How culture shapes our understanding and treatment of mental health. We speak with three experts. [ dur: 58 mins. ]

• Roberto Lewis-Fernandez is Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at Columbia University. He is also Director of NYS Center of Excellence for Cultural Competence and Hispanic Treatment Program and Co-Director of Anxiety Disorders Clinic at New York State Psychiatric Institute. He is the author and co-editor of the book DSM-5(R) Handbook of the Cultural Formulation Interview. He is also the co-author of the research publications Impact of motivational pharmacotherapy on treatment retention among depressed Latinos, and Conditional risk for PTSD among Latinos: A systematic review of racial/ethnic differences and sociocultural explanations.
• Tanya Marie Luhrmann is the Watkins University Professor in the Anthropology Department at Stanford University. She is the author of When God Talks Back: Understanding the American Evangelical Relationship with God, Of Two Minds: An Anthropologist Looks at American Psychiatry and Our Most Troubling Madness: Schizophrenia and Culture.
• Andrew G. Ryder is Associate Professor of Psychology and Co-Director of the Centre for Clinical Research in Health at Concordia University. He is the co-author of the research publications Culture and psychopathology, Revisioning psychiatry: Cultural phenomenology, critical neuroscience, global mental health, Depression in cultural context: Chinese somatization and Towards a cultural-clinical psychology.

This program is produced with contributions from the following volunteers: Ankine Aghassian, Melissa Chiprin, Anaïs Amin, Tim Page, Mike Hurst and Sudd Dongre.

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First, Bird Colony collapse and crop failures.

• Josh Tewksbury is Research Professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder and Director of the Colorado Global Hub, Future Earth. He is also Executive Editor of Anthropocene magazine. He is the co-author of the studies Increase in crop losses to insect pests in a warming climate and De-faunation leads to interaction deficits, not interaction compensation, in an island seed dispersal network.
• Curtis Deutsch is Associate Professor of Chemical Oceanography in the School of Oceanography at Washington University. He is the co-author of the studies Acceleration of oxygen decline in the tropical Pacific over the past decades by aerosol pollutants, Microbial functional diversity alters the structure and sensitivity of oxygen deficient zones, and Increase in crop losses to insect pests in a warming climate.
• Steven R. Beissinger is Professor of Conservation Biology in the Department of Environmental Science, Policy & Management at the University of California, Berkeley. He is the co-author of the studies Mojave Desert Bird Populations Plummet as Region Warms and Dries and The push and pull of climate change causes heterogeneous shifts in avian elevation-al ranges.

Then, birds, bees, whales and turtles all use the earth s magnetic field to guide their behavior. Now scientists have learned much more about how. Joining us is Andres Vidal Gadea. He s a professor of Molecular Neuroethology at Illinois State University who has made the fascinating discoveries. [ dur: 15mins. ]

For a transcript of this interview, please visit: TheBigQ.

• Andrew Vidal Gadea, Professor of Molecular Neuroethology, Illinois State University . His research website at Illinois State University.

This program is produced with contributions from the following volunteers: Ankine Aghassian, Melissa Chiprin, Anaïs Amin, Tim Page, Mike Hurst and Sudd Dongre.

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Why are there protests in Hong Kong and what are the stakes for China and the world? Today we examine the ongoing political crisis between Hong Kong and China, the likely international responses to China’s policies and explore likely scenarios for resolution. Doug Becker hosts.[ dur: 58 mins. ]

For a transcript of this interview, please visit: TheBigQ.

• Dr Pradeep Taneja is professor of Chinese politics, political economy and international relations at the University of Melbourne. He is the co-author of China Since 1978 and co-editor of The European Union and China: Interests and Dilemmas.
• Katherine Chu is Professor of Political Science in the Department of Asian Pacific Studies at Cal State Dominguez Hills. She is the author of So You Think You Know Chinese Film: Beyond Jackie Chan and Crouching Tiger.
• Daniel C. Lynch is Professor of Political Science and International Relations at City University of Hong Kong. He is the author of China’s Futures: PRC Elites Debate Economics, Politics, and Foreign Policy. and Rising China and Asian Democratization: Socialization to “Global Culture” in the Political Transformations of Thailand, China, and Taiwan.

Produced by the Scholars’ Circle team: Ankine Aghassian, Melissa Chiprin, Tim Page, Mike Hurst and Sudd Dongre.

