The following audio files come from a larger group of 141 from last week. Double-click or ctrl-click individual highlighted links. A zip file (176 MB) of all 28 podcasts converted to 1.5x speed (11 hrs) is here for four months vs 698 MB normal speed (20 hrs). Larger groups are discussed at the end of this episode.
African Common Currency 27 mins – “Could a common currency strengthen the continent’s economy? With over 50 nation-states and some 40 different monies circulating in Africa, cross-country business transactions can pose a major challenge. In this edition of Africa in Progress, two experts talk money, money, money. They discuss how a common currency would be beneficial, though caution that realizing such a project would be an investment on its own.” Reference is made during the talk to UEMOA and Economic Community of West African States. At the link right-click the down-pointing arrow on the right side of the play bar and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu to get the podcast.
Australian Mining 50 mins – “Neil Trevithick and Kirsti Melville drive south from the Kimberley into the even-larger area of the Pilbara which has been heavily mined for more than 50 years. If there are any lessons to be learned about the good and the bad that mining brings to country and community, then it is in the Pilbara.” At the link find the title, “Docs: Red Dirt Dreaming – Part Two,” right-click “Media files docarchive 20130309-2005a.mp3” and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Chip Quik 21 mins – “How to remove surface mount SMD [surface mount device] QFP [quad flat package] packages from a PCB [printed circuit board] using ChipQuik low melting point alloy solder.” The price at Amazon is lower and several reviews are there, too. Here’s a link to the BlueTack mentioned in the video. At the link find the title “EEVblog #437 – Removing SMD Parts with ChipQuik”. It’s video only. Right-click “Download” and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu. An audio-only version is included in the zip collection at the top of this edition.
Clinical Trials 8 mins – “According to the National Cancer Institute, African-Americans account for less than 10 percent of its clinical trial participants. That’s despite being more likely than any other racial group to die of cancer. Host Michel Martin talks with Junius Hayes. He volunteered to be the first American participant to test a prostate cancer device.” At the link right-click “Download” and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Coughs and Honey 18 mins – Dr Mark Crislip, Infectious Disease Specialist, discusses results of an Israel study into the use of honey to treat childhood coughs reported in a pediatrics journal during which he concludes honey works no better than placebos. At the light right-click “Podcast” and select “Save Link As” from the drop-down menu.
DARPA 50 mins – Dr. Arati Prabhakar, Director of the Defense Advanced Research Agency, gave a keynote address about the operation of DARPA at the fourth annual Military and Federal Fellow Research Symposium hosted at Brookings by the 21st Century Defense Initiative. At the link click on “Part 2” then right-click “Download” and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Depression 54 mins – “Over the years, the descriptions have varied: melancholia, the Black Dog, down in the dumps. The term most used today is “depression”. The World Health Organization says depression is set to become second only to heart disease as the world’s leading disability by the year 2020. An alarming conclusion when you consider the history. One hundred years ago depression was thought to be extremely rare, with 1% of the population suffering. Today it’s often called the common cold of mental illness. But just how effective are antidepressants in treating depression? Unpublished clinical trials have come to light and they reveal that the antidepressant was never the triumphant treatment many psychiatrists hoped it would be. And we’re also learning that the theory that antidepressants restore serotonin in the brain could be false. However, despite this news about serotonin and sadness, the number of depressed people continues to grow. Now some researchers wonder whether the modern antidepressant has increased rates of depression instead of lowering them? In episode two of Rethinking Depression, IDEAS producer Mary O’Connell examines the debate around antidepressants.” At the link find the title, “Rethinking Depression, Part 2,” right-click “Download Rethinking Depression, Part 2” and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Digital Rights 52 mins – “A special hour on our changing understanding of ownership and how it is affected by the law. An author and professor who encourages creative writing through plagiarism, 3D printing, fan fiction & fair use, and the strange tale of who owns “The Happy Birthday Song”” At the link right-click the down-pointing arrow below and to the left side under the audio time line and right-click “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Education Credentials 59 mins – This Hinkley Forum presentation discusses the problem of identifying when prospective job applicants are qualified for a position, especially when dealing with rapidly changing technology and on-line education. Emphasis is placed on digital badges and such efforts as “HASTAC (Humanities, Arts, Science and Technology Advanced Collaboratory, pronounced “haystack”), a virtual organization of more than 10,000 individuals and institutions dedicated to innovative new modes of learning and research in higher education, K-12, and lifelong learning. HASTAC network members contribute to the community by sharing work and ideas with others via the open-access website hastac.org, by hosting HASTAC conferences and workshops online or in their region, by initiating conversations, or by working collaboratively with others in the HASTAC network.” At the link right-click “Listen” and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Education Innovation 63 mins -Dr. Jane McGonigal, NYT Best-Selling Author, Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the Worlddiscusses gaming and the future of education in a talk at the Hinkley Forum in Utah. At the link right-click “Listen” and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
