Trump-Era Bipartisanship, Cancer Wellness, See Own Bias

Guest: US Senator Jeff Flake, Republican, Arizona Partisan politics and civility are Top of Mind today as we sit down with Senator Jeff Flake, a Republican from Arizona. He just delivered the keynote address at BYU’s Religious Freedom Annual Review.

Guest: John Librett, PhD, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Health Promotion and Education, University of Utah, Executive Director of the Cancer Wellness House, Salt Lake City People being treated for cancer in the US are increasingly turning to complementary therapies for help with side effects. They may be receiving chemotherapy to treat the cancer, while also getting acupuncture to deal with the nausea. Yoga, massage and meditation are other therapies people with cancer sometimes find helpful. While research to support their effectiveness may be limited, anyone who’s been seriously ill can understand the appeal of trying something a little unorthodox.  Click here to learn more.

Guest: Peter Stoicheff, PhD, President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Saskatchewan, Canada Every spring, in addition to its traditional black-robed graduation ceremony, Canada’s University of Saskatchewan hosts a Graduation Powwow. Bright feathers, ceremonial outfits, drumming, and singing, all in honor of the university’s aboriginal graduates. University President Peter Stoicheff wants the university to incorporate indigenous culture into all of its academics, and not just for native students, but for the benefit of the entire student body. Can an institution like a university, founded on the principles of Western colonial culture, truly represent indigenous philosophy and tradition?

(originally aired April 24, 2017) Guest: Will Shortz, Editor of the New York Times Crossword, Puzzle Master for NPR’s Weekend Edition Sunday The most prestigious of crossword puzzles turns 75 this year. It became a regular feature of the New York Times paper in 1942 after some debate over whether such frivolity was appropriate when America was at war. An editorial in the New York Times had called the puzzles a “sinful waste” of time. Can you imagine parents today being upset to see their child solving a crossword?  If you have ever spent any time agonizing over the notoriously difficult Saturday puzzle, you can thank Will Shortz.

(originally aired April 24, 2017) Guest: Sara Taylor, President and Founder of deepSEE Consulting, Author of “Filter Shift: How Effective People SEE the World” None of us like to think that we’re prejudiced toward others. Many of us go to great lengths not to let our biases show – but when you unintentionally offend someone with a comment you thought was innocuous, you’ve probably veered into a blind spot. Or when a conversation suddenly turns tense, just when you thought things were going great, unconscious bias was probably involved.  Leadership consultant Sara Taylor has developed a strategy for putting up mirrors so we can see into our unconscious blind spots.

(originally aired April 24, 2017) Guest: James Knippling, Associate Professor Educator, English Department, University of Cincinnati Even when we don’t realize it, music does a lot of work in Hollywood films, but the way it does that word has changed over the decades. From sweeping orchestral scores to pop music soundtracks, music makes the movie.