Republicans, El Chapo, Mars Rover, Why Torture Fails

Guest: Nathan Gonzales, Editor, Rothenberg & Gonzales Political Report  The large field of Republican hopefuls is engaged in a publicity frenzy: putting out viral videos, firing off TV ads and whipping up their constituents with tough talk and controversial comments all in pursuit of a spot on stage in Cleveland. That’s where, in about a week’s time, Fox News will hold the first televised debate of the nominating season.  But only the ten candidates with the highest poll numbers will get on that stage – leaving another half dozen out in the cold. So that explains the spike in aggressive stunts and amped-up rhetoric we’ve been seeing from the contenders.

Guest: Don Winslow, author of “The Cartel” and other novels  The head of the Sinaloa cartel – Joaquin El Chapo Guzman - remains at large after his July 11 escape from a maximum security prison. A Mexican judge has now ordered three of the prison’s officers be formally taken into custody and questioned about their potential role in the prison break.  Government officials say El Chapo Guzman squeezed through the opening to a tunnel in the floor of his cell and escaped on a motorcycle. But novelist Don Winslow is skeptical. He’s spent the last 15 years researching the drug trade in Mexico and following Guzman’s career. His new book, “The Cartel”- and previous works “The Power of the Dog” and “Savages”-  trace the rise of the drug wars in Mexico and the US. They’re works of fiction, but many – maybe even the majority  - of characters and events they depict are real.

Guest: Sam Payne, host of BYURadio’s Apple Seed  Sam Payne shares a story from the guitar-strumming Odds Bodkin on “Sir Percival,” unlikely knight.

Guest: Shane O’Mara, Ph. D., Professor of Experimental Brain Research at Trinity College in Dublin 

Guest: Eric Homer, Ph. D., BYU Engineering Professor; David Allred, Ph. D., BYU Physics Professor  NASA hasn’t sent humans to Mars, yet, but we do have eyes on the Red Planet in the form of several robotic vehicles called “rovers.” In developing the next generation of Mars exploration machines, NASA might look to the next generation of engineers. Every year, teams of college students bring their own Mars Rover designs to compete in a sort of Olympics held in a remote part of Southern Utah.  BYU’s student engineers came in second place at the competition this year, hosted by the nonprofit “Mars Society.”