House Speaker Drama, Freezing Pollution, Body Noise, JFK

House Speaker Drama (1:04) Guest: Michael Barber, Ph.D., Political Science Professor at BYU  Speaker John Boehner’s abrupt announcement resigning from the House and speakership two and a half weeks ago sparked a frenzy that’s included a couple of hopefuls throwing their hat into the ring. The likely replacement was to be Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California – the next in line after Boehner. Except that he abruptly pulled out of the running, too. And now, as one political scholar puts it, the US House of Representatives has been “flash frozen.”  Freezing Pollution (22:22) Guest: Larry Baxter, Ph.D., Chemical Engineering Professor at BYU  A big part of the international effort to reduce carbon dioxide emissions focuses on coal. It’s responsible for the majority of electricity production here in the US and in many other countries. Burning coal to make electricity spews toxins and gasses that warm the atmosphere and harm the environment. Over the years, the technology to scrub ash, particulates and harmful chemicals from coal-fired power plant smokestacks has made big strides. But scrubbing carbon dioxide gas from the stack has proven a thornier challenge.  Body Noises (39:58) Guest: Quinton Gopen, M.D., Ear Surgeon in the Department of Head and Neck Surgery at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center.  A disorder of the inner ear causes those who suffer from it to hear every sound their body makes? from the quick rhythmic beats of their heart, to their eyes rolling over the words of a page as they read, to food digesting noisily in their stomach. Dr. Quinton Gopen is one of the few doctors who has figured out how to accurately diagnose – and then treat – the condition.  American Heritage (52:27) Guest: Grant Madsen, Ph.D., History Professor at BYU  BYU history professor Grant Madsen shares insights from the US history courses he teaches on campus here. This week he sat down with BYU Radio’s Marcus Smith to discuss JFK.  How Armed Groups Retain Power (1:17:06) Guest: Benedetta Berti, International Policy Analyst and Fellow and Lecturer at Tel Aviv University and the Institute of National Security  The nature of war has changed in the last fifty years?and not just the weapons being used. The battle lines themselves are radically different. It used to be that one country would declare war on another – one government’s military would battle another’s. But think about the current conflicts in the Middle East. They’re driven by armed groups not affiliated with a formally-recognized “state;” think of ISIS  and Hezbollah. To win a war against insurgents, militias and terrorists requires different strategies, and a better understanding of who these groups are. In particular, international policy analyst Benedetta Berti says it’s important to understand what these groups do when they’re not fighting.