Death Penalty, Pet Evacuation, Collecting History

Trump Administration Revives Executions on Federal Death Row Guest: John Blume, Samuel F. Leibowitz Professor of Trial Techniques, Cornell Law School and Director, Cornell Death Penalty Project Twenty-five people were executed by states around the country last year. That’s a record low. Nearly half of states have outlawed capital punishment all together. There’s also a death row for the federal government –but it’s been more than a decade since any of the inmates there have been executed. That’s about to change. US Attorney General William Barr has ordered five executions to take place in December of January. Where Do Pets Go During Natural Disasters? Guest: Sarah E. DeYoung, Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology &Criminal Justice and the Disaster Research Center, University of Delaware In emergency situations like a hurricane, people are obviously the number one priority. But what about pets? Many view their dog or cat as another family member, yet for most people and places, evacuation plans for animals are minimal at best. That can put pets and their owners in serious danger. Collecting Scientific History Guest: Peter L. Jakab, Chief Curator of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum When Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to walk on the moon 50 years ago, they had a camera mounted to the lunar lander, capturing everything and beaming those images back to earth. The original videotape recordings NASA made of that momentous event just sold at auction for $1.8 million to an anonymous buyer. Luckily, we’ve got the digital versions everyone can watch online. But what will become of those original tapes? Who knows? A surprising amount of the world’s science and technology history is held by private collectors. Moon landing artifacts. Nobel Prize statues. Einstein’s handwritten notes. How Much is Too Much? When Curiosity Kills the Cat Guest: Ming Hsu, Associate Professor, Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley The instant gratification of having