Tag Archives: Science and Technology

Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle-Climate-Change-Coastal-Effects-/-Myths-about-Addiction-Mar. 1st, 2015

First, climate change, receding glaciers and melting ice sheets are causing the oceans to rise dramatically. What does that mean for the world’s coastal cities? [ dur: 15mins. ]

  • Andrea Dutton is a Professor of Geological Sciences at the University of Florida. She is the co-author of Tropical Tales of Polar Ice:Evidence of Last Interglacial Polar Ice Sheet Retreat Recorded by Fossil Reefs of the Granitic Seychelles Island published in Quaternary Science Reviews.
  • Brian Fagan is Emeritus Professor of Anthropology at the University of California at Santa Barbara. He is the author of The Attacking Ocean: The Past, Present, and Future of Rising Sea Levels, Elixir: A History of Water and Humankind and The Great Warming: Climate Change and the Rise and Fall of Civilizations

Then, on The Scholars’ Circle panel, science contradicts long held societal myths about addiction. What are the most effective means of addressing addiction? [ dur: 43mins. ]

  • Dr. Lance Dodes is a former Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. He is the author of The Heart of Addiction: A New Approach to Understanding and Managing Alcoholism and Other Addictive Behaviors, Breaking Addiction: A 7-Step Handbook for Ending Any Addiction and The Sober Truth: Debunking the Bad Science Behind 12-Step Programs and the Rehab Industry.
  • Dr. Jeffrey Foote is the Co-founder and Clinical Director of the Center For Motivation and Change. Previously, he was the Deputy Director of the Division of Alcohol Treatment and Research at Mt. Sinai Medical Center and a Senior Research Associate at The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University. He is the co-author of Beyond Addiction: How Science and Kindness Help People Change.
  • Dr. Adi Jaffe is a lecturer at UCLA and the Co-Founder and Executive Director at Alternatives Addiction Treatment.

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle-Climate-affect-on-Ecosystems-/-Wildlife-trafficking-Feb. 22nd, 2015

First, scientists are saying the earth is changing more rapidly than we expected. Ecosystems are shifting and some species are dying out. What exactly is occurring and where are we headed? We speak with Larry Scheweiger, author of, Last Chance: Preserving Life on Earth. [ dur: 27 mins. ]

  • Larry J. Schweiger is a former president and CEO of National Wildlife Federation, America’s largest conservation organization. Author of Last Chance: Preserving Life on Earth

Then, on the Scholars’ Circle panel, wildlife trafficking is putting some species to the brink of extinction. Can a recent international agreement stop this multibillion dollar industry? [ dur: 30 mins. ]

For a transcript of this interview, please visit: TheBigQ

  • David S. Wilkie PhD is a wildlife ecologist specializing in human behavioral ecology and anthropology. He is the Director of Conservation Support at the Wildlife Conservation Society and Adjunct Associate Professor at Boston College, and formerly co-chair of the Bushmeat Crisis Task Force. He has numerous scholarly publications and is a contributor to Huffington Post and LiveScience.
  • Tanya Wyatt PhD is lecturer of wildlife criminology at the University of Northumbria in the UK. She is the author of Green criminology & wildlife trafficking: the illegal fur and falcon trades in Russia Far East, and the book Wildlife Trafficking: A Deconstruction of the Crime, the Victims, and the Offenders (Critical Criminological Perspectives).
  • Marc Bekoff ( blog ), is professor emeritus of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and co-founder with Jane Goodall of Ethologists for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. His books include The Emotional Lives of Animals, Why Dogs Hump and Bees Get Depressed: The Fascinating Science of Animal Intelligence, Emotions, Friendship, and Conservation, and has co-authored, Wild Justice: The Moral Lives of Animals

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle-The-Great-Convergence-/-Humans-and-Other-Species-Feb. 15th, 2015

First, in most parts of the world inequality is shrinking and the middle class is growing, it is what some call the great convergence. We will speak with Kishore Mahbubani author of, The Great Convergence: Asia, the West, and the Logic of One World. [ dur: 29 mins. ]

  • Kishore Mahbubani is Professor in the Practice of Public Policy and Dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore

Then, on The Scholars’ Circle panel, scientists are increasingly finding similarities between humans and other animals. Other animals cooperate, communicate, spread culture and experience a wide spectrum of emotions including empathy, joy and jealousy. Their also similarly affected by disorders like addiction, depression, food disorders and self-harm which were once thought to be found only in humans. Just how similar are we to other animals and what might these findings teach us about the human condition and our relationship to other species? [ dur: 29 mins. ]

  • Marc Bekoff ( blog ), is professor emeritus of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and co-founder with Jane Goodall of Ethologists for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. His books include The Emotional Lives of Animals, Why Dogs Hump and Bees Get Depressed: The Fascinating Science of Animal Intelligence, Emotions, Friendship, and Conservation, and has co-authored, Wild Justice: The Moral Lives of Animals,
  • Barbara Natterson-Horowitz is a cardiologist, the Director of Imaging at the UCLA Cardiac Arrhythmia Center and a cardiac consultant for the Los Angeles Zoo. She is the co-author of Zoobiquity: The Astonishing Connection Between Human and Animal Health.
  • Stan Kuczaj is director of The Marine Mammal Behavior and Cognition Laboratory at University of Southern Mississippi . He is coauthor/editor of Emotions of Animals and Humans: Comparative Perspectives (The Science of the Mind)

