Our Damaged Democracy, Native American Slavery, Oscars

Guest: Joseph Califano, Author, “Our Damaged Democracy: We The People Must Act” America never seems so deeply divided as it does in these politically and emotionally-charged days after a mass shooting. Survivors plead. Pundits argue and accuse. Social media burns with inflammatory rhetoric. And in the end, we know there’s a good chance any efforts at change will end up stalled in Congress. After a lifetime serving in the halls of Washington power, Joseph Califano has concluded that American democracy is damaged. But it’s not Trump’s fault. Or Obama’s fault. Or the Republicans or the Democrats. We all bear some responsibility. And that means, we can all do something to help right the ship. Califano served in the Pentagon under Robert McNamara, as a domestic White House aide to President Johnson and as US Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare under President Carter.

Guest: Gregorio Gonzales, UC President’s Postdoctoral Fellow, Sociocultural Anthropology, University of California, Santa Barbara When we think of slavery in America, the painful legacy of enslaved Africans in the American South typically comes to mind. But there was, at the same time, a lesser-known slave trade on the other side of the continent, in what would become modern-day New Mexico and Colorado. Hispanic settlers enslaved tens of thousands of Native Americans, known today as “Genízaros.” Today, through DNA analysis, Hispanics in the Southwest are discovering – with some surprise – that they have Native American ancestry and that the story of their forebearers is complicated.

Guest: J. Michael McIntosh, MD, Professor of Psychiatry, Researcher, University of Utah Heath Sciences, Medical Director of Behavioral Health Clinic, VA Hospital, Salt Lake City Every day, more than 115 Americans die of an opioid overdose. Doctors are becoming more careful in prescribing them but, really, scientists would like to find alternatives to these addictive painkillers. The Defense Department has just invested 10 million dollars in research being done at the University of Utah into the toxic venom of cone snails found in the ocean.

Guest: Gabriel Rossman, PhD, Associate Professor of Sociology, UCLA When Hollywood gathers to honor itself at the Academy Awards this coming Sunday, the most successful films of 2017 will be conspicuously absent. “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” “Beauty and the Beast” and “Wonder Woman” were the year’s biggest hits based on US ticket sales, so why aren’t they in the running for best picture? UCLA sociologist Gabriel Rossman has developed an algorithm to explain – and predict – which films will get an Oscar nomination. Spoiler alert – you gotta be a serious film if you hope to win the big prize.

Guest: Rod Gustafson, Host, Parent Previews Every day a soul named "A" wakes up in a different body. Although this lifestyle has its problems, they never feel as onerous as they do after he/she meets and falls in love with Rhiannon. How can they ever have a relationship if "A" is continually changing into someone else? This movie is based on a novel by David Leviathan. Based on the Biblical story, Samson is a man gifted with great strength from God. But his reckless ways and his passion for Delilah cause him to stray from his appointed destiny.

Guest: Warren Mabee, Associate Director, Queen’s Institute for Energy and Environmental Policy, Professor and Head of the Department of Geography and planning, Queen's University The 2018 Winter Olympics, which wrapped up in South Korea over the weekend, were the largest in history with nearly 3,000 athletes from 92 countries. All those competitors and their coaches were far outnumbered by the journalists and fans who trekked to Pyeongchang, adding up to an enormous amount of greenhouse gas emissions from air travel. The irony is that if the climate continues to warm as it has, many former Winter Games locations will no longer be cold enough to consider hosting the games again. That includes Sochi, Russia and Vancouver, Canada.