Bias and Insubordination at the FBI, Revisiting the Marshmallow Test, Unmasking Robin Williams

Guest: Ryan Vogel, JD, Director of the Center for National Security Studies, Utah Valley University

Guest: Karen Lynn Davidson, PhD, Former English Professor at BYU, Former Member of LDS General Music Committee, and Author of “O Savior Thou Who Wearest a Crown” and “Each Life That Touches Ours for Good” Sunday worship for many Americans includes hymn singing. What makes a good hymn? And how is writing a hymn different from just writing a poem? Karen Lynn Davidson is a scholar of the hymn writing process and a writer of hymns herself. Two of hers are included in the hymnal used by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints – a collection she helped develop, in fact. This week, the LDS Church announced plans to revise the current hymnal in the next few years “to unify members and reflect the needs of members around the world.”

Guest: Tyler Watts, PhD, Research Assistant Professor in the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, New York University Thanks to something called the Marshmallow Test, it’s a widely-known fact that kids who are able to exercise a bit of self-control as toddlers will have more success in life – they’ll get better standardized test scores, do better in college and even in their careers.  But a team of researchers recently attempted to replicate that original Marshmallow test published in 1990 and found the link between success in life and being able to resist the temptation of a fluffy marshmallow as a toddler is not nearly as strong as we thought.

Guest: Jim Ruble, PharmD, JD, Professor of Pharmacy and Healthcare Law, University of Utah Americans typically pay much higher prices for prescription drugs than patients in other countries – especially name-brand drugs. Which is why so many of us urge our doctors to prescribe generic drugs whenever possible. And that’s also why drug companies use lots of strategies to keep generic versions of their big money-making drugs off the market. What’s the fairest way to honor the investment drug companies make in developing new medicine, while also encouraging competition to keep prices in check?

Guest: Dave Itzkoff, New York Times Culture Reporter, Author of “Robin” It’s been nearly four years since Robin Williams died of suicide. An autopsy later revealed he had an undiagnosed, progressive form of dementia known to cause depression and even hallucinations. Might that have contributed to his suicide? In death – and in life - Robin Williams was an enigma. Who was behind all the frenetic jokes and accents? When he wasn’t being funny for the world, who was he?

Guest: Pamela Bowman, MBBS, Clinical Research Fellow, University of Exeter Medical School Treating babies for neonatal diabetes has traditionally required giving them regular shots of insulin, a terrible task for both parents and baby. Now new research out of Europe signals an end to these shots.