The following audio files come from a larger group of 201 for the week. Double or ctrl-click individual highlighted links, below, to get single podcasts. A zip file of all 62 podcasts converted to 1.5x speed will download here for four months. Older groups of podcasts are discussed at the end of this episode.
Artificial Blood 2 mins – “You’ve probably given blood at least once in your life because of the ongoing need for it. But blood has to be refrigerated and checked for infectious diseases. Getting it to sites of natural disasters, war zones, and impoverished rural locations is challenging. So, for eighty years, scientists have striven to develop an artificial blood substitute and one group is getting close.” At the link under the title, “Artificial Blood” right-click “MP3” and select ”Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Boarder Closing 16 mins – “In west Africa right now, there are two kinds of countries: Those that have Ebola and those that do not. Liberia for instance, has reported more than 6,000 cases of Ebola and 2,697 people have died. Right next door, in the country of Ivory Coast, there have been zero cases. Zero. Ivory Coast would desperately like to stay in that zero category. The solution that Ivory Coast has come up with to stay Ebola free is simple. Ivory Coast will shut down its border. It will stop trade with Liberia, stop commerce and stop people from coming in… Today on the show, we go to a tiny tiny town on the border between Ivory Coast and Liberia. On one side of the line, Ebola is raging. The other side is Ebola-free so far. We ask: How do you close a border? And can you really?” At the link find the title, “#582: Guarding The Secret Path,” right-click “npr_363635338.mp3” and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Booker T. Washington 79 mins – “Chester Fontenot talked about the life and legacy of Booker T. Washington. Professor Fontenot spoke about Mr. Washington’s early years at Tuskegee University and looks at his ideological platform which encouraged African Americans to establish their own economic base. While Booker T. Washington helped create many institutions for African Americans, such as the National Negro Business League, he also had opposition to his ideas, both during his lifetime and since. Fontenot also compared the ideas and tactics of Booker T. Washington and Martin Luther King, Jr.” At the link open “Lectures in History,” right-click “Life and Legacy of Booker T. Washington” and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Brain Mapping 6 mins – “One of the great mysteries of the human body is the awesome ability of the brain. Some say there are more connections in a human brain than stars in our galaxy. We are talking about 100 billion neurons. Brain research is one of the great frontiers of scientific endeavour. And the race is on. A greater understanding of the brain could allow us to combat debilitating diseases such as dementia and psychosis, as well as unlocking unimagined potential. As a major conference on brain mapping gets underway in Brisbane, Katie Silver reports.” At the link right-click “Download Audio” and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Bus Theft 17 mins – “Ira recounts the story of William Cimillo, a New York bus driver who snapped one day, left his regular route, and drove his municipal bus down to Florida.” At the link you can listen, but not download; however, a copy of the podcast is in the blog archive.
Car Safety 47 mins – “Airbags that project shrapnel. Ignition switches that switch off on their own. Unintended acceleration. Millions of cars on American roads affected by recall notices that just keep on coming. What’s wrong with how automobiles are made? What’s wrong with how government regulates the industry? Are cars really becoming less safe? Is your confidence shaken? We’ll hear from a leading journalist covering the industry, a crusader for safety improvements, and an auto industry executive. This hour, On Point: An iconic American industry under the microscope.” At the link right-click “Download this story” and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Climate Change Impact 60 mins – “What is climate change? It is not an event. It is a complete change of context in which events take place… Today we’re going into the humanities, to ask scholar David A. Collings “What does it mean?” Collings has written about romanticism, poetry, and “monstrous society”. David is a Professor of English at Bowdoin College in Maine. Now he’s turned to the largest news of this or any generation: human disruption of the climate. His new book is titled “Stolen Future, Broken Present: The Human Significance of Climate Change.” At the link right-click “Lo-Fi” beside “Download” and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Computational Biology 19 mins – John Quackenbush, Ph.D., Professor, Biostatistics and Computational Biology, Cancer Biology Center for Cancer Computational Biology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses the impact and benefits of a current growing deluge of research data. At the link right-click “Harnessing the Data Deluge for Systems Biology” and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu. Completion of a registration form may be required.
