Why Trade Deals are Dying, Genome Project, Tech Transfer

Why Trade Deals Are Dying Guest: Charles Hankla, PhD, Professor of Political Science and International Political Economy at Georgia State University A major new trade agreement between the US and 11 countries in the Pacific Rim is among the final foreign policy accomplishments President Barack Obama hopes for before he leaves office. It’s called the Trans-Pacific Partnership – or TPP – and it’s not popular. Hillary Clinton opposes it. Donald Trump utters it like a curse word on the campaign trail. There are Democrats and Republicans against it in Congress.  But President Obama hasn’t given up.  Haven’t I Heard This Song Before? Guest: Richard Hass, PhD, Assistant Professor of Psychology at Philadelphia University The saying goes that “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.” But if your imitation becomes a hit song, you’re likely to get sued . . . like when rapper Vanilla Ice ripped off the iconic hook from Queen and David Bowie’s Under Pressure” for his song “Ice Ice Baby.” Vanilla Ice ended up settling out of court with Queen and Bowie for an undisclosed amount and a writing credit on the song. Why Queen and Bowie would want to get credit, for anything associated with Vanilla Ice is another matter.  The question of originality in pop music is a perpetual one. Led Zeppelin was just in court for allegations it lifted the famous opening riff in “Stairway to Heaven” from a song by a band called Spirit. The court dismissed that case. Last year a jury made pop singers Robin Thicke and Pharrell pay more than five million dollars to the estate of Marvin Gaye because their song Blurred Lines bore too close a resemblance to Gaye’s “Got to Give it Up.” Tracing the DNA of Essays Guest: Patrick Madden, PhD, Associate Professor of English at BYU On the subject of imitation vs. inspiration, writers are also influenced by each other and those who came before them. A team here at BYU has developed a way to identify those connections. We’re not talking about plagiarism. This is more about language and style and st