Greece, Underground Coal Fire, Silver Lining, Tanning

Guest: Wade Jacoby, Ph.D., Political Science Professor at BYU Greece is Top of Mind today. The nation’s parliament is slated to take another important vote on reforms necessary to get bailout funds from the European Central Bank. The reforms include tax increases and spending cuts that Greece’s European creditors demanded in exchange for keeping the country in the Eurozone and out of bankruptcy. The deal was cut at the 11th hour and has since allowed Greece’s banks to reopen for the first time in three weeks.

Guest: Glenn Stracher, Ph.D., Professor at East Georgia State College   When visiting the site of Centralia, Pennsylvania, it’s hard to believe that there used to be a bustling coal-town of nearly 1,000 residents that once resided there. The streets that were once filled with passing cars and busy people are now cracked and overgrown, and the buildings that line them are boarded up and rotting away. An unnerving layer of smoke and smog rises from the ground, much like a scene in a horror film. Centralia—in a sense—is a ghost town, caused by the very substance that kept the town thriving—coal. Underneath Centralia is a massive coal fire that’s been burning for over half a century and doesn’t seem to die out any time soon.

Guest: Dan Florio, M.A., Founder of RunPee  When you want to know whether a movie’s worth seeing, you can check Rotten Tomatoes or Parent Previews or whatever your favorite movie review site is. But where do you turn once you’re at the movie and you’ve consumed that large soda with your high-priced bucket of popcorn, and you realize won’t make it to the end of the movie before you’ll need a bathroom break?

Guest: Grant Madsen, Ph.D., History Professor at BYU  Professor Grant Madsen sat down with Marcus Smith to discuss the publication of Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations and the impact it had on early American society.

Guest: Dr. Tamara Sims, Stanford University Post Doctorate Fellow  Cheer up! Smile! Look on the bright side! Put on your happy face! We put a lot of emphasis on the importance of happiness – maintaining a positive outlook, savoring the good times. Research shows that Americans are pretty good at finding the silver lining. Stanford psychologist Tamara Sims says we’ve been culturally trained to find the positive in every situation.  Her recent research explains how.

Guest: Dawn M. Holman, CDC Behavioral Scientist  So long as the sun-kissed glow of tanned skin is considered the ultimate in beauty, Dawn Holman’s job will be an uphill battle. Recent survey data shows a decline in the number of US adults who frequent indoor tanning booths. But there are still about 10-million people who continue the practice, despite the risk of skin cancer. If fear of melanoma isn’t enough to dissuade them, what else might work.