Shutdown Drama, E. Coli, AI with Taste, Sumatran Rhino

Guest: James Curry, Professor of Political Science, University of Utah We face the possibility of partial government shutdown if Congress can’t pass a spending bill by midnight Friday. President Trump is trying to get funding for a wall on the southern US border included in that bill, but Democrats in the House and Senate are refusing to go along with Trump’s full request. And remember, Democrats will take control of the US House on January 3, so if the President hopes to get his border wall funded, now is the time to do it, before Republicans lose control of the House. But is it worth shouldering the blame for a government shut down?

Guest: Brad Taylor, Professor of Nutrition, Dietetics & Food Science at BYU It’s been over a month since the national recall of romaine lettuce due to an E. coli outbreak that hospitalized dozens of people in 15 states. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still strongly advises that you only eat romaine if you know where it came from. Specifically, the CDC has linked the E. coli outbreak to three counties in California. But what can we learn from this incident, and what do consumers need to know to minimize risk?

Guest: Jason Cohen, Founder and CEO of Analytical Flavor Systems The failures of New Coke and Crystal Pepsi are legendary in the soda business. But take a walk down the food aisle at a closeout store and it’s clear food companies are always gambling on new flavors that flop. At least a third of new food products fail in the first year and a half they’re on the market. Could artificial intelligence give food companies the ability to make their new flavors sure-fire hits?

Guest: Susie Ellis, Executive Director of International Rhino Foundation Most efforts to protect endangered species focus on preventing poaching, protecting habitat and doing everything possible to help the animals thrive in the wild. So why, then, is an international coalition of conservation organizations now attempting to capture the last Sumatran rhinos still living in the wild? Isn’t trapping endangered rhinos the last thing conservationists would want to do Find more information about the Sumatran Rhino Rescue Project at rhinos.org.

Guest: James Fahner, Pediatric Oncologist and Former Chairman of the National Medical Advisory Council for Make-A-Wish America Granting wishes to sick children is a heartwarming tradition – whether it’s meeting a celebrity, going to Disneyland, or getting a puppy. But does heartwarming lead to healing? A group of doctors who treat kids with cancer wanted to find out. They compared hundreds of sick kids who had wishes granted by the Make-A-Wish Foundation to hundreds of similarly sick kids who did not. The results confirm what the doctors had long suspected: granting a wish helps children heal and can actually save health care costs.

Guest: Kirsten Hawkes, ParentPreviews.com Home Alone, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Elf, It’s a Wonderful Life … that Claymation version of Rudolph … everyone’s got a favorite Christmas movie. If you’re interested in mixing up your family movie watching this holiday, Kirsten Hawkes of ParentPreviews.com has some recommendations that too often get overlooked: Blizzard; Arthur Christmas; The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe; and Joyeux Noël.