Office Sexual Harassment, Death Penalty, Violence Memorial

Guest: Elaine Herskowitz, JD, principal of EEO Training & Consulting Services, former senior staff attorney at the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission The flood of troubling stories of men in business, entertainment, politics and the media harassing or assaulting women – and in some cases men and children – has many of us thinking about why such behavior persists. Many of the #MeToo stories involve men in positions of power forcing themselves on subordinates. Others involve what might be considered subtler harassment that has led female employees to feel uncomfortable or unvalued. This is despite the fact that most companies today have policies prohibiting sexual harassment and often mandatory harassment training for employees.

Guest: Brandon Garrett, JD, Justice Thurgood Marshall Distinguished Professor of Law, University of Virginia, Author of “End of Its Rope: How Killing the Death Penalty Can Revive Criminal Justice” The death penalty in America hit a peak in the mid-1990s and has been dropping off ever since. That’s a little surprising, isn’t it, considering how deeply engrained the death sentence is in our culture? But it’s actually a lot less popular in the public eye today, and in state legislatures across the country, conservatives are becoming as likely as liberals to sponsor bills banning it. With or without an actual ban, fewer states are handing down death sentences - only 13 states sentenced someone to death last year.

Guest: Dominique Hazzard, Community Outreach Specialist, DC Greens If you lived two miles from the nearest grocery store and you didn’t have a car, how do you think that would affect your diet? Some 40-million Americans – mostly in low-income and minority neighborhoods – live in what’s called a food desert, or grocery gap, where it’s easier to get fruit punch soda than actual fruit. These grocery gaps have mini-marts, but nowhere to buy fresh produce.

Guest: Kenneth Foote, PhD, Professor of Historical Geography, University of Connecticut, Author, “Shadowed Ground: America’s Landscapes of Violence and Tragedy” The sanctuary of the church in Sutherland Springs, Texas has been painted white and turned into a memorial to the 26 victims of the shooting that took place. White chairs and red roses have been placed in each spot where a victim fell. The pastor has said he may ultimately demolish the building.  In the aftermath of a tragedy, there is always a tension between remembering and forgetting. University of Connecticut historical geographer Ken Foote studies the way communities memorialize traumatic events. He says they can be an important part of the grieving and healing. They can also help us ask tough questions about what caused the violence – but Foote says we don’t often use memorials in that way, and it’s a missed opportunity.

Guest: Rob Gustafson, Parent Previews When a murder happens aboard the luxurious Orient Express, thirteen train passengers find themselves both suspects of the crime and possible victims of the criminal. Private detective Hercule Poirot quickly steps into the action, attempting to sleuth out the killer before tragedy can strike again. The unfunny "Daddy's Home 2."

Guest: David S. Sabsevitz, PhD, ABPP, Clinical Neuropsychologist, Associate Professor of Neurology, Froedtert and the Medical College of Wisconsin Some types of brain surgery require the patient to be conscious during part of the procedure, so the surgeons can quiz the patient and make sure they’re not cutting into healthy parts of the brain that control speech or cognition. Neurology professor David Sabsevitz from Froedtert and the Medical College of Wisconsin has created an app with a team of students at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee to make a surgeon’s interaction with the patient on the operating table more precise and effective.