Syria and Yemen, Scary Christmas, The Virome

Guest:  Eric Jensen, Professor of International Law, BYU J. Reuben Clark Law School President Donald Trump has declared victory against ISIS in Syria and ordered all US troops – some 2,000 of them – home as soon as possible. US involvement in Yemen is also in question, since the Senate last week adopted two resolutions strongly condemning the President’s policy in that conflict.

Guest: Leslee Thorne-Murphy, Associate Professor in the English Department, BYU Ghost stories have no place next to jolly Santa and the babe in the manger, do they? Well, not in America and not today. But ghosts were very much part of the holiday once upon a time in Victorian England. So when Charles Dickens had ghosts visit Ebenezer Scrooge on Christmas Eve, he didn’t invent the idea out of thin air, so to speak. He was giving families across Britain just what they wanted – a good spine tingle.

Guest: David Pride, Director of Molecular Microbiology, University of California San Diego This time of year we’re all working hard to avoid picking up flu and cold viruses. But our bodies, are in fact, teeming with viruses we wouldn’t want to be without. Just like there are “good bacteria,” we’re also learning there are “good viruses.” And you host tons of them.

(Originally aired September 10, 2018) Guest: Julia Turshen, Best-Selling Author of the Cookbooks “Small Victories,” “Feed the Resistance,” and “Now & Again.” We are in the season of holiday parties and feasting and trying to pawn leftovers off on guests so they don’t end up in your fridge where you family will ignore them because, who likes eating the same thing for days, right?

(Originally aired September 26, 2018) Guest: Bruce Bochner, Professor of Medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine Now, whether you’re taking Christmas treats to your kids’ class or planning party for friends, you’re also wrestling with the complication of food allergies. How to make sure that person with a severe reaction to peanuts, dairy, shellfish – whatever – is safe at the party.

(Originally aired July 18, 2018) Guest: Justin Brashares, Professor and G.R. & W.M. Goertz Chair in the Department of Environmental, Science, Policy, and Management at UC Berkeley It wasn’t until the dinosaurs died out some 65 million years ago that scientists believe the Earth’s smaller, furry creatures started feeling bold enough to venture out during daylight hours. They’d been nocturnal while the dinosaurs roamed. Now, it seems we humans are having a similar effect: our presence is driving mammals back into the cover of night.