Antitrust Tech, Comet NEOWISE, The Puzzle of Prison Order

The Antitrust Woes of America’s Tech Titans (0:32) Guest: Paul Stancil, Professor of Law, J. Reuben Clark Law School, BYU It was an unusual spectacle in Washington, DC on Wednesday. The titans of American technology squared off against Congress. You had Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg who is no stranger to the hot seat at Congressional hearings, but it was Amazon’s Jeff Bezo's first time. Apple CEO Tim Cook was also there, and Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google’s parent company, Alphabet. Congress has been investigating these four companies for the last year, looking into antitrust concerns. Recommendations on what to do about those concerns are expected form the House committee on antitrust in the coming weeks. What’s So Exciting About Comet NEOWISE? (23:59) Guest: Amy Mainzer, Astronomer, Professor at University of Arizona, Principal Investigator on the NEOWISE Project. You’ve seen the pictures of a bright star with a fuzzy tail on the horizon at sunset all over social media. It’s not too late to catch a glimpse of the buzzy comet for yourself, but you’ll need to move fast. Comet NEOWISE will only be visible for a few more weeks. Where’s it headed and why are people so excited about it? Pricing a COVID-19 Drug During a Pandemic (40:03) Guest: Craig Garthwaite, Herman R. Smith Research Professor in Hospital and Health Services Management and Director of Healthcare at Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University The only drug that’s been so far proven to help patients with COVID-19, and has emergency approval in the US and Europe, is called Remdesivir. It’s made by Gilead Sciences, which is charging American patients with private insurance roughly $3,000 for a five-day course of the drug. That’s not as expensive as investors in Gilead would like to see the drug cost. They want to make money, of course. But it’s more expensive than some politicians and patient advocates think is appropriate. What is the right balance between profit and public good in a pandemic? Why Life Behind Bars Differs Dramatically F