End of Growth 54 mins – “Economist Jeff Rubin and environmentalist David Suzuki might seem an unlikely pairing. But they’ve been touring Canada together, talking about the natural limits to growth from their very different perspectives. We listen in as they try to convince a Calgary audience that we’ve already exceeded the capacity of the planet. Jeff Rubin is a former Chief Economist and Chief Strategist at CIBC World Markets. His book, The End of Growth is a follow-up to his earlier book Why Your World Is About To Get A Whole Lot Smaller. David Suzuki is a geneticist, environmentalist, broadcaster and the co-founder and chair of the David Suzuki Foundation. He has written over 50 books, including The Legacy: An Elder’s Vision for Our Sustainable Future.” At the link find the title, “The End of Growth,” right-click “Download The End of Growth” and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Fukushima Book 25 mins – “[Mar 11]…marked the two-year anniversary of the devastating earthquake and tsunami that rocked and partially devoured the northeastern coast of Japan. Although prone to earthquakes, the Tōhoku event hit a magnitude of 9.0, tying it for fourth largest earthquake on record according to the United States Geological Survey—a magnitude greater than scientists thought possible for this region. Last month, co-host Beth Bartel spoke with author Gretel Ehrlich about her recently published book “Facing the Wave: A Journey in the Wake of the Tsunami.” When asked about her motivation to write this book, Ehrlich, a long-time traveler to Japan, said simply that she went to see the effects of the wave because she had to.” The last ten minutes of the segment is devoted to food expiration dates. At the link locate the title, “Facing the Wave // Pandora’s Lunchbox,” right-click “HowOnEarth_2013_03_12e.mp3” and select “Save Link As” from the drop-down menu.
Gen. George Marshall 96 mins – Opening remarks by Thomas E. Ricks, senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, focused on Gen. George Marshall for the first thirty minutes of this podcast and are the most interesting segment. The talk was part of the 21st Century Defense Initiative at Brookings which was hosting “…its fourth annual Military and Federal Fellow Research Symposium, featuring the independent research produced by the members of each military service and the federal agencies who have spent the last year serving at think tanks and universities across the nation…” At the link click on “Part 1” then right-click “Download” and select “Save Link As” to get the Gen Marshall audio file. Speaker topics for three panels include 3-D printing and Remote Piloted Aircraft Pilots. Note that Part 2 concerns the keynote speaker, so later Parts and Panels do not match; Part 3 is for Panel 2, etc. Each presentation is about twelve minutes long with a Q/A session at the end of each panel that lasts about twenty minutes.
Indian Economy 83 mins – “Over the last couple of years, India’s economic growth rate has slowed. It remains one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, but the decline has caused concern within that country and outside of it. In the fall of 2012, the Indian government took measures to reverse the trend, but authorities acknowledge that much remains to be done. On February 28, P. Chidambaram, the Indian finance minister, will release the Union budget, which analysts will watch closely to determine the direction the government intends to take, especially with regard to economic reforms. On March 4, the India Project at Brookings hosted a discussion of the state of the Indian economy, the highlights of the Indian budget, and prospects for further reforms and growth.” At the link click the “Audio” tab, right-click “Download” and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Iraq 23 mins – “Hugh Sykes visits the Marsh Arabs and Basra, occupied by British forces for six years. How has life changed for them since the fall of Saddam Hussein?” At the link find the title, “DocArchive: After Saddam,” right-click “Media files docarchive 20130312-0905a.mp3” and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Jared Diamond 43 mins – In the first 25 minutes of this podcast “…Alok Jha meets the Pulitzer prizewinning author Jared Diamond to discuss his new book The World Until Yesterday. Diamond explains how his early passion for ornithology led him to New Guinea and a life-long passion for studying traditional hunter-gatherer societies. He also addresses the accusation by Survival International that he is “completely wrong, both factually and morally” to say that traditional societies are more violent than state-run societies.” At the link right-click “Download MP3” and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Kenyan Election 12 mins – “A candidate has finally been declared the winner in Kenya’s presidential election. But the votes were close and the main opponent says he’ll fight the results in court. Could the election become Kenya’s version of the Bush-Gore battle from 2000?” At the link right-click “Download” and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Literary Agent Revolution 15 mins – “Pitching and selling book projects to editors over lunch in Manhattan dining clubs. If that’s your picture of a literary agent’s life, it’s time for a make-over. A radical make-over, in fact. Literary agents have long occupied a place on the edge of publishing; essential – somehow – yet rarely visible and only vaguely defined. Still thinking about literary agents in terms fixed by Hollywood in its golden age? You’re forgiven…” At the link right-click “Download” and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Military Sex Assaults 12 mins – “Members of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee are holding a hearing today on sexual assault in the military. Host Michel Martin discusses how the military handles sexual assault cases with Anu Bhagwati, the executive director of the Service Women’s Action Network, and with Jennifer Hlad, a reporter for Stars and Stripes.” At the link right-click “Download” and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Professional Moms 17 mins – “Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s Chief Operating Officer, pushed buttons with her new book Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead. In it, she advises young women to ‘lean in’ to their careers, and be more aggressive in pursuing leadership opportunities. Host Michel Martin asks the moms roundtable if they agree.” At the link right-click “Download” and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu. Then Diane Rehm interviews Sandberg 51 mins – “Growing up in Miami, Fla., Sheryl Sandberg was always at the top of her class. In middle school, she beat high schoolers in a debating contest, and later enrolled at Harvard. After working in government and then at Google, Sandberg joined Facebook. As chief operating officer, she helped lead the social media company to profitability. In a new book, Sandberg writes about her journey to the top of Silicon Valley while balancing a family. She says women hold themselves back from reaching leadership positions and should take more risks. Diane talks with Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg about why women should “lean in” to their careers.”” You can listen at the link, but not download; however, the file is included in the zip collection noted in the introduction to this edition.
