Apple Seed

Guest: Charles Hankla, PhD, Associate Professor of Political Science, Georgia State University Just before leaving on his first trip abroad, President Trump officially got the clock rolling on talks to renegotiate the trade pact Canada, Mexico and the US have been operating under for more than 20 years. On the campaign trail, Trump said he wanted to rip up the trade agreement known as NAFTA, but then he took office, spent some time talking to the leaders of Canada and Mexico, and decided the agreement just needed some tweaking. For the next two and a half months, Trump will consult with Congress, industries, and the American public before starting official talks with Canada and Mexico in August.

Guest: Lisa Campbell, Co-founder of the nonprofit “Do Your Part”

Guest: Jonathan Wisco, PhD, Assistant Professor and Director of the Laboratory for Translational Anatomy of Degenerative Disease and Developmental Disorders, BYU When you tell a 10-year-old to pick a healthy snack or put down the tablet and go play outside, the inevitable response is “But why?” In response, you could launch into statistics about childhood obesity in America and the lifelong consequences of inactivity, but chances are it wouldn’t sink in. What kids need, according to BYU physiology professor Jonathan Wisco, is some hands-on laboratory experience. Several years ago, he created a program called Anatomy Academy that’s operating now in elementary schools around the country.

Guest: Douglas Hedger, JD, Chief Municipal Judge, Henderson Municipal Court Courtrooms in cities and counties across the country are full of offenders who have problems with addiction or mental illness that drive a cycle of crime. Over and over again, judges will see the same faces standing before them, the penalties and jail time getting tougher with each offense. The cost to taxpayers only goes up, with little hope the offender will manage to get clean and stay out of trouble. At a certain point, Henderson Municipal Court Judge Douglas Hedger had seen enough. In 2008, he created a special program designed to help certain repeat offenders who are mired in addiction, mental illness and joblessness. It’s called the Assistance in Breaking the Cycle—or ABC Court.

Guest: David Callahan, Founder and Editor of "Inside Philanthropy" and author of “The Givers: Wealth, Power, and Philanthropy in a New Gilded Age” A few months ago, we discussed the amazing story on a foundation called The Atlantic Philanthropies, which just gave away that last of founder Chuck Feeney’s fortune. The amazing part is that Mr. Feeney is still alive and entirely committed to “giving while living.” The concept is popular now among billionaires, including Mark Zuckerberg, Warren Buffett and Bill Gates.  But author David Callahan warns of a dark side to such unprecedented generosity in American society.