Stronger than Steel

Guest: Will Shortz, Editor of the New York Times Crossword, Puzzle Master for NPR’s Weekend Edition Sunday The most prestigious of crossword puzzles – the New York Times crossword -  turns 75 this year. It became a regular feature of the paper in 1942 after some debate over whether such frivolity was appropriate when America was at war. An editorial in the New York Times had called the puzzles a “sinful waste” of time. Can you imagine the parents today being upset to see their child solving a crossword?  Now, if you spent any time over the weekend on the notoriously difficult Saturday puzzle, you can thank Will Shortz. We discover how a good crossword puzzle is made. And solved.

Guest: Sara Taylor, President and Founder of deepSEE Consulting, author of "Filter Shift: How Effective People SEE the World" None of us like to think that we’re prejudiced toward others. Many of us go to great lengths not to let our biases show – but making that effort also acknowledges that our biases exist. They exist on the unconscious level, driving the assumptions we make and conclusions we jump to without even realizing it. And because they’re happening so automatically, they’re a little like blind spots as we roll down the road of life. When you unintentionally offend someone with a comment you thought was innocuous, you’ve probably veered into a blind spot. When a conversation with a colleague or customer suddenly turns tense, just when you thought things were going great, unconscious bias was probably involved.

Guest: James Knippling, Associate Professor Educator, English Department, University of Cincinnati Even when we don't realize it, music does a lot of work in Hollywood films, but the way it does that work has changed over the decades. From sweeping orchestral scores to pop music soundtracks, music makes the movie.

Guest: Jann Haworth, American Pop Artist, Artistic Director of the “Work in Progress” mural In the BYU Museum of Art is a painted wall of women: Amelia Earhart, Anne Frank, Annie Oakley, Alice Walker. And those are just a few of the names that start with A. The mural is 8 feet high, nearly forty feet long. It’s a sea of female faces called, “Work in Progress,” developed by American pop artist Jann Haworth. For more information on "Work in Progress" click here.

Guest: Shawn O’Neill, BYUradio Producer, Movie Reviewer Disney’s new nature documentary “Born in China” debuted on Saturday - Earth Day, which was no coincidence. The film, which Disneynature says is its most ambitious project to date, takes moviegoers on a grand journey into the wilds of China following a trio of families that includes an unbelievably cute a baby panda, a young golden monkey and a female snow leopard.