Saudi Arabia and Yemen, Toxoplasmosis, Beef Imports

Guest: Fred Axelgard, senior fellow in international relations for BYU’s Wheatley Institution and former US State Department official

Guest: William Camann, director of obstetric anesthesia at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and co-author of "Easy Labor: Every Woman's Guide to Choosing Less Pain and More Joy During Childbirth" Hazard a guess at what you think might be the most common surgery in America? Tonsil removal? Appendectomy? It’s actually the caesarean section – about 1 in 3 babies in America is delivered by C-Section. Public health officials are working to bring that rate down because of the risks associated with caesarean section. But there’s also a trend – in cases where a C-Section is unavoidable – toward making it a better experience for the mother and child. They're called "family centered C-Sections" by some. At Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, they call the procedure a "gentle C-Section."

Guest: Kirk Jensen, assistant professor in Biology at the University of California Merced If you happen to be eating right now, you may want to put your fork down. Apparently, a third of the world’s population is infected with a microscopic parasite called, toxoplasmosis. That includes 60 million Americans, according to the CDC. Now, it's possible you carry the toxoplasma parasite and don't know it because many people are carriers, but don’t get ill. On the other hand, it can be fatal to people with compromised immune systems, like pregnant women or those with HIV/AIDS. And even if it doesn’t make you sick, research suggests that Toxoplasmosis correlates with mental disorders such as, Schizophrenia.

Guest: Gaurav Desai, professor of English and African Studies at Tulane University

Guests: Justin Kastner, associate professor of food safety and security at Kansas State University and co-director of the Frontier program Danny Unruh, research assistant at Kansas State University The embargo has lifted and the first European country to get approval for beef import into the United States is Ireland. They’re calling it green beef.

Guest: Aaron Martinez, master tax advisor with H-and-R Block Are you taking a hit on your taxes because of the Affordable Care Act? Learn how "Obamacare" might affect your filing this year. Smart, informative conversations and interviews that go beyond mere headlines and sound bites.