Images of Mary

Guest: Evan Ward, PhD, BYU History Professor  Already, the long-estranged nations have re-opened embassies in each other’s borders and restored travel by air and sea. But there’s a two-billion-dollar hurdle standing in the way of a full-thawing between the US and Cuba.  Two billion dollars is the value of America company assets seized by Fidel Castro’s government in the early 1960s. Texaco, Coca-Cola, Colgate-Palmolive and even Disney claim to have had factories, mills, homes and even rail-lines taken by the Castro regime. Those seizures are a big reason the US cut economic ties with Cuba. And now, for the first time in 50 years, formal talks are underway to resolve the claims. Until there’s a settlement, the US trade embargo can’t be lifted.

Guest: Michael Grandner, PhD, Director of the Sleep and Health Research Program at the University of Arizona and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry in the UA College of Medicine  If you have trouble sleeping, you know about its tolls: the fatigue, the difficulty focusing at work, the stress of constantly running on fumes. But there’s a financial cost, too. A study in the “Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine” found that people who always have trouble sleeping end up spending $3,500 more per year on health care than people who sleep fine. That even takes into account other health problems people might have.

Guest: Alejandro Gugliucci, MD, PhD, Professor of Biochemistry and the Associate Dean for Research at Touro University California  The sweets just keep coming during the holidays. If weight loss is the goal, then reducing calories is key. But, there’s increasing evidence that even if you just swap a dinner roll for that cookie, your body will thank you.

Guest: Suzanne Barber, PhD, AT&T Endowed Professor in Engineering in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Director of the Center for Identity at The University of Texas at Austin  Having your identity stolen can be a nightmare for your finances and credit. It can also become a nightmare for national security. Terrorists depend on stolen or fake passports and other ID information usually obtained fraudulently. At least one of the Paris attackers and six of the 19 terrorists involved in 9/11 are thought to have used fake passports in carrying out the attacks.  Get the free PrivacyCheck browser plug-in here