Viewpoints Explained: The Escalating Levels of Caffeine in Energy Drinks
We cover how much caffeine is packed inside many of these newer energy drinks and the consequences of consuming higher-than-needed amounts.
The Growing Risk of Wildfires From Coast to Coast: Are You Prepared?
Dr. Adrienne Edwards, a botanist and wildfire expert, discusses how Americans can best prepare for wildfire season and help stop the spread.
The Interesting Origins of Cannabis
We speak with highly acclaimed pharmacology expert Dr. Richard Miller about the global history of cannabis and its controversial record over the last 70 years of American history.
Mary Lasker: A Public Health Pioneer
We speak with biographer, Judith L. Pearson about the many big contributions Lasker made to cancer & heart disease research throughout the twentieth century.
Giving Birth Behind Bars
Dr. Carolyn Sufrinjoins us this week to talk about the challenges pregnant prisoners face and what needs to change to make the prison system more humane, compassionate, and rehabilitation-focused for women in this situation.
Post-Pandemic Travel
Acclaimed TV host and European tour guide Rick Steves joins us this week on Viewpoints to share several traveling tips, including how to get around crowds and stay safe this season.
The Adolescent Mental Health Crisis
Between 2001 and 2019, suicide rates for young people ages 10 to 19 jumped 40%. Between the same period, emergency room visits for self-harm increased 88%, according to the CDC.
A More Supportive Mental Health System
The isolation of the pandemic has taken a big toll on young people as rates of depression, anxiety and other mental disorders have sharply risen in children and adolescents. What are the key areas that need to be fixed? Why is mental health just as important as physical health? We answer these questions and more this week on Viewpoints.
The Hiccups in Food Messaging & Nutrition at the FDA
The FDA is a massive organization that handles a wide variety of regulations and responsibilities. However, some critics argue that the FDA has failed to evolve with the times, spending large amounts of resources on dated measures and messaging tactics. Former FDA employee Dr. Richard Williams joins us this week to highlight some of these issues within food …
Staying Healthy Through the End of 2021 with Delta in the Background
The Delta variant is causing the COVID-19 pandemic to still linger on this year, but many are optimistic that the worst is now behind us. Pediatrician Dr. Jenna Wheeler joins us this week to offer up some advice on holiday gatherings, keeping healthy through flu season and the importance of getting younger children vaccinated as soon as they’re eligible.
Candid Conversations With Kids: Getting Back to School
The 2021-2022 school year is officially in full swing. But, it’s not the return that many were hoping for as COVID-19 cases spread, and outbreaks pop up in classrooms across the U.S. While there are barriers and challenges just like last year, school must go on. We speak with education expert, Julie King, to get some tips on how to navigate the hectic back …
Fighting for the Future of Clean Water
Gold mining has been a lucrative business for many generations. Today, it’s still a booming industry with global mining companies expanding into new markets each year. This week – we highlight the incredible story of activists in northern El Salvador who stood up to mining company, OceanaGold and won.
The Items That Symbolize the COVID-19 Pandemic
Wondering what to do with the dozens of face masks and all of those unused yeast packets? Us too. There are several items that Americans sought after during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic that help to showcase what this period in time was like. Once the pandemic is fully over, how will we look back and remember this time? How are museum curators and …
Negotiating the High Cost of Healthcare
Millions of Americans put off going to a doctor or hospital because they’re afraid of the high cost of care. Depending on your insurance, one MRI scan can cost upwards of a thousand dollars. One trip to the emergency room can mean thousands of dollars in charges that people can’t afford to pay. So, what’s driving these sky-high prices? How can people …
The Endless Drought: Dwindling Water in the West
Lake Mead, the reservoir created by the Hoover Dam, is at its lowest levels ever recorded. Drought is not a new problem in the West, but it is getting worse as the years go by. What’s being done to curb water consumption and increase supply so people’s taps don’t run dry?
Entrepreneurship in the Adult-Use Cannabis Market
New York is the latest to legalize recreational marijuana, creating thousands of new jobs and is expected to generate billions of dollars in revenue after a lackluster year for the state in tourism, real estate and business. But in a fast-growing industry, how do you make sure that smaller entrepreneurs aren’t left behind? Or those who’ve been systemically …
Covid Testing on College Campuses
The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has developed a quick and affordable saliva-based test that makes it possible for students, faculty and staff to get checked twice a week for COVID-19. We speak with one of its creators, Dr. Martin Burke about the largescale implementation of this method and the upcoming challenges with flu season quickly …
Back To School 2020: Learning Through Tech
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.
How To Travel Once We Can All Travel Again
Once it is safe to travel again – where’s the first place you plan 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 without spending a fortune.
The Many Faces of Homelessness
On a single night in the U.S. there are more than 550,000 people homeless – and this number is only set to rise as COVID-19 has forced millions out of work and shattered the stability of the U.S. economy. As a child or teen who has to deal with homelessness at a young age, it can be a tough road of shifting from temporary housing to another shelter.
The Murder of George Floyd: A Deepening Public Health Crisis
How can a simple police call lead to the killing of an unarmed and unresisting man? For weeks, protests and outrage have spread across the U.S. and internationally as the killing of Floyd brings racial inequality and police brutality into focus once again. Even in the midst of a pandemic, people are showing up to say they’re fed up with the lack of equal …
Modern-Day Drones and the Implementation of Remote Identification
Drones are already a multi-billion-dollar business and the industry is only set to grow in revenue over the next five years, reaching an estimated 63 billion by 2025. The unmanned aircraft systems can be applied to a wide breadth of tasks and are an essential resource during war, rescue and public health crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic. Viewpoints …
Rethinking Healthcare: How Do You Fix a Flawed System?
The topic of healthcare is one of the most-debated issues so far in the 2020 election – but what’s the fix for the expensive, inefficient system that’s currently in place? So far it’s a murky answer. Millions are struggling with the high cost of care, doctors are burning out and patient-doctor interaction is at an all-time low. We speak with an industry …
Friends of the Children
While some of us have fond memories of an idyllic childhood filled with joyous birthday parties and summer road trips, some children face a completely different home life. This instability can overtake a child or teen and lead them down a dangerous path. The nonprofit, Friends of the Children, understands the importance of getting to a child early on and …
