Investigative History with Scholars

Investigative History with ScholarsInvestigative History with ScholarsInvestigative History with Scholars

Investigative History with Scholars

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Public Health & Medicine, Science, Environmental Science

Understanding News Through History

As you will note in this series, the history of science - in any form, is not simply a fact-founded narrative. Rather, it is fraught with political, religious, social and economic challenges and pushbacks, all of which make my conversations with scholars highly informative and engaging. 


I hope you enjoy these episodes. Listen, read and watch below.  

Adel

 

p.s. 

Don't forget to glance through our economy and infrastructure series. 

Support HbN Program

I hope you are enjoying our program. And if you are, then please consider supporting us for as little as 99 cents a month. And thank you. 

Support HbN

Public Health & Medicine

S3E31: Really! Dieting was a thing in history?

HbN guest:  Dr. Ken Albala 

Author of: Eating Right in the Renaissance


 About our guest: Dr. Albala of the University of the Pacific has authored or edited 25 books on food. 


In the news: Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, weight loss drugs that are all the rage.


In this episode (Aug. 11, 2023): 

  • Eating Right in the Renaissance
  • How the nutritional logic different then than now
  • Diet advice for sex
  • Food in Early Modern Europe 
  • Spices in Europe - How TV gets it Wrong
  • Recipes from the past
  • Dieting from the 1700s to now 

Listen to Dr. Albala

S2E13: CRISPR HISTORY - gene-editing technology that is used for everything, including brewing beer

HbN guest: Prof.  Samantha Zyontz   


About our guest: Prof.  Zyontz of Stanford Law School is a Research Fellow of Intellectual Property and a Fellow at the Center for Law and the Biosciences. She is a CRISPR expert. 


 In the news: The biggest names (Nobel Prize winners) and institutions in science fight over ownership of CRISPR in the US Patent Office.


In this episode (Apr. 1, 2022): 

  • What is CRISPR? 
  • What is gene editing? 
  • CRISPR's many uses - think yogurt and, yes, beer 
  • Why is ownership of CRISPR in dispute? 
  • What are the ethical boundaries of gene editing? 

Listen to Prof. Zyontz

S2E7: WHY DON'T WE HAVE A CURE FOR ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE?

HbN guest: Dr. Gil Rabinovici


About our guest: Dr. Rabinovici is a Distinguished Professor in Memory and Aging, in the Departments of Neurology, Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, at UCSF. He is the principal investigator of one of the largest AD clinical studies. 


In the news: how ADUHELM, the highly anticipated Alzheimer's Disease drug, didn't live up to its potential. 


In this episode(Feb. 18, 2022): 

  • What exactly is Alzheimer's Disease? 
  • Are women more likely to develop AD? 
  • Is there a genetic component to this dreadful disease? 
  • How does AD compare to other major diseases? 
  • Why don't we have a cure? 
  • If not a cure, then can we learn to live with AD?
  • Why are there so many failed clinical trials? 
  • Why is it easier to diagnose AD now than even 15 years ago? 
  • What is the economic impact of AD? 

Listen to Dr. Rabinovici

S2E6: HAVE YOU GOTTEN YOUR BOOSTER SHOT? VACCINE HISTORY

HbN guest: Prof. Dorit Reiss 

 

About our guest: Prof. Dorit Reiss of U.C. Hastings  College of the Law has written extensively about vaccine mandates and policy responses to non-vaccination. 


 In the news:  States are ready to roll back mask mandates and proof of vaccination requirements. But the CDC says "We are not there yet".  


In this episode (Feb. 11, 2022): 

  • Some of the US Supreme Court's important vaccine decisions
  • What are the impacts of the High Court's decisions on the private sector, and the federal, state and local governments? 
  • Why doesn't the U.S. have a national vaccine policy? 
  • Powers of our federal government in healthcare matters
  • Should the CDC be semi-independent, similar to the Federal Reserve? 
  • Have COVID-19 vaccine policies been different than prior vaccine policies? 
  • Should there be a price for infecting others? 