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Can international finance systems be harnessed to protect human rights? While historically financiers have funded some of the worse of human rights abuses, finances also enabled great human leaps. Our guest argues that it is time to alter the financial system for the good of humanity. [ dur: 29 mins. ]

• David Kinley is Professor and Chair in Human Rights Law at the University of Sydney Law School. He is the author of Necessary Evil: How to Fix Finance by Saving Human Rights, and Civilising Globalisation: Human Rights and the Global Economy. He is also the co-editor of Human Rights: Old Problems, New Possibilities.

Then, our guest studies factors that shape our lives and ways of being in life, like ideas and events. What does it really mean to be responsible? It might depend on where you live. [ dur: 29 mins. ]

• Susanna Trnka is Associate Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Auckland. She is the co-editor of Competing Responsibilities: The Politics and Social Ethics of Responsibility in Contemporary Life and State of Suffering: Political Violence and Community Survival in Fiji.

Produced by the Scholars’ Circle team: Ankine Aghassian, Melissa Chiprin, Anaïs Amin, Tim Page, Mike Hurst and Sudd Dongre.

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We spend the hour examining Brexit, what the election of Boris Johnson means for Brexit and a bitterly polarized British public and politics. What is the future of British economy? What the UK will likely look like in 2024? Doug Becker hosts.[ dur: 58mins. ]

For a transcript of this interview, please visit: TheBigQ

• Russell Foster is Lecturer in Britain and European Integration at King’s College London. His publications include Cry God for Harry, England and Saint George. Europe and the Limits of Integrating Identity, The Limits of Europe, and These Are Those That Faustus Most Desires: Identity, Iconography and Europe.
• Paul P. Craig is currently Professor of English Law at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of St John’s College. His many publications include Brexit and the UK Constitution, The EU, Democracy and Institutional Structure: Past, Present and Future, and Brexit and Relations between the UK and the EU.
• Simon Radford is an independent scholar based in the UK. He is the author of Can donations buy you a British peerage: a study in the link between party, political funding and peerage nominations, 2005 – 2014.

Produced by the Scholars’ Circle team: Ankine Aghassian, Melissa Chiprin, Tim Page, Mike Hurst and Sudd Dongre.

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On the heals of more mass shootings in the United States, we examine the mindset, the trends and changes of a globally connected rightwing movement, then turn to solutions to the growing animosity between identity groups.[ dur: 58 mins. ]

For a transcript of this interview, please visit: TheBigQ

• Dr. Lawrence Rosenthal is Chair and Lead Researcher of the Berkeley Center for Right-Wing Studies. He is the co-editor of STEEP: The Precipitous Rise of the Tea Party, and The New Nationalism and the First World War.
• Brian Levin is Director of the Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism and Professor of Criminal Justice at California State University, San Bernardino. He is co-author of the book The Limits of Dissent and the publications and co-author of Report to the nation: hate crimes rise in US cities and counties in time of division and foreign interference and Posing the Why Question: Understanding the perpetration of racially motivated violence and harassment.
• Ervin Staub is Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Founding Director of the Psychology of Peace and Violence Program at University of Massachusetts, Amherst. His extensive publications include Psychology of Evil: The Origins of Genocide and Other Group Violence, The Roots of Goodness and Resistance to Evil: Inclusive Caring, Moral Courage, and Altruism Born of Suffering, Active Bystandership and Heroism.

Produced by the Scholars’ Circle team: Ankine Aghassian, Melissa Chiprin, Anaïs Amin, Tim Page, Mike Hurst and Sudd Dongre.

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First, how did corporations get civil rights? The two-hundred-year battle to give corporations personhood and constitutional protections. [ dur: 34 mins. ]
For a transcript of this interview, please visit: TheBigQ

• Adam Winkler is Professor of Law at UCLA Law School. He is the author of Gunfight: The Battle over the Right to Bear Arms and We the Corporations: How American Businesses Won Their Civil Rights.

Then, how does privatization amount to what our guest calls a Constitutional Coup.[ dur: 23 mins. ]

• Jon Michaels is a Professor of Law at UCLA School of Law. He is the author of Constitutional Coup: Privatization’s Threat to the American Republic.

Produced by the Scholars’ Circle team: Ankine Aghassian, Melissa Chiprin, Anaïs Amin, Tim Page, Mike Hurst and Sudd Dongre.

