Life in America for Refugees, Science Goes Wrong

Life in America for Refugees, Science Goes Wrong

Top of Mind with Julie Rose

  • Apr 21, 2017 11:00 pm
  • 1:40:18 mins

Life in America for Immigrants and Refugees From MBA to Minimum Wage Guest: Deepak Singh, Writer, Radio Producer, Journalist. Author of “How May I Help You? An Immigrant’s Journey from MBA to Minimum Wage”  When the political debate turns to immigration, we tend to think of poor workers with little education and few skills crossing the border illegally to work low-wage jobs. But nearly half of all immigrants to the United States between 2011 and 2015 had a college degree. That doesn’t mean, however, they all managed to get higher paying jobs that require a college degree, however.  Often their experience is like Deepak Singh’s. He came to the US from India with an MBA and experience as a journalist for the BBC World Service. But here in the states, the only job employers found him qualified for was selling electronics in the mall for minimum wage.  How a Syrian Doctor Ended Up Teaching at a Utah University Guest: Abdul Nasser Kaadan, M.D., Orthopedic Surgeon, Syria, Visiting International Professor, Weber State University We’re hearing stories about what it’s like to be an immigrant in the United States: the challenge of finding work, even when immigrants are highly educated and respected in their own countries. This scenario applies to many Syrian refugees whose country had one of the best systems of higher education in the Middle East, before it became embroiled in war and chaos. When Science Goes Wrong Guest: Paul Offit, M.D., Professor of Vaccinology and Pediatrics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, Director of the Vaccine Education Center, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, author of “Pandora’s Lab: Seven Stories of Science Gone Wrong” Unintended consequences are a fact of life. We can’t perfectly predict how something we do today will affect us and those around us in the coming months and years. The new book “Pandora’s Lab,” by Dr. Paul Offit, highlights seven scientific developments that were hailed as great miracles – some even earned Nobel Prizes for their discoverers – but each would go terribly wrong. The invention of opiate painkillers for example. And margarine as a heart-healthy alternative to butter. And lobotomies as treatment for mental illness.