Inside the IRS on Tax Day, Downstairs at the White House, How Noisy is Your Neighborhood?

Inside the IRS on Tax Day Guest: Charles Rossotti, Former Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service (1997-2002), Senior Advisor, The Carlyle Group, Author, "Many Unhappy Returns: One Man's Quest To Turn Around The Most Unpopular Organization In America" The individual filing deadline is upon us. While you may be stressing to get your return in on time, consider this: the IRS deals with 150 million individual income tax returns a year and another 100 million federal tax returns for businesses and nonprofits. How does the famously unpopular and under-funded agency manage it all?  Charles Rossotti was the commissioner of the IRS from 1997 to 2002. He led a major reorganization of the agency during that time and has since written a book about it called, “Many Unhappy Returns.” Downstairs at the White House Guest: Donald Stinson, Author, “Downstairs at the White House” Donald Stinson had big ambitions from an early age. In 1973, he talked his way into a series of low-level jobs making copies and delivering mail inside the White House, which gave him a front row seat to all kinds of drama – Watergate, Vietnam protests, Vice President Spiro Agnew’s resignation, the release of the Nixon tapes, the resignation of President Richard Nixon himself.  Stinson met all kinds of important people during his teenaged escapades at the White House – and made all kinds of enemies among the Secret Service who weren’t so impressed with his mischief. The Frontier Lives On in the American Psyche Guest: Samuel Bazzi, PhD, Assistant Professor of Economics, Boston University The days of Manifest Destiny, when settlers spread out across the western United States to conquer the land and prove up their claims are long over. But the legacy remains ingrained in the psyche of those still living in what used to be the American frontier, to the extent that it influences their political beliefs today. Parent Previews: "Rampage" and "Sgt. Stubby" Guest: Rod Gustafson, Host, Parent Previews In "Rampage," primatologist Davis Okoye (Dwayne Johnson) has become deeply attached to George, an extremely intelligent gorilla he has been tending for years. So when a genetic experiment goes wrong, turning the once gentle George into a rampaging animal, Davis sets out to find a way to stop his friend from going ape and destroying the world. Based on a true story, "Sgt. Stubby: An American Hero" tells the story of a canine that served with the human troops during World War I. This animation tells the tale of his brave acts that led to him becoming the most decorated dog in American military history. How Noisy is Your Neighborhood? Guest: Kent Gee, PhD, Professor of Physics, Brigham Young University; Dave Brown, BYU Technology Transfer Office You know that feeling of spending the first night in a new house? You’ve just signed away the next 30 years of monthly income to the bank and you’re lying in bed noticing all of this unfamiliar noise – the traffic whizzing along a major road a few blocks away, trains blowing their horns in the distance, your neighbor’s A/C unit humming away not far from your bedroom window. A real estate advice column once that said you should spend at least one night in a home before you agree to buy it. Not sure how that would work, exactly – what seller would agree to let a prospective buyer have a sleepover? But the reasoning is sound – there’s just so much about the noise in a particular place you won’t know until it’s too late. How great would it be if there were a Google Earth or Zillow-type website that could give you a noise ranking for a particular neighborhood? That’s what BYU physics professor Kent Gee is working on.