China Trade War, Sneaking Over On Stink Bugs, The Psychobiotic Revolution

Guest: Scott Bradford, PhD, Professor, Economics, BYU As of this week, half of all the products China ships into the United States are subject to higher tariffs. That includes food, furniture, household appliances and electronics. Pick something at random in a Walmart and it’s probably on the list. President Trump touted his tough trade stance in a speech to the UN this week: “We will not allow our workers to victimized, our companies to be cheated and our wealth to be plundered and transferred.”

Guest: Dorothea Tholl, PhD, Associate Professor, Biological Sciences, Affiliate, Fralin Life Science Institute, Virginia Tech Tiny stink bugs, less than an inch long, make a nasty smell when threatened or squashed. But this is just one part of their chemical toolkit. They also use pheromones to attract mates and signal that they’ve found food. Researchers at Virginia Tech hope to harness that aspect of stink bug behavior to develop new ways of controlling the pests, which are a major problem for farmers worldwide.

Guest: Jeffrey R. Chadwick, PhD, Professor of Religion, Archaeology and Near Eastern Studies, BYU Today marks the 5th day of the major Jewish holiday Sukkot, or the Feast of Tabernacles. Sukkot is named after the makeshift huts Jews are instructed to build and spend time in during this week-long celebration. It’s a joyous occasion that narrates an interesting story of faith and humble beginnings.

Guest: Scott Anderson, Lead Author, "The Psychobiotic Revolution: Mood, Food, and the New Science of the Gut-Brain Connection" There’s a network of nerves around your gut so involved in your physical and emotional well-being, it’s often called your “second brain.” It takes its cues primarily from a huge community of microbes living in your gut. More and more evidence suggests that what you eat determines how happy those microbes are. And how happy those microbes are affects how happy you are. Literally. Bacteria in your gut affect your mental health.

Guest: Sara Austin, Graduate Student, University of Connecticut A generation ago, girls had Barbies and boys had action figures like GI Joe. In the last few years, Mattel, which makes Barbie, has come out with new toys for girls that are part action figure, part fashion doll based on characters from the popular series Monster High, Ever After High and DC Superhero Girls. These dolls have superpowers and back stories that make them a different kind of doll than Barbie ever was. And that’s empowering for the girls who play with them.

Guest: Sandro Galea, MD, Dean, Boston University School of Public Health, Author, “Healthier: Fifty Thoughts on the Foundations of Population Health” Mass shootings – including those that take place in schools – capture attention and stir emotion, but the truth is they represent just a tiny fraction of what epidemiologist Sandro Galea calls a public health crisis: in the United States, you’re as likely to die by a gun as you are to die in a car crash.