Bitcoin, Smartphone Mechanic, Female Entrepreneur Bias

What’s All the Fuss About Bitcoin Investing? Guest: Mark Jansen, Assistant Professor of Finance, David Eccles School of Business, University of Utah It’s no longer just a thing for techies to tinker with or buy. Over the weekend, a bitcoin product became available on a U.S. financial market for the first time. So now investors can bet on bitcoin nearly as easily as they can on traditional commodities like oil or corn. Some analysts have even begun to warn that bitcoin’s price is rising so fast it’s a bubble destined to burst. Mexican Education for Returnee Children Guests: Bryant Jensen, PhD, Assistant Professor of Teacher Education, Brigham Young University; Eric Bybee, PhD, Assistant Professor of Teacher Education, Brigham Young University Even before President Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration and his promise to build a wall, more Mexicans in the U.S. were leaving to go back to Mexico than were coming into the U.S. That flow has included tens of thousands of children. Many of them were born in America, but when their undocumented parents are deported or just decide to return to Mexico, the kids go too. But they’re US citizens. They’ve attended US public schools. They often speak English better than they speak Spanish. What is life like for them in Mexico? What is life like for them in Mexican public schools? Smartphone Mechanic Guest: Joshua Siegel, PhD, Research Scientist, Mechanical Engineering, MIT Wouldn’t it be nice if there were an unbiased source to tell you when to change replace your air filters and change your spark plugs? Well, there soon could be, in the form of a smartphone app.  Self-Harming Adolescents Cyberbullying Themselves Guest: Justin Patchin, PhD, Professor of Criminal Justice, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, Co-Director, Cyberbullying Research Center A little over a year ago, a 15-year-old girl in Texas intentionally overdosed to end her life. Natalie Natividad had been the subject of bullying in school for months. But when investigators tried to figure out who had posted anonymous messages on a web app calling her “ugly” and saying “she should kill herself,” they were shocked to find she had posted them herself. This heartbreaking type of online self-harm is the focus of a new study by the Cyberbullying Research Center. Read more about Patchin’s research on cyberbullying here.  Female Entrepreneurs Stuggle Against Investor Bias Guest: Michael Ewens, PhD, Associate Professor of Finance and Entrepreneurship, Caltech The tech companies that are now part of our daily lives – Google, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Amazon, Netflix – were all founded by men. Is that because men have better ideas? Probably not, but it may well be because men have an easier time finding funders to get their ideas off the ground. Worlds Awaiting: Christmas Books Guest: Rachel Wadham, Host, Worlds Awaiting, BYUradio