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First we looks at History of World Media Freedom. Jenifer Whitten-Woodring and Douglas A. Van Belle are the co-authors of the book Historical Guide to World Media Freedom – A Country-by-Country Analysis [ dur: 28mins. ]

• Jenifer Whitten-Woodring is an Assistant Professor of Political Science Department at University of Massachusetts Lowell.
• Douglas A. Van Belle is a senior lecturer in Media Studies at Victoria University of Wellington.

Then we talk with one Stanford University scientist maps out the way to slow down climate change and even reverse some of the damage. [ dur: 30 mins. ]

For a transcript of this interview, please visit: TheBigQ

• Marc Jacobson is Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Director of Atmosphere/Energy Program at Stanford University. He’s also the Co-Founder of The Solutions Project, 100.org, and the 100% Clean, Renewable Energy Movement. He is the author of A path to sustainable energy by 2030 (Scientific American, 2009); 100% clean and renewable wind, water, sunlight (WWS) all-sector energy roadmaps for the 50 United States (Energy & Environmental Sciences, 2015; 100% clean and renewable wind, water, and sunlight (WWS) all-sector energy roadmaps for 139 countries of the world (Joule, 2017); and 100% clean, and renewable wind, water, and sunlight (WWS) all-sector energy roadmaps for 53 towns and cities in North America (Sustainable Cities and Society, 2018)

Produced by the Scholars’ Circle team: Ankine Aghassian, Melissa Chiprin, Anaïs Amin, Tim Page, Mike Hurst and Sudd Dongre.

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Contributing host Doug Becker takes on one of the most volatile international rivalries in the world, the conflict in South Asia between Pakistan and India. No issue embodies this rivalry more clearly than the region of Jammu and Kashmir. Resolving this issue would ease tensions between these two nuclear powers. What’s driving the conflict in Kashmir? Would granting the region independence lead to peace? How much is this conflict driven by local actions in the region and how much is it fueled by policies in Islamabad and New Delhi? How can we resolve it? [ dur: 58mins. ]

For a transcript of this interview, please visit: TheBigQ.

• T.V. Paul is James McGill Professor of International Relations in the Department of Political Science at McGill University. He is the author of numerous publications including his latest books Restraining Great Powers: Soft Balancing from Empires to the Global Era and The China-India Rivalry in the Globalization Era.
• Mona Bhan is Ford Maxwell Chair of South Asian Studies in the Department of Anthropology at Syracuse University. She is the author of Counterinsurgency, Development, and the Politics of Identity: From Warfare to Welfare? and co-editor of Resisting Occupation in Kashmir, with scholars from the Critical Kashmir Studies collective.

Report from Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Right on Situation of Human Rights in Kashmir. Link.

Produced by the Scholars’ Circle team: Ankine Aghassian, Melissa Chiprin, Anaïs Amin, Tim Page, Mike Hurst and Sudd Dongre.

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We spend the hour looking at the environmental impact of the US military. How much does the US military pollute the environment? What is their role in climate change causing green house emissions? The military has taken some measures to reduce its impact on the environment and green gas emissions, but our guests say these measures do little to assuage the military’s bigger effects on climate change. What are these effects and what can be done about them?[ dur: 58mins. ]

For a transcript of this interview, please visit: TheBigQ

• Benjamin Neimark is Senior Lecturer at the University of Lancaster, United Kingdom. He is the author of Speaking Power to ‘Post-Truth’: Critical Political Ecology and the New Authoritarianism and co-author of Hidden carbon costs of the “everywhere war” Logistics, geopolitical ecology, and the carbon boot‐print of the US military.
• Oliver Belcher is an Assistant Professor in Human Geography at Durham University, United Kingdom. He is the author of Anatomy of a village razing: Counterinsurgency, violence, and securing the intimate in Afghanistan, and co-author of Hidden carbon costs of the “everywhere war” Logistics, geopolitical ecology, and the carbon boot‐print of the US military.
• Neta C. Crawford is Professor of Political Science and Department Chair at Boston University. She is the author of the book Accountability for Killing: Moral Responsibility for Collateral Damage in America’s Post-9/11 Wars and the research paper Pentagon Fuel Use, Climate Change,and the Costs of War

Produced by the Scholars’ Circle team: Ankine Aghassian, Melissa Chiprin, Anaïs Amin, Tim Page, Mike Hurst and Sudd Dongre.

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