Election Recounts, Universal Health Care, Cat Wars

Election Recounts, Fraud and Electoral Voters Guest: Douglas Spencer, JD, PhD, Professor of Election Law and Public Policy, University of Connecticut You’ve likely heard that Green Party candidate Jill Stein has succeeded in getting a recount of presidential votes in Wisconsin and is pushing for Pennsylvania and Michigan to follow suit. You’ve certainly also heard that Hillary Clinton got millions more votes than Donald Trump and that Trump thinks that’s only because millions of people voted illegally. And you’ve probably seen the petitions circulating online that urge the Electoral College to buck tradition and pick someone other than Trump. So, is there really a possibility that, come January 20, Donald Trump will not be the one up on the inaugural stage raising his right hand to take the oath of office?  Why the US Still Doesn’t Have Universal Healthcare Guest: Timothy Callaghan, PhD, Assistant Professor in the School of Public Health, Texas A&M Since the election, President-elect Donald Trump has softened his stance on the Affordable Care Act. Rather than repeal Obamacare outright, Trump has indicated there are provisions he’d like to keep and that fixing the law might be the better approach. But the person he has nominated to head the Department of Health and Human Services – Georgia Congressman Tom Price – has been leading the charge to ditch the Affordable Care Act completely. So, it’s unclear what the US healthcare system will look like under President Trump, but we’re definitely not moving any closer to the universal healthcare system most other wealthy nations have. And why is that? Why does America stand virtually alone in its resistance to a system where the government pays for our health care through taxpayer dollars?  Virtual Healthcare Saves Lives Guest: Gavin Helton, MD, Medical Director of Ambulatory Medicine, Mercy Virtual Healthcare In the early days of America, doctors used to make house calls. Then, medicine became more formal and we got used to seeking care in a hospital or clinic. But there’s a hospital in Missouri called Mercy that would like to see fewer patients showing up in person. They think they can save money and improve patient health by treating patients in their own homes via technology.  Apple Seed Guest: Sam Payne, Host of BYUradio’s “The Apple Seed” Sam Payne joins us in the studio to share tales of tellers and stories. “Cat Wars” Guest: Peter Marra, PhD, Head of the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center, Co-Author of “Cat Wars” So, your outdoor cat left a dead bird at your door. Gross, right? But many biologists say the occasional dead gift from your cat is an indication of a bigger problem: They says wild and outdoor cats are a threat to wild bird species, and they carry diseases that are harmful to humans, too.  The Lost Art of Mapmaking Guest: Tom Harrison, Mapmaker of parks, forests and wilderness areas, California Google maps and GPS have made us lazy. As long as you’re in cell range or in a car with a navigation system, you don’t need to know how to read a map anymore these days. You don’t really even need to know where you are in relation to other places, so long as you know how to follow directions like “turn right, continue for half a mile, and merge left.”  But paper maps still matter when you’re too remote to get cell reception. Hiking in the backcountry, for example. There have been a lot of developments in GPS on smartphones and special receivers you can buy, but serious hikers will almost always have a hardcopy of the terrain and trails in their pack.