Trump and North Korea, Super Recognizers, Yellowstone Wolves

Guest: Richard McBride, PhD, Associate Professor, Asian & Near Eastern Languages, BYU Another summit is in the works between President Donald Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. As recently as the end of August, Trump had put the brakes on meetings between Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and North Korean officials because there hadn’t been enough progress in negotiations over North Korea’s nuclear weapons program. But now the talks are back on and President Trump said, at a rally in West Virginia on Saturday, “We were going back and forth, and then we fell in love. No really. He wrote me beautiful letters. And they were great letters. And then we fell in love.” What's going on over there?

Guest: Josh Davis, PhD, Reader, Applied Psychology, University of Greenwich Some people turn out to be savants at face recognition. They could see a photo of someone just briefly and then, months later, pick that person out of a crowd. A police department in London even has a team of these “super recognizers,” as they’re called, to nab criminals. British police force

Guest: Dr. Barry Bittman, MD, Board Chairman, CEO and President, Yamaha Music and Wellness Institute What’s your go-to method of stress relief? Exercise? Cooking? Gardening? Banging on drums? Not sure your neighbors would be too thrilled if you went with that last one. But neurologist Barry Bittman has spent years studying the health benefits of drumming. He’s even measured an improvement in the immune function of people who participated in an hour-long drum therapy session.

Guest: Douglas Smith, PhD, Senior Wildlife Biologist, Yellowstone National Park, Author, “The Wolves of Yellowstone, Decade of the Wolf, and Wolves on the Hunt” A generation ago, aspen trees in parts of Yellowstone National Park were in serious trouble. Young trees were having trouble taking root to replace older trees as they died. But today, the aspen are making a comeback. It’s not returning because people are planting trees or preventing wildfire. Strangely, the aspen resurgence is due to the return of wolves to Yellowstone over the last 25 years. It’s a long ecological chain, which includes everything from elk to beavers.

Guest: Anthony Long, PhD, Professor Classics, University of California, Berkeley, Author, “How to Be Free: An Ancient Guide to the Stoic’s Life” Perhaps you’ve noticed a rather esoteric hashtag popping up on social media along with empowering phrases about living in the moment, staying calm in the face of difficulties and focusing only on what you can control in life.  Stoicism is an ancient philosophy that’s having a modern revival. And when you understand its origins, it makes perfect sense that people are embracing Stoicism it right now.

Guest: Rachel Wadham, Host, Worlds Awaiting, BYUradio