Each year, white collar crime results in losses that range between 300 and 800 billion dollars. Comparatively, other street-level crimes only total 16 billion dollars. Despite the huge cost, we seldom hear about lasting consequences for corporate offenders. We explore the prevalence of white-collar crime in our country and the systems that allow this corruption to flourish.
We all know the rule: “I before E, except after C,” but it’s not applicable in “weird” or “science” or many other words. The English language has many exceptions to its rules and these irregularities make it a difficult language to learn. Two language experts join Viewpoints this week to share the many frustrations of English and the rules at play today.
How will COVID-19 change the college admissions process? Will more students stay close to home? Will standardized tests be a thing of the past? Journalist, Jeffrey Selingo spent a year embedded in three college admissions offices and joins Viewpoints this week to share his insights and how this pandemic will alter higher education for good.
The 2020 school year feels a bit different for the millions of students ‘back to school’ in whatever form that may be. We speak with two child development experts, Dr. Irene Koolwijk and Lindsay Jones, about some of the available resources and methods that parents can use to keep their young ones on track.
Americans spent 700 billion dollars on groceries in 2018. Across the U.S., there are more than 38,000 supermarkets, each stocking thousands and thousands of distinct products. But what is the human cost of this mass consumerism? Well, the burden largely falls on low-paid workers at each level of food production and distribution - and the pandemic has only exacerbated many of these problems.
Navigating back to school this year has been challenging to say the least. With switching policies and protocols, everyone is just trying to get through the fall one day at a time. Viewpoints speaks with two education experts about the biggest barriers to learning and what online education technology can really offer students.
Suffering from a travel bug that can’t be quenched this year? Chicago writer, Jessica Mlinaric believes that if you look hard enough you don’t have to leave your town or city to experience something new. We cover some of the interesting, historical sights around Chicago and how you can explore your own area.
Hurricane Laura ramped up to a Category 4 hurricane late last month and was the strongest storm to hit the Louisiana coast in more than a hundred and sixty years. Each year, the most powerful storms during the Atlantic hurricane season typically form between the end of August and early October. We speak with two experts to better understand the history of hurricanes and the destruction they wreak each year.
Without inventors like Benjamin Franklin or visionaries like Elon Musk, the world would look a bit different. Both of these people and countless others followed their passion, but sometimes it can be hard to slow down and take a risk. Do you enjoy writing? Tinkering with tech? Creating music? Art? It’s never too late to forge a different career path or side hobby. We speak with Kickstarter co-founder, Yancey Strickler about some of the barriers to entry creatives face today and how to find support within a community.
It’s only September and this year’s wildfires in California are already worse than last year with still months left in peak fire season. We explore the growing challenges facing Californians and what the future holds for The Golden State.
Today, ex-government employee, Edward Snowden is recognized around the world for his role in leaking highly classified information about government mass surveillance. We explore the benefits and consequences of modern surveillance and how both private business entities and governments are acquiring information from millions of Americans.
The U.S. has the largest prison population in the world with more than 2.3 million inmates. Each year, prisons cost taxpayers 80 billion dollars. But with two thirds of those incarcerated returning back behind bars within a few years, clearly something is broken. We discuss how some popular reforms do more harm than good and what needs to change within the system.
All humans need some amount of rest – whether that’s five hours or eight. But how we sleep and the quality of that slumber can vary widely. We speak with sleep expert, Matthew Walker, a professor at California-Berkeley, who says getting restful sleep is the single biggest thing we can do to vastly improve our mental and physical health.
For most people this year, traveling seems like a distant memory. Getting on a plane, taking a train or even using public transport on a daily basis has been largely abandoned with COVID-19. But once it is safe to travel again – where’s the first place you’d like to go? Acclaimed travel guide, writer and TV host, Rick Steves joins Viewpoints this week to share how you can get the most out of your travels and fully immerse yourself in the local culture, people and history.
Rewind back to 1896 aboard the voyager ship, the Herbert Fuller. Just a week into the journey, three people aboard were murdered and there were multiple suspects. The murder trial that follows is historic and helped shape modern law today.
We’ve all received spam calls and fishy-looking emails that promise us a free vacation or a great bargain that’s too good to pass up. Sometimes they even come from a phone contact or your boss asking for help or to download an attachment. Author and comedian, James Veitch has made a name for himself by replying to these scams and continuing the conversation, effectively wasting the scammers time as much as they waste ours. We speak with him about his trade and the major telltale signs to look out for in a scam.
When Dutch forces surrendered to the Germans in May of 1940, the Nazis gained control of the Netherlands and set in action a plan to exterminate hundreds of thousands of Jews and minorities. Arguably, the most famous voice from that region is Anne Frank – the young teenage girl who wrote of her daily life in hiding until she was discovered in 1944 and died in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. While Anne Frank is a prominent voice, there are many other stories of those who hid out for years, evading capture and awaiting freedom.
There are millions of Americans who live together as husband and wife, but never become formally “married.” What are their rights? Who gets the house, the car and the bank accounts if the relationship ends or one of them passes away? We speak with a contract and family law attorney who has written extensively on the subject to find out how society and the courts views co-habitation relationships. We also cover what steps co-habiting couples should take to still be recognized by the law.
In the early to mid 1900’s, capturing a picture was cumbersome and complicated and took weeks to process the film. Then, Edwin Land, the creator of the Polaroid camera, came along and revolutionized the industry. Viewpoints speaks with author Ron Fierstein who profiles Land in his book, A Triumph of Genius: Edwin Land, Polaroid, and the Kodak Patent War.
Trauma comes in many shapes and forms throughout life. Viewpoints speaks with psychiatrist, Dr. James S. Gordon in order to better understand a person’s reaction to trauma and the body’s resilience in dealing with these stressful events and situations.
