Generic Drug Initiative, Religious Sounds, Sand Shortage

Pandemic Spurs Push to Solve Generic Drug Shortages (0:30) Guest: Martin VanTrieste, President and CEO, Civica RX The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated a problem that US hospitals have been facing for years: periodically, they run out of basic injectable drugs for treating critically-ill patients, things like sedatives and antibiotics. And when they run out, they run out. There’s none to be had and nowhere to get them because the drugs are generic and the key components are almost all made in other countries, like India. If the one plant that makes the drug’s active ingredient goes down for some reason, poof, there goes the global supply of that drug. So last week, the US Department of Health and Human services made a huge – historically huge – grant to a group of companies and nonprofits to start manufacturing those critical generic drugs here in the US. Capturing the Sound of Religion (17:47) Guest: Isaac Weiner, Associate Professor of Comparative Studies, The Ohio State University and Co-Director of the American Religious Sounds Project; Amy DeRogatis, Professor of Religious Studies at Michigan State and Co-Director of ARSP. Churches are beginning to reopen around the country. But what will that worship be like, if masks and social distancing are required? What about the hugs and handshakes and congregational singing that are so much a part of church? During the isolation of this pandemic, religious experience has looked different. Felt different. Sounded different. Catholics in Milwaukee banged pots and pans along with the ringing of church bells on Easter Sunday. The American Religious Sounds Project has been tracking the sound of religion during the pandemic. Sand Is an Important Resource and We Are Running Out of It (34:11) Guest: Vince Beiser, Journalist and Author of "The World in a Grain: The Story of Sand and How It Transformed Civilization" Sand isn’t just a nuisance in your sandals and swimsuit. It’s a critical ingredient in your life. Just take a look around you. Roads, sidewalks, buildings,