In the U.S., most Americans commonly use vegetable or olive oil when cooking. While we don’t often here about palm oil, it’s in many of the products that we buy at the grocery store, including everything from food to personal care products. And abroad, palm oil is widely used in cooking and frying. Last year, global consumption reached 72 million tons. However, this ingredient is not being produced sustainably and has led to widespread deforestation in Southeast Asian countries. What’s being done to curb the palm oil crisis?
21-24 Segment 2: The Highs of Running
Imagine running 50 miles – almost double the distance of a typical marathon. Do you think you could ever do it? Dean Karnazes, an ultra-runner, joins Viewpoints this week to break down the extreme sport of ultra-marathons. He’s been tackling long distances and smashing records for several years and has made a name for himself in the running world. We hear his story and some tips he has for people who are trying to slowly ease into everyday running.
21-23 Segment 1: The Return Of Baseball At The Ballpark
Baseball is back, and fans can once again revel in the experience of heading to a ballpark, grabbing some peanuts and cheering on their team as they score a homerun. Longtime baseball writer and faithful Phillies fan Timothy Malcolm joins Viewpoints this week to break down some of his favorite stadiums in the U.S. and some tips you should keep in mind before buying a ticket.
21-23 Segment 2: The Wedding Pages
The first New York Times wedding announcement was published in 1851. It was one sentence long and covered a young, white couple who had just married in New York. Today, the wedding and engagements section at the paper and other media outlets across the country look a lot different. We explore how this unique page has evolved over the years and the rat race some couples go through to get an announcement published at a prominent paper like The New York Times.
21-22 Segment 1: The Debate On Invasive Species
Many people are worried that non-native plants and animals are invading the U.S. and preventing native species from thriving. Each year, a lot of money and time is spent trying to rid the land of these aliens - often to no avail. But, are these species present because they’re the only ones that can exist in that environment? Are some plants and animals actually helping to create a more diverse and robust ecosystem? And are some native species really native to the U.S.? Our guests offer up a different perspective on the invasive species debate.
21-22 Segment 2: Sweaty Palms, Racing Heart: Facing The Fear Of Public Speaking
Why are people so afraid to give speeches in public? For many, it can be the cause of much anxiety and dread. We speak with a psychologist and a speech educator about why this anxiety builds and how we can use this adrenaline to our benefit when putting ourselves out there.
21-21 Segment 1: The Cycle Of Food Waste
The average person ends up trashing 25 percent of the food they buy from the grocery store. This can mean fresh produce, expired dairy, stale bread – the list goes on and on. This cycle of food waste across households, grocery stores and restaurants adds up, resulting in more than 81 billion pounds of fresh, edible food being thrown away each year. What’s the solution? Two food experts join us this week to offer some answers.
21-21 Segment 2: The 40th Anniversary of The NASA Space Shuttle
The birth of the space shuttle in 1981 marked a new era of space travel. For the first time ever, NASA had a spacecraft that could launch into space and come back to earth and land like an airplane. While the shuttle had many successful flights, there were also some big catastrophes that ultimately led the program to cease operations in 2011. Former chief historian of NASA Roger Launius joins Viewpoints this week to tell the story of this era of American space history.
21-20 Segment 1: The Rise Of Cryptocurrency
The cryptocurrency that started it all, Bitcoin, is now valued at around 1.6 trillion dollars. And in just the last month, another, newer form of crypto, Dogecoin has skyrocketed in popularity across the Internet, sharply driving up the price per token. We explore the fascinating and fast-evolving world of cryptocurrency and the future of traditional financial systems as digital currency gains ground across the globe.
21-20 Segment 2: Why Aren’t More Women Financially Independent?
The U.S. workforce is now more than 50 percent female, yet many women today still have little knowledge on financial planning and how to make their income work for them rather than the other way around. Executive and financial expert Jennifer Barrett joins us this week to shed some light on the importance of becoming financially autonomous and advocating for yourself in your career, relationships and beyond.
21-19 Segment 1: The Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Conundrum
How often do you buy an item from the store that’s packaged in a plastic container or wrapped in plastic? Daily decisions like these add up and are feeding into the global plastic crisis. Scientists estimate that there’s anywhere between nine to 16 million tons of plastic on the sea floor, polluting the environment, harming species and releasing harmful microplastics into every corner of the planet. Two experts on plastic join us this week to shed some light on the problem and how we can each make a difference by changing our consumption habits and calling on leaders to craft stricter laws on waste management and manufacturing.