Listen to Dr. Reiss

S2E4: 100,000 OVERDOSE DEATHS! - A U.S. CLINICAL HISTORY

 HbN guest: Dr. Golnaz Agahi


 About our guest: Professor Agahi of the University of Massachusetts Global, School of Social Work, has over 20 years of expertise in alcohol and drug prevention and treatment, as well as suicide prevention and treatment - a subject she feels quite passionately about.  


In the news: more than 100,000 opioid overdose deaths. 


In this episode (Jan. 28, 2022): 

  • What are opioids? 
  • How did this crisis start? 
  • Is it a pandemic or an epidemic? 
  • Who is to blame? The Drs.? The pharmacies? The drug companies? 
  • What is "chasing the White Dragon"?
  • How does overdose occur and how can we prevent deaths? 
  • Why and how does the opioid crisis impact suicide rates? 
  • Are we at the peak of this crisis? 
  • What's the way out?  

Listen to Dr. Agahi

S1E41: VACCINES IN ‘50S, ‘60S & '70S…

HbN guest: Dr. Meredith Wadman

Author of: The Vaccine Race: Science, Politics and the Human Costs of Defeating Disease


About our guest: Dr. Meredith Wadman. She is a staff reporter at the journal Science, and has worked in public health clinics in many countries.  She is the author of The Vaccine Race: Science, Politics and the Human Costs of Defeating Disease. 


In the news: President Biden is urging Americans to get vaccinated, to get their booster shots. 


In this episode (Dec. 9, 2022): 

  • History of polio, measles and smallpox vaccines - how our parents and grandparents lined up to get those vaccines. 
  • “Vaccine making isn't rocket science. It's a lot harder than rocket science.” 
  • Were vaccines developed more quickly in the past? 
  • Reaction to vaccination drives and mandates in Asia and Africa
  • Anti-vaxxers in the U.S. 

Listen to Dr. Wadman

S1E31: 675,000! THE SPANISH FLU PANDEMIC

 HbN guest:  Mr. John M. Barry

Author of: The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Greatest Plague in History

 

About our guest: Mr. Barry is the author of the New York Times Best Seller The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Greatest Plague in History, which won the 2005 Keck Communication Award from the United States National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine for the year's outstanding book on science or medicine. In 2005 Mr. Barry also won the "September 11th Award" from the Center for Biodefense and Emerging Pathogens at Brown University.


In the news:  more than 1,000 schools across 31 states have closed, because of Covid-19. 


In this episode (Sept. 23, 2022): 

  • The history of the Spanish Flu pandemic.
  • How the young died bloody, gruesome and swift deaths! 
  • How our news media get that history wrong?
  • Comparing Spanish Flu to COVID-19 
  • Comparing Spanish Flu health mandates with COVID-19
  • President George W. Bush's preparation for a potential pandemic
  • What happened to pandemic preparation between 2005 to 2020? 
  • President Trump's pandemic preparation 
  • Misinformation now and in the past
  • COVID's and flu's variants - temporal and geographic factors

Listen to Mr. Barry

UFO & Space

S2E21: CONGRESSIONAL UFO HEARINGS - HUMAN HISTORY OF UFO

  HbN guest: Dr. Greg Eghigian

Author of: “Making UFOs Make Sense: Ufology, Science, and the History of Their Mutual Misunderstanding,” Public Understanding of Science.


About our guest: Dr. Eghigian is a professor of history at Penn State College of the Liberal Arts and the Former Director of the Science, Technology, and Society Program there. His interest is now focused on studying the history of supernatural and paranormal phenomena. In particular, he is writing a book about the history of UFO sightings and claims of alien contact throughout the world.


In the news: UFO Congressional hearings. 