Retirement Issues 10 mins – “You can plan, save and make all the right choices, but still have trouble securing your dream retirement. Stan Hinden’s plans for his twilight years were undone when his wife was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. He shares that experience, and other lessons, in the latest edition of his book, How to Retire Happy.” At the link right-click “Download” and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Smart Phone Uses 73 mins – “5.9 billion people now use mobile phones, of which 1.1 billion are smartphones. With this kind of penetration smartphones will empower behavioral scientists to collect terabytes of ecologically valid data from vast global samples—easily, quickly, and remotely, transforming the behavioral sciences even more profoundly than PCs and brain imaging did. Smartphones can record where people are, what they are doing, and what they can see and hear. They can run interactive surveys, tests, and experiments through touch screens and Bluetooth peripherals. Geoffrey Miller—Visiting Professor at the NYU Stern Business School—discusses what smartphones can do now, and will be able to do in the near future, as research platforms, and the new opportunities for understanding human nature and culture.” At the link right-click “MP3” beside “Download” and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Smell Biology 52 mins – “Imagine biting into a rich chocolate donut and not tasting it. That’s what happened to one woman when she lost her sense of smell. Discover what scientists have learned about how the brain experiences flavor, and the evolutionary intertwining of odor and taste. Plus a chef who tricks tongues into tasting something they’re not. It’s chemical camouflage that can make crabgrass taste like basil and turn bitter crops into delicious dishes – something that could improve nutrition world-wide. Meanwhile, are we a tasty treat for aliens? Discover whether we might be attractive snacks for E.T. And, out-of-this-world recipes from a “gAstronomy” cookbook!” Five guests appear and reference to “miracle berry” is discussed at this link. At the link find the title, “Our Tasteless Show,” right-click “Media files BiPiSci13-03-11.mp3” and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu to get the podcast.
Thistle and the Drone 113 mins – “Along with the ground wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, America’s global war on terror has been characterized by the use of drones. In his new book, The Thistle and the Drone (Brookings, 2013), Brookings Nonresident Senior Fellow Akbar Ahmed—the Ibn Khaldun chair of Islamic Studies at American University and former Pakistani high commissioner to the United Kingdom— examines the tribal societies on the borders between nations who are the drones’ primary victims. He provides a fresh and unprecedented paradigm for understanding the war on terror, based in the broken relationship between these tribal societies and their central governments. Beginning with Waziristan in Pakistan and expanding to similar tribal societies in Central Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, and Eastern Europe, Ahmed demonstrates how America’s war on terror became a global war on tribal Islam. This is the third volume in his trilogy about relations between the U.S. and the Muslim world after 9/11 that includes Journey into Islam (Brookings, 2007) and Journey into America (Brookings, 2010).” At the link click the “Audio” tab, then the title just above “Download,” then right-click “Download” and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Trauma Doctor 11 mins – “Michael A. LaCombe, MD, Annals Associate Editor, reads “Preventing Trauma Surgeons From Becoming Family Doctors,” by A.H. Haider. At the link find the title “Prevent Trauma Surgeons From Becoming Family Doctors, ” right-click “Download MP3” and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Sixty-four podcasts for 2010 and earlier at 1.5x are listed alphabetically in this PDF and can be downloaded in two zip files, Part 1 and Part 2, each holding about 350 MB. For 2011 an alphabetical PDF list of 184 podcasts at 1.5x is available as five segments. A similar list and downloads for 362 podcasts for Jan-Jun 2012 is here, and 591 for Jul-Dec here. Podcasts are zipped for easier downloading and segmented due to a 300MB limit on file uploads. (Dead links in old episodes are due to updating; try a current episode.) Over 130 feeds used to prepare this weekly blog are harvested with Feedreader3. The feeds are available in this opm file that Feedreader can import. A PDF list of feeds is here. Free Commander is used to compare old with new downloads to remove duplicates. MP3 Speed Changer is used to boost playback speed to 1.5x. A speed listening background article is here. A commenter recommended this $1.99 iPhone/iPad app for mobile devices; leave a comment if you try it. Another is xSpeedChanger. Please comment on any problems with the links and downloads.
Thanks for visiting.
Media Mining Digest 