Trump Renegotiating NAFTA, Refugee Camp, Child Obesity

NAFTA Renegotiation is Happening Guest: Charles Hankla, PhD, Associate Professor of Political Science, Georgia State University Just before leaving on his first trip abroad, President Trump officially got the clock rolling on talks to renegotiate the trade pact Canada, Mexico and the US have been operating under for more than 20 years. On the campaign trail, Trump said he wanted to rip up the trade agreement known as NAFTA, but then he took office, spent some time talking to the leaders of Canada and Mexico, and decided the agreement just needed some tweaking. For the next two and a half months, Trump will consult with Congress, industries, and the American public before starting official talks with Canada and Mexico in August.  Virginia Woman Builds Community-Centered Refugee Camp in Greece Guest: Lisa Campbell, Co-founder of the nonprofit “Do Your Part” More than 1,700 refugees have died so far this year attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea from Libya to Italy on boats that are overcrowded and barely seaworthy.  The span between Libya and Italy is now the deadliest sea passage in the world and attempts to cross it have increased since the EU and Turkey made a deal to shut down the shorter crossing option between Turkey and Greece. Meanwhile 62,000 refugees, more than half of which are women and children, remain stranded in Greece waiting for their asylum applications to be processed so they find a permanent place to resettle.  Out of this crisis of temporary shelter and great humanitarian need came Lisa Campbell from Virginia. She’s the co-founder of a disaster-relief nonprofit called “Do Your Part” and she’s more than doing hers. She opened a camp for refugees in Greece and has been there managing it for about a year. doyourpart.org Anatomy Academy Guest: Jonathan Wisco, PhD, Assistant Professor and Director of the Laboratory for Translational Anatomy of Degenerative Disease and Developmental Disorders, BYU When you tell a 10-year-old to pick a healthy snack or put down the tablet and go play outside, the inevitable response is “But why?” In response, you could launch into statistics about childhood obesity in America and the lifelong consequences of inactivity, but chances are it wouldn’t sink in. What kids need, according to BYU physiology professor Jonathan Wisco, is some hands-on laboratory experience. Several years ago, he created a program called Anatomy Academy that’s operating now in elementary schools around the country. Apple Seed Guest: Sam Payne, Host of BYUradio’s “The Apple Seed” Stories of Abraham Lincoln from Springfield, Illinois. Merciful Judge Guest: Douglas Hedger, JD, Chief Municipal Judge, Henderson Municipal Court Courtrooms in cities and counties across the country are full of offenders who have problems with addiction or mental illness that drive a cycle of crime. Over and over again, judges will see the same faces standing before them, the penalties and jail time getting tougher with each offense. The cost to taxpayers only goes up, with little hope the offender will manage to get clean and stay out of trouble. At a certain point, Henderson Municipal Court Judge Douglas Hedger had seen enough. In 2008, he created a special program designed to help certain repeat offenders who are mired in addiction, mental illness and joblessness. It’s called the Assistance in Breaking the Cycle—or ABC Court. The Problem with Modern Philanthropy Guest: David Callahan, Founder and Editor of "Inside Philanthropy" and author of “The Givers: Wealth, Power, and Philanthropy in a New Gilded Age” A few months ago, we discussed the amazing story on a foundation called The Atlantic Philanthropies, which just gave away that last of founder Chuck Feeney’s fortune. The amazing part is that Mr. Feeney is still alive and entirely committed to “giving while living.” The concept is popular now among billionaires, including Mark Zuckerberg, Warren Buffett and Bill Gates.  But author David Callahan warns of a dark side to such unprecedented generosity in American society.