New Hampshire, Life of a Mayor, Sustainable Tourism, SE Asia

New Hampshire Primary Analysis (1:02) Guest: Jeremy Pope, PhD, Professor of Political Science at BYU  Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders – two outsider candidates running against the established system –won big in New Hampshire’s primary. Marco Rubio and Hillary Clinton who both left Iowa with considerable strength in their respective Republican and Democratic fields are now back on their heels. And rather than winnowing the field, New Hampshire voters have left the race deeply unsettled.  Life of a Mayor (13:47) Guest: John Curtis, Mayor of Provo since January 2010  Mayors of mid-sized cities are the politicians who are really on the front lines of American life. They’re the keepers of our communities, fielding our complaints about potholes and police presence and places to shop. The mayors of mid-sized cities grapple with bringing historic downtown areas back to life, coaxing retailers into the city limits so we benefit from those sales taxes and convincing us to give our cars a break in favor of transit.  All of those challenges are true in the city where BYUradio is located – Provo, Utah. By many counts, Provo’s doing better than a lot of other cities – unemployment for the region is 2.7% - almost half the national rate. Provo’s consistently ranks high on lists of places to get a job, start a business or raise a family. Provo’s Mayor John Curtis can’t take credit for all of that, but after 6 years in office, he’s learned a thing or two about running a mid-sized city.  Sustainable Tourism (39:12) Guest: Kelly Bricker, PhD, Professor and Chair of the Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism at the University of Utah  It’s the middle of February, and people tired of the cold and snow begin to think about spring break and summer vacation. If you can afford it, planning a visit to a tropical island just might pull you out of the winter doldrums. There’s a lot to consider when booking that vacation: Where do you really want to go? How much can you spend? And what kind of impact your visit will make on the destination you choose? Ok, there probably aren’t a lot of people who ask themselves that last question, but maybe more people should. And not just for the benefit of that local economy that relies on tourism.  Southest Asia Economy (51:39) Guest: Pisan Manawapat, Ambassador of Thailand to the United States  Every day we hear news about China’s growth or, lately, its economic woes. In the US, we feel the effects of what happens on the other side of the world in China. Consider, then, the impact that China has on its neighbors in Southeast Asia. Ten of those smaller countries, including Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore, participate in a cooperative called the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN formed in 1967 to foster greater economic and political cooperation between member nations and to help themselves compete better with world powers in the region and across the globe.  Together, these countries now make up the world’s seventh largest economy. And on December 31, 2015 ASEAN upped the economic ante by forming an alliance called the ASEAN Economic Community, or AEC, wherein the members of ASEAN agreed to work more seamlessly to reduce tariffs, open borders for workers and encourage investment in the region.  Underground in Berlin (1:09:38) Guest: Hermann Simon, Director of the New Synagogue Berlin – Centrum Judaicum Foundation  Here’s an incredible story – well, two stories, really. One is of a young woman, barely out of her teens, orphaned and Jewish in Berlin at the height of World War II. She went underground to avoid the Nazis, refusing to wear the yellow star that would blow her cover. Without the ability to work legally in Nazi Germany, she relied on the mercy of people who often exploited her.  Marie Jalowicz Simon’s story of survival is captivating and it nearly went with her to the grave. She didn’t keep a journal – that would have been dangerous. She didn’t speak of her underground years after the war - not to the philosophy students she taught at university - not even to her son.   Only in the last year of her life, did that son, Hermann Simon, convince her to talk.  And that’s the second incredible story here: How Hermann Simon was finally able to convince his mother to tell the story which is now published – exactly as she told it – as a book titled, “Underground in Berlin: A Young Woman’s Extraordinary Tale of Survival in the Heart of Nazi Germany.”