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle-Parasites-affects-Behavior-/-Phenomena-of-Love-Feb. 8th, 2015

First, is our behavior free will or is it partly due to parasites? New science shows how parasites change behaviors throughout the animal kingdom. What does that mean for human behavior? [ dur: 14 mins. ]

  • Dr. Dickson Despommier is a Professor in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at Columbia University. He is the author of The Vertical Farm: Feeding the World in the 21st Century and People, Parasites, and Plowshares: Learning From Our Body’s Most Terrifying Invaders​.​
  • Patrick House is N​euroscientist at Stanford University. He is the co-author of Predator ​C​at ​O​dors ​A​c​div​ate ​S​e​x​ual ​A​rousal ​Pathways in ​B​rains of Toxoplasma ​Gondii ​infected ​R​ats.

Then, for this Valentine’s week we spend the rest of the hour exploring the phenomena of love. They may have been some of the world’s greatest or most influential thinkers, but they were also great failures at love. Joining us is Andrew Shaffer author of Great Philosophers Who Failed at Love. [ dur: 15 mins. ]

  • Andrew Shaffer is the author of Great Philosophers Who Failed at Love and Literary Rogues: A Scandalous History of Wayward Authors​.​

Later, Spencer Downing charts a historical timeline of love’s many ways, suggesting how we have come to understand love in the twenty-first century.

  • Spencer Downing is Director of Programs and Operations at​ The Center at Blessed Sacrament

Finally, on the scholars’ panel, what is love? Is it emotional? Is it biological? Can it be summoned by rational decision and how does it play out in society? [ dur: 28 mins. ]

  • Simon May is a Visiting Professor of Philosophy at Kings College London. He is the author of Love: A History and Nietzsche’s Ethics and his War on ‘Morality’​.​
  • Bennett W. Helm is a Professor of Philosophy at Franklin & Marshall College. H​e is the author of​ Love, Friendship, and the Self: Intimacy, Identification, and the Social Nature of Persons and Emotional Reason: Deliberation, Motivation, and the Nature of Value.
  • Dr. Robert Epstein is a Senior Research Psychologist at the American Institute for Behavioral Research and Technology. He is currently working on a book called Making Love: How People Learn To Love, and How You Can Too, which is based on his research on how love emerges over time in arranged marriages. He is also the author of, Cognition, Creativity, and Behavior: Selected Essays.

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle -Fritjof Capra-the-systems-view-of-life-:a-unifying-vision-Aug. 31st, 2014

We spend the hour with Fritjof Capra about his book The Systems View of Life: A Unifying Vision. He is also the author of, The Tao of Physics, The Turning Point, The Web of Life, The Hidden Connections, The Science of Leonardo: Inside the Mind of the Great Genius of the Renaissance, and Learning from Leonardo: Decoding the Notebooks of a Genius. [ dur: 60 mins. ]

Fritjof Capra, physicist, system theorist, and science writer, founding director of Center of Ecoliteracy.

  • http://www.fritjofcapra.net – Blog

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – Human and Animal Health / Human Rights Intervention? – Aug. 17th, 2014

First, do animals get depression, eating disorders, alcoholism, or diabetes? What can we learn from animals about healing? We explore the surprising common grounds between animals and us with the authors of ZOOBIQUITY: The Astonishing Connection Between Human and Animal Health. [ dur: 28 mins. ]

  • Dr. Barbara Netttern-Herowitz, David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA;
  • Kathryn Bowers, journalist. 

Then, on the Scholars’ Circle panel,as violent conflict and human rights abuses continue throughout so many parts of the world, we’ll look at the politics and ethics of humanitarian intervention. [ dur: 28 mins. ]

  • Frank Chalk, Professor of History and Director of Montreal Institute for Genocide  and human rights Studies (Will to intervene project website) at Concordia University. Author of The History and Sociology of Genocide: Analyses and Case Studies. Co-author of  Mobilizing the will to intervene. Associate editor of 3 volume encyclopedia of  Genocide and crimes against humanity.
  • Jeff Holzgrefe, adjunct Professor  of Law at Emory University School of Law; Co-editor of Humanitarian intervention, legal, ethical and political dilemmas.
  • Fernando Teson, Tobias Simon Eminent Scholar, Florida State University; College of Law.  Author of Humanitarian intervention and inquiry into law and morality and philosophy of international law.