In this episode (June 3, 2022): 

  • How 1950s UFO sightings began as spiritual experiences. 
  • How Hollywood dramatized these early stories to sell movies. 
  • UFO's etymology. A Ph.D. in ufology? 
  • Why a flying saucer? Why not other shapes? 
  • UFO and ancient civilizations. 
  • Christianity and UFOs - Can the souls of aliens be saved if they have never heard the Gospel? 
  • What's the population of Jupiter? 
  • U.S. military's role in UFO history. 
  • UFOs in the USSR. 
  • Americanization of the UFO phenomenon. 

Listen to Dr. Eghigian

S2E17: 50K SPACE DEBRIS FLYING AT 15X SPEED OF A BULLET

  HbN guest: Dr. Moriba Jah


About our guest: Dr. Jah is a well-recognized expert on space junk. He is an associate professor of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics at The University of Texas at Austin. 


In the news:  a four-ton Chinese rocket booster was anticipated to crash into the moon.


In this episode (May 6, 2022): 

  • 50,000 objects orbiting the earth at a relative speed of about 15 times faster than a bullet. 
  • Who keeps track of them? 
  • Who regulates the space environment? Anyone? 
  • How dire is this situation? 
  • Privateer, an amazing startup Dr. Jah cofounded with Alex Fielding and Steve Wozniak, who, of course, is the co-founder of Apple. 

Listen to Dr. Jah

S1E21: UFOs - the taboo of the scientific community

HbN guest: Dr. Avi Loeb

Author of: Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth

 

About our guest: Dr. Loeb is a professor and the former chair of the Department of Astronomy at Harvard University. He is the Founding Director of Harvard's Black Hole Initiative and a former member of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) at the White House. He has authored four books and some 700 research articles. His latest book is Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth. 


In the news: UFO Congressional hearings. Former Pres. Obama: "I am actually being serious here. There is footage and records of objects in the skies that we don't know exactly what they are." 


In this episode (July 9, 2021): 

  • The scientific community's resistance to UFO research. 
  • “Oumuamua” - the first interstellar object detected passing through the Solar System. It was classified as a rock but looked nothing like the asteroids or comets seen before in the Solar system. 
  • Human interest in UFOs.  
  • What do we do if UFOs show up? 
  • How has the US government dealt with UFOs? 
  • Will the proliferation of space projects eventually bump us into other civilizations? 

Listen to Dr. Loeb

Human History

S1E37: 23,000-YEAR-OLD FOOTPRINTS IN NEW MEXICO

HbN guest: Dr. Jonathan Marks 

Author of: The Alternative Introduction to Biological Anthropology, Is Science Racist?

  

About our guest: Dr. Marks is a Professor of Anthropology at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where he teaches biological anthropology, human variation and human origins. He is the author of many books, including The Alternative Introduction to Biological Anthropology, Is Science Racist? and Tales of the ex-Apes: How We Think about Human Evolution. 


In the news: strong evidence of human existence in America some 10,000 earlier than previously believed by the scientific community


In this episode (Oct. 29, 2021): 

  • Origins of humans. Why Ethiopia?  
  • Did the changing environment impact human migration? 
  • Migration from Asia to the Americas. 
  • Horses, lamas and bisons. 
  • Early Native Americans were more skeletally diverse than modern Native Americans. 
  • Racism in anthropology. 
  • Have humans evolved since they migrated out of Africa? 
  • Are we still evolving? 

Listen to Dr. Marks

Environment

S2E30: History of U.S. floods

  HbN guest: Prof. Robert Verchick

Author of: Octopus in the Parking Garage: Beyond Carbon Toward Climate

 

About our guest: Prof. Verchick is the Chair in Environmental Law at Loyola University New Orleans,  a Senior Fellow in Disaster Resilience at Tulane University, and President of the Center for Progressive Reform. He served in the Obama administration as Deputy Associate Administrator for Policy at the EPA. He has testified before Congress many times. He is the author of Octopus in the Parking Garage: Beyond Carbon Toward Climate. 


