thinking – what would stop us from editing out certain colors of skin or ensuring a certain IQ level?

Guest: Charis Thompson, PhD, Chancellor’s Professor and Chair of Gender and Women’s Studies at UC Berkeley  Scientists have figured out how to edit DNA. The process is cheap and easy to harness. It’s not super-precise yet, but it’s only a matter of time before a researcher could tweak the genes of an unborn child to make sure he’s not born with a genetic disease that afflicts his parents. Even more remarkable, researchers could go into the DNA of the egg and sperm before they become an embryo and snip out the genetic disease so the resulting child and all of his offspring would be free of it.  We’re talking about genetically-engineering the building blocks of the human race.  Which is amazing. And also terrifying, when you consider how easily we humans seem to slip into eugenic thinking – what would stop us from editing out certain colors of skin or ensuring a certain IQ level?