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – Biology of Violence / Earth 2050 – July 20th, 2014

First, how much does biology effect the propensity for violence? We are joined by Adrian Raine, author of, Anatomy of Violence: The Biological Roots of Crime. [ dur: 28 mins. ]

  • Adrian Raine is Professor of Criminology and Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania. He is the author of, Anatomy of Violence: The Biological Roots of Crime;

Then, on the Scholars’ Circle panel, with climate change, depleted natural resources, and more than 9 billion people, what will the world look like in 2050? [ dur: 30 mins. ]

  • Deepak Ray is Postdoctoral Research Scholar at the Global Landscapes Initiative Institute on the Environment at the University of Minnesota. He is co-author of the study, “Yield Trends Are Insufficient to Double Global Crop Production by 2050,” and “Solutions for a Cultivated Planet.”
  • Eward Miguel is Professor at University of California, Berkeley and Director of the Center for Effective Global Action. He is the author of, Africa’s Turn? He is co-author of Economic Gangsters: Corruption, Violence and the Poverty of Nations, and the study, “Quantifying the Influence of Climate on Human Conflict.?
  • Laurence C. Smith is Professor and Chair of Geography at UCLA and author of The World in 2050: Four Forces Shaping Civilization’s Northern Future.

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – 1776 Loyalists / US Constitution Amendments – July 6th, 2014

First, our monthly series with Scientific American, Scholars Circle Scientific (SCSC), with highlights in science. We discuss Cancer Research News and new discoveries about our universe. [ dur: 14 mins. ]

  • Fred Guterl, is Executive Editor, Scientific American;

Then, we revisit the American Revolution through the story of the loyalists – those loyal to Great Britain. [ dur: 18 mins. ]

  • Maya Jasanoff, is Professor of History  at Harvard University. She is author of Liberty’s Exiles: American Loyalists and the Revolutionary War.

Finally with Scholars’ Circle Panel we discuss  history of Constitutional Amendments  to  US Constitution. [ dur: 25 mins. ]

  • John R. Vile is Dean and Professor of Political Science at Middle Tennessee State University. He is the author of, The Writing and Ratification of the U.S. Constitution: Practical Virtue in Action, Encyclopedia of Constitutional Amendments, Proposed Amendments, and Amending Issues, 1789-1995, and soon to be released ReFramers: 170 Eccentric, Visionary, and Patriotic Proposals to Rewrite the U.S. Constitution.
  • Stephen M. Griffin is Professor in Constitutional Law at Tulane Law School. He is the author of, Long Wars and the Constitution and American Constitutionalism: From Theory to Politics.
  • Sanford Levinson is Professor in the Department of Government and Chair in Law at the University of Texas Law School. His numerous publications include, Constitutional Faith, Our Undemocratic Constitution: Where the Constitution Goes Wrong (and How We the People Can Correct It) and, most recently,Framed: America’s 51 Constitutions and the Crisis of Governance.

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

The Scholars’ Circle Radio- June 1st, 2014

First, sanitation and antibiotics have saved the lives of many, but are they also the culprits behind some of our modern diseases? We might have gone overboard in killing our microbes. And that may be causing some of today’s epidemics. With Martin  Blaser.[ dur: 22 mins. ]

  • Martin J. Blaser is Professor of Translational Medicine and Director of Human Microbiome Program at New York University. He is the author of Missing Microbes : How the Overuse of Antibiotics Is Fueling Our Modern Plagues.

Then, on the Scholars’ Circle panel, in light of the shootings in Santa Barbara, we look at how the meaning of the second amendment has changed since its introduction and what it may mean for today’s debate about gun laws. Our guests have traced the historical meaning of the second amendment from the very first days when it was drafted and proposed. [ dur: 36 mins. ]

  • Michael Waldman is President of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law. His is the author of POTUS Speaks: Finding the Words That Defined the Clinton Presidency, A Return to Common Sense: Seven Bold Ways to Revitalize Democracy, and his latest, The Second Amendment: A Biography.
  • Adam Winkler is Professor of Law at UCLA School of Law. He is the author of Gunfight: The Battle Over the Right to Bear Arms in America and the co-editor of Encyclopedia of the American Constitution.

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

The Scholars’ Circle Radio- May 25th, 2014

First, Thailand has experienced its second military coup in a decade. What does the military siege mean for the country and the region. [ dur: 17 mins. ]

  • Jack Fong, Professor of Sociology at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. Author of Revolution as Development: The Karen Self-Determination Struggle Against Ethnocracy (1949 – 2004)

Then, on the Scholars’ Circle panel, while advances in neuroscience are making great leaps in understanding humanity, scholars and doctors disagree on what neuroscience does and does not tell us about what it means to be human. Are we our brains? Do we have free will? How far can neuroscience take us? [ dur: 40 mins. ]

  • Dr. Sally Satel is lecturer at Yale University, a resident scholar at AEI and the staff psychiatrist at a methadone clinic. She is coauthor of One Nation under Therapy and Brainwashed: The Seductive Appeal of Mindless Neuroscience.
  • Patricia S. Churchland is Professor Emerita of Philosophy at the University of California, San Diego. In 1991, she was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship. Her books include Brain-Wise: Studies in Neurophilosophy, Braintrust: What Neuroscience Tells Us about Morality, and Touching a Nerve: The Self as Brain.

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