21-19 Segment 2: The Mind-Bending Migration Of The Monarch Butterfly
In 2017, Sara Dykman biked more than 10,000 miles, following the path of the annual Monarch migration. Along her route, she stopped to educate and raise awareness about the beauty and fragility of the butterfly. Dykman joins us this week to teach us about the insect’s unique migration patterns across North America and how individuals can help this dwindling species.
21-18 Segment 1: Jimmy Stewart: The Hollywood Actor & Fighter Pilot
The late actor, Jimmy Stewart, gave us some very memorable characters during his time in Hollywood – many very funny; others endearing; and some dark and villainous. Perhaps Stewart’s most dramatic role was the one that not many people know about, but that molded his life and his psyche – not to mention his acting – for most of his career: serving as a fighter pilot in World War II. We talk to an author who delved into Stewart’s war service about how flying missions over Europe and seeing his comrades die affected the actor and the types of roles he chose to play post-war.
21-18 Segment 2: Easy Switches For A More Earth-Friendly Diet
As more Americans look to decrease their carbon footprints, what’s one way to make a big difference? Flipping the narrative on the traditional American diet. Beef is more carbon-intensive to produce than chicken, but did you know that cheese is also worse than chicken? It’s this knowledge that can change people’s dietary decisions and decrease greenhouse gas emissions, slowing global warming. Paul Greenberg, a food and science writer, joins Viewpoints this week to share how people can adjust their daily eating habits to make a difference.
21-17 Segment 1: What Happens To The Human Body In Space?
From abrupt changes in gravity to galactic cosmic radiation, astronauts face numerous challenges as they push to explore further into the unknown. Dr. Emmanuel Urquieta, from the Center for Space Medicine at the Baylor College of Medicine, joins Viewpoints this week to help us understand some of the health impacts of spending time in space and the hurdles that come with longer missions like sending humans to Mars.
21-17 Segment 2: The Sky-high Cost of College
Today, the average student graduating from a four-year, public university leaves with $28,600 in student loans. On top of this, students owe interest once payments kick in, and this can range from 3 to 5 percent for federal loans and can go as high as 12 percent for private loans. For some, the large sum of these loans plus interest can take several years to pay off and has a big effect on life decisions like when to start a family or if they can afford to leave a toxic job. This week – we cover the student loan crisis in the U.S. and talk about alternative options and resources that can help lower the current cost of higher education.
21-16 Segment 1: The Role We Each Play In Slowing Climate Change
Despite the pandemic, carbon emissions are at an all-time high, topping records over the past 3.6 million years. For years, scientists have warned of humans approaching a critical tipping point of global warming – and it’s here. Sustainability scientist Dr. Kimberly Nicholas joins Viewpoints this week to break down the current climate landscape and explain why turning things around requires a collective effort.
21-16 Segment 2: The Growing Wealth Of The Billionaire Class
Facebook founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg added 41 billion dollars to his wealth over the past year. And that’s nothing compared to what Tesla CEO, Elon Musk raked in: 157 billion. The majority of humans on the planet can’t even fathom earning that amount of money. Yet, for many in the top .01 percent, it’s a never-ending cycle of holding onto and building their wealth for generations to come. As the rich get richer and take up a bigger piece of the pie, what’s left for the rest of us? How can leaders and laws slow this extreme wealth inequality?
21-15 Segment 1: Managing Mental Health In The Medical Field During A Pandemic
Physician burnout is still a very real problem in the U.S. – and the pandemic has only exacerbated these feelings in some of the hardest hit hospitals across the country. We speak with Dr. Greg Hammer at Stanford University about the pandemic’s lasting effects on mental health and systems that have been created to better support people working in medicine or in medical school.
21-15 Segment 2: End-Of-Life Planning: Have You Gotten Your Affairs In Order?
About 60 percent of Americans don’t yet have a written will in place. People spend a lifetime working hard, saving money, building assets, but often never think about what would happen in case they suddenly passed away. Viewpoints speaks with life planning expert, Abby Schneiderman, about the importance of organizing your life both on paper and online.
