Dutch Elections, Pirate Next Door, Beware Overhydration

Dutch Populism, Global Humanitarian Crisis, Happiness Index Guest: Quinn Mecham, Professor of Political Science, BYU World Events are Top of Mind today as we welcome regular Top of Mind contributor Quinn Mecham back into the studio. He’s a professor of political science here at BYU and joins us monthly with a look at three international events worth closer consideration. The Pirate Next Door Guest: Daphne Palmer Geanacopoulos, author of "The Pirate Next Door: The Untold Story of Eighteenth Century Pirates' Wives, Families and Communities" Last week, a group of frustrated fishermen captured an oil tanker off the coast of Somalia to protest foreign vessels interfering in their livelihood. But the Somali pirates released the ship after just a few days and agreed to forgo the ransom they typically demand, for reasons we won’t go into here. The point is, that piracy is still alive on the high seas. Today’s pirates don’t have peg legs, parrots or the swashbuckling mystique of Blackbeard and Jack Sparrow, but – and this will probably disappoint you and the Pirates of the Caribbean fans in your life - even the pirates of that “Golden Age” weren’t like that. In fact, the legendary pirate captains of the time were a lot more like the Somali pirates of today – active participants in society pushed by economic forces to take a risky career path. Many had wives and families depending on their loot back home and a pirate retirement plan to fall back on when they were ready to return home.  Raising Our Babies Guest: Ilse Dekoeyer-Laros, Assistant Professor of Psychology, University of Utah, Child Development Specialist at Help Me Grow Utah When a parent is under stress at work or school, worried about finances, exhausted when they’re home, and feeling at wit’s end, their children feel it. Not just in the “Mom’s in a bad mood, watch out” way. Psychologist Ilse Dekoeyer-Laros at the University of Utah says when parents are stressed out they don’t do a good job buffering their kids from stress. And stress has serious conse