In the news: July and August floods devastate the U.S. and other countries. Yellowstone flooded.


In this episode (Sept. 16, 2022): 

  • Most devastating floods in U.S. history. 
  • How more than 10,000 U.S. dams are at the breaking point. 
  • How European settlers in New Orleans used natural ridges to limit flood damage. 
  • Why Americans live in flood zones. 
  • Difference between inland and coastal floods. 
  • How U.S. and local governments exacerbated flooding and their impacts. 
  • The racial disparity of flooding devastation. 
  • How to incorporate nature into our flood control plans. Stories from Louisiana. 

Listen to Prof. Verchick

S1E42: AMERICA’S WATER RIGHTS - THE COLORADO RIVER & MORE

HbN guest: Prof. Robin Craig

Author of: The Clean Water Act and the Constitution


About our guest: Professor Robin Craig of USC Gould School of Law specializes in all things water, and has authored, co-authored and edited many books on the subject, including The Clean Water Act and the Constitution. 


In the news: In a unanimous opinion, the Supreme Court rejected Mississippi’s claim that Tennessee is stealing its water right from under it. 


In this episode (Dec. 10, 2021): 

  • Politics of America's water rights. 
  • The special case of the Colorado River.
  •  Interstate Compact Clause of the Constitution. 
  • Doctrine of Equitable Apportionment. 
  • How in the absence of Congressional legislation, the U.S. Supreme Court has stepped in. 
  • Mississippi v. Tennessee - a dispute over an aquifer. 
  • Why is the Great Salt Lake drying up? And what will happen then? 

Listen to Prof. Craig

S1E38: COP26, US CLIMATE POLICIES

HbN guest: Dr.  David Takacs

Author of: The Idea of Biodiversity


About our guest: Dr.  Takacs is a professor at U.C. Hastings College of Law.  His scholarly work addresses forest carbon offsetting, biodiversity conservation law, environmental and ecological democracy, rights for nature and the human right to water. He is the author of the book titled The Idea of Biodiversity. He has been a consultant for international NGOs and U.S. government agencies, analyzing legal and policy issues pertaining to global climate change and Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation. In 2017, he received the Rutter Award for Outstanding Teaching. 


In the news: Pres. Biden calls for decisive action to combat climate change.  


In this episode(Nov. 5, 2021): 

  • Is the U.S. the only Western democracy not to have any climate change laws? 
  • What happened to our climate change laws during Pres. Obama's administration? 
  • When did the U.S. Supreme Court finally allow lawsuits relating to climate change? 
  • How climate change issues are different than environmental issues. 
  • When did climate change scientific research begin? 
  • When did we realize that our climate is indeed changing? 

Listen to Dr. Takacs

S1E26: Is Green Energy Truly Green?

HbN guest: Prof. KK DuVivier

Author of: The Renewable Energy Reader


About our guest: KK DuVivier is a professor at the University of Denver, Sturm College of Law and Chair in Natural Resources Law.  She has won the Teacher of the Year award, and the Excellence Award for "Best Professor". In addition to teaching law, she has served as a Trustee-at-Large for the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation. 


In the news: Pres. Biden's $3.5 billion budget includes measures for green energy. But many environmentalists are crying out against green energy projects, not in my backyard!


In this episode (Aug. 13, 2021): 

  • Why use "carbon-neutral" instead of green energy, carbon-free, sustainable energy and many other terms? 
  • Do any of the above terms have preferential policy, funding, or tax treatments? 
  • When did the concept of sustainable energy gain currency? 
  • What was the impact of the 1970s oil crisis on sustainable energy? 
  • What happened to those first solar panels that Pres. Carter installed in the White House? 
  • Which political party has been better for sustainable energy? 
  • How has big industry treated sustainable energy? 
  • Do electrical vehicles contribute to climate change? How about solar panels and wind turbines? 
  • Is Germany is a model of sustainable energy? 

Listen to Prof. DuVivier

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