Gerrymandering, Resilience, Banana Fungus

Religious Freedom and LGBT Rights Back at the US Supreme Court Guest: Luke Goodrich, Vice President and Senior Counsel, Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, author of “Free to Believe: The Battle Over Religious Liberty in America” The US Supreme Court heard arguments this week in what could settling a long-running dispute in America over whether using taxpayer dollars for tuition at religious schools violates the separation of church and state. Last fall, we talked about the significance of that case on the Supreme Court’s docket with Luke Goodrich, Deputy General Counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. At the time of our conversation, the Supreme Court had just heard a case that strikes at the heart of the conflict between religious freedom and LGBT rights. That’s the case we talked about first. The Supreme Court has yet to issue a ruling on either. (Originally aired 10/23/19) U.S. Supreme Court Leaves Gerrymandering Prevention to the States Guest: Joshua Douglas, Professor of Law, University of Kentucky New Jersey’s governor just signed a bill into law this week that will make the state’s district voting maps easily available online. The hope is that if the public has better access to these maps, it will discourage lawmakers from excessive gerrymandering –that’s when politicians draw district boundaries to favor their own party. It’s legal, but public outcry and a series of court rulings in recent years have begun to demand the lines be drawn in a less self-serving way. A series of court rulings in recent years have drawing voting maps in favor of Democrats or Republicans. (Originally aired 9/24/2019) Research Shows How Ostracism Can Lead People to Extremism  Guest: Andrew Hales, postdoctoral researcher, University of Virginia Being excluded never feels good. It didn’t feel good as a kid on the playground and, it doesn’t feel good when you get left out of a lunch with coworkers or old friends. The question is, so what? Does being ostracized lead people to behave in worrisome ways? Sure, parents,