Mass Shootings, Kelsey Nixon, Minecraft for Autistic Kids

Guest: Ari N. Schulman, Editor, New Atlantis: A Journal of Technology and Society The pace of mass shootings is rising rapidly in the US. But what if we’re so busy blaming guns, or mental health, or lack of security in schools that we’re failing to see these mass shootings for what they actually are? And, that’s why they keep happening? Maybe there’s a different way to think about the problem.

Guest: Rebecca de Schweinitz, Associate Professor of History, Brigham Young University, Author of “If We Could Change the World: Young People and America’s Long Struggle for Racial Equality” Much to the surprise of some adults in the United States, teenaged-survivors of the high school shooting in Florida have quickly become prominent activists with their #NeverAgain social media campaign, media appearances and rallies. Many students involved in the #NeverAgain movement are too young to vote. Will they really be able to change gun laws when years of lobbying by activists before them have failed? But in America, there’s a long history of children agitating for – and sometimes ushering in – social and political change.

Guest: Kelsey Nixon, Chef, "Kelsey's Homemade," Author of “Kitchen Confidence” Before Kelsey Nixon had her own show on the Cooking Channel, she was a BYU student making cooking videos about quick meals for college students. Then she was a contestant on season 4 of Food Network Star. She didn’t win Food Network Star, but she impress chef judge Bobby Flay enough to get her own show anyway - "Kelsey’s Essentials," on the Cooking Channel. Then came her cookbook, "Kitchen Confidence," and then another Cooking Channel show called "Kelsey’s Homemade."

Guest: David Prerau, PhD, Author of “Seize the Daylight: The Curious and Contentious Story of Daylight Saving Time” In just a couple weeks, we’ll “spring forward” as Daylight Saving Time begins. The change seems arbitrary, doesn’t it? If it’s for saving energy, we’ve got LED lightbulbs now, so does it really do us any good? And if it’s to maximize daylight for farmers, well we’re not really a farming society anymore. So why do we keep torturing ourselves with this twice yearly clock-changing ritual?

Guest: Marc Edwards, PhD, Professor of Civil Engineering, Virginia Tech, Winner of the 2018 Scientific Freedom and Responsibility Award, American Association for the Advancement of Science 

Guest: Stuart Duncan, Creator, Autcraft Kids and tweens love Minecraft, a video game where players can build endless worlds with virtual building blocks. It’s a little like LEGOs, only creations are made out of pixels instead of plastic. You can build glass houses cantilevered over a river, light your house with torches, build furniture, keep animals, and mine for resources. But Stuart Duncan has found that for kids like his son, who has autism, Minecraft can also teach empathy and even encourage conversation and literacy. Mr. Duncan, who himself has autism, has created an entire Minecraft world just for kids with autism, called Autcraft, and it’s been so popular that he now manages it full-time.