New NAFTA, Eating Algae, Aretha Franklin

Guest: Joel P. Trachtman, Professor of International Law, Tufts University After igniting trade wars with Mexico, Canada and China, President Trump saw some success this past week when he reached a bilateral agreement with Mexico, essentially replacing NAFTA. Canada still is holding out, but Trump was quick to take credit for replacing a free trade agreement he has long criticized as unfair to American industry and workers. What's next for Trump and trade?

Guest: Rebecca White, PhD, Vice President of Operations, Qualitas Health Algae, that green slime you often see atop stagnant ponds, is a nutritional powerhouse. If you’ve perused the supplements aisle lately, you may already know algae is high in Omega-3 fatty acids. But it’s also rich in protein. Some strains of algae are up to 60% protein, which is even higher than soy beans. So might algae be a solution to feeding the world’s growing population more efficiently than others forms of agriculture?

Guest: Peter Titelbech, Danish Art Dealer, Carl Bloch Expert Danish artist Carl Bloch is best known for his large, emotional paintings of scenes from the life of Jesus Christ. But Carl Bloch was also an accomplished printmaker, able to imbue inky scratches on a metal plate with just as much emotion as his large paintings. Dozens of them are currently on display at the BYU Museum of Art in an exhibit called “Lasting Impressions: Etchings and Drawings by Carl Bloch.” I had the chance to tour the exhibit with Danish art dealer and Carl Bloch expert Peter Titelbech who says the etchings are a window on what mattered most to Bloch.

Guest: Angel Abbud-Madrid, Phd, Director, Center for Space Resources, Colorado School of Mines Cold chunks of rock hurtling through space could be the mining boom of the future – the next gold rush. And when that happens, one of the most storied mining schools of the past will be ready. Starting this Fall, students at the Colorado School of Mines can pursue a graduate degree in “Space Resources.” How do you mine asteroids? What is the career path of these new students? And what are they being taught in the program?

Guest: Mikel Stevens, Professor of Plant Sciences, Brigham Young University There are still millions of undiscovered plant and animal species on the Earth, and not all of them are in remote jungles. Some are hiding in plain sight, in well-traveled places frequented by millions of visitors — like Zion National Park in southern Utah. That’s where BYU plant scientist Mikel Stevens has found a vibrant fuchsia wildflower that may be a new species.

Guest: Birgitta Johnson, Associate Professor of Ethnomusicology and African American Studies, University of South Carolina The funeral for Aretha Franklin –Queen of Soul – will happen this Friday in Detroit, featuring an all-star line-up of performers paying tribute to her influence on gospel, soul and pop music. Into her late 60s, she was still recording music as a high level. What made Aretha such a powerful and enduring influence on American music and popular culture?