Trump on China, Bleaching Coral Reefs, New Arthritis Treatment

Guest: Kirk Larsen, PhD, History Professor, BYU Syria is very much Top of Mind and we’ll be discussing it on the show throughout the week, but for the moment, let’s turn to an important international event that took place over the weekend – the first meeting of President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. The relationship between the US and China is a delicate one, given President Trump’s tendency during the campaign to paint China as America’s economic enemy during the campaign. Beyond trade, the two countries are also on edge about the problem of North Korea’s escalating missile tests and nuclear weapons program.

Guest: Mark Eakin, PhD, Director of Coral Reef Watch, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is one of the world’s largest living structures. It’s a natural wonder and mecca for divers, home to a magnificent diversity of sea creatures, and it’s dying at an alarming rate. Huge sections of coral spanning hundreds of miles were killed off by high water temperatures in the last two years. And scientists say the problem is getting worse.

Guest: W. Joseph Campbell, PhD, Professor, School of Communication, American University; author of “Getting it Wrong: Debunking the Greatest Myths in American Journalism” President Trump's habit of crying “fake news” over any story he doesn’t agree with is frustrating and alarming to members of the press: Just because you don't like a story doesn't mean it's untrue. Playing fast and loose with “fake news” claims could undermine public trust in the media, which has an important role in bringing truth to light and holding powerful people accountable.  So, we in the media have been on a bit of a high horse about this lately. But American University journalism historian W. Joseph Campbell’s knocking us down a peg. His book, “Getting it Wrong” details cases throughout history in which “the media themselves have often been the purveyors of bogus stories.”

Guest: Adam Pah, PhD, Clinical Assistant Professor of Management and Organizations, Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management At an elementary school in San Bernardino, California today, two adults were killed and two students injured in what officials are calling a murder-suicide.  A team of researchers at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management recently combed through school shooting data back to the early ‘90s to try and understand what motivates these tragedies. In the process, they discovered a surprising correlation to economic factors such as unemployment and foreclosure rates.

Guest: Rod Gustafson, Parentpreviews.com A trio of family-friendly films led the box office over the weekend – must have been Spring break for lots of kids around the country. The animated film “Boss Baby” took the top spot for the second weekend in a row, followed by “Beauty and the Beast” and a new Smurfs film in the number three slot.

Guest: David Kooyman, PhD, Professor of Physiology and Developmental Biology, BYU; Mike Alder, Technology Transfer, BYU The hands, hips and knees are most frequently at risk for arthritis as we age. Degenerative joint disease – or osteoarthritis – affect more than 30 million American adults. Treatment typically includes exercise, pain medication and, when all else fails, surgery to replace the joint.  Imagine if there were a cream you could rub on an arthritic joint that could stop the pain? Imagine if that cream also addressed the underlying cause of the arthritis?