Counterfeit Detection 3 mins – “New color shifting ink inspired by a [Longhorn] beetle could help thwart counterfeiting.” At the link find the title, “Episode 438 – November 12 2014,” right-click “Media files ScienceElements_Nov12_2014.mp3” and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Critical Thinking 52 mins – “Nuclear fission powers the Sun. Or is it fusion? At any rate, helium is burned in the process, of that you are certain. After all, you read that article on astronomy last week*. You know what you know. But you probably don’t know what you don’t know. Few of us do. Scientists say we’re spectacularly incompetent at recognizing our own incompetency, and that sometimes leads to trouble. Find out why wrongness is the by-product of big brains and why even scientists – gasp! – are not immune. Plus, a peek into the trash bin of history: the biggest scientific blunders and the brighter-than-bright brains that made them. Including Einstein. *Oh, and the Sun burns hydrogen to produce helium. But then, you knew that.” At the link right-click “Download File” and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Dark Web 5 mins – “You’ll rarely hear anything about the “dark web,” that space on the Internet where average people tend not to visit — or even know about. That is, unless you’re in the market for illegal or dangerous stuff: drugs, child pornography, weapons.” At the link right-click the down-pointing arrow at the right-end of the sound bar and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Design Thinking 40 mins – “As founder of IDEO, David Kelley built the company that created many icons of the digital generation—the first mouse for Apple, the first Treo, the thumbs up/thumbs down button on your Tivo’s remote control, to name a few. But what matters even more to him is unlocking the creative potential of people and organizations so they can innovate routinely. David’s most enduring contributions to the field of design are a human-centered methodology and culture of innovation. More recently, he led the creation of the groundbreaking d.school at Stanford, the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design. Kelley was working (unhappily) as an electrical engineer when he first heard about Stanford’s cross-disciplinary Joint Program in Design, which merged engineering and art. What he learned there—a human-centered, team-based approach to tackling sticky problems through design—propelled his professional life as a “design thinker.’” At the link find the title, “Uncommon Knowledge with David Kelley on creativity, innovation, and design,” right-click “Media files 20141112.mp3” and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Drug and Cancer Research 9 mins – “An-Dinh Nguyen interviews Avi Ma’ayan of Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai on February 20, 2014. Dr. Ma’ayan will be a featured speaker during the shared session for the Systems Pharmacology and Cancer Informatics meetings at Bio-IT World Conference & Expo 2014, April 29-May 1 in Boston, MA. Topics include the emergence of systems biology in drug research, promising datasets that can accelerate drug discovery and personalized medicine, methods for extracting knowledge from data, the potential research impact of systems pharmacology and more.” At the link click “Download,” then “OK” on the pop-up menu to download the file.
Dying 24 mins – “Surgeon, writer, and researcher, Atul Gawande is best known for the development of surgical checklists, but the death of his father has inspired him to write his latest book exploring medical and societal attitudes to death. We joined him for breakfast during his whistle stop tour of the UK recording this year’s BBC Reith Lectures….” At the link find the title, “Atul Gawande – It’s about having a good life not a good death,” right-click “Media files 175772097-bmjgroup-atul-gawande-good-life-not-good-death.mp3 “ and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Ebola Wiki 60 mins – “This week, we’re talking about Ebola: how it works, how it spreads, and how we’re trying to stop it. We’ll talk to infectious disease epidemiologist, professor and blogger Tara C. Smith about how Ebola is being handled here in North America, and perceptions surrounding the Ebola outbreak. We’ll also speak with physician Dr. Tim Jagatic from Doctors Without Borders Canada and discuss the situation on the ground in Africa, and we’ll speak to immunology professor Vincent Racaniello about the race to create an Ebola vaccine.” At the link right-click “Listen Now” and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Engineer Education 87 mins – “We talk with Gary Bertoline about graphics communication, computer-aided design, credentials, and competency-based degree programs in this episode of The Engineering Commons.” At the link right-click “Download” and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Epilepsy 54 mins – “In recognition of November as national Epilepsy Awareness month, Joyce welcomes Peggy Beem-Jelley, CEO of the Epilepsy Foundation of Western/Central PA. Ms. Beem-Jelley will discuss the mission of this organization and the programs and services it has in place to foster greater awareness of epilepsy.” At the link right-click “Download MP3” and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Harold Warp’s Museum 4 mins – “Pioneer Village in Minden, Nebraska, violates all the rules. Pioneer Village celebrates American progress. It’s a huge collection of the domestic technology that’s transformed us. Twenty acres of washing machines, chuck wagons, barbed wire, telephones, windmills, bicycles — 350 old cars, 100 old tractors! “Everything used by the average person since 1830,” the signs tell us. Why 1830? The signs hint that, after 1830, we left thousands of years of static life and began to progress into the modern age…Pioneer Village was built by Harold Warp. Warp, a Nebraska farm boy, developed a new kind of plastic window for chicken coops during WW-I. He called it Flex-O-glass. During WW-II he created a whole array of plastic products for home and farm use. Then, in 1948, he heard that his old one-room schoolhouse was for sale. He bought it, says Schwartz. Out of that grew the museum….” At the link right-click “Click here for audio…” and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Human Extinction 60 mins – “This week, we’re looking at the ways that people are changing the planet, and the consequences for all of us if we don’t start doing it responsibly. We’re joined by Fred Guterl, Executive Editor at Scientific American, to discuss his book The Fate of the Species: Why the Human Race May Cause Its Own Extinction and How We Can Stop It. From climate change to superbugs, we’ll talk about the ways humanity could take itself out, and how (or if) we can stop it before it’s too late. And we’ll talk to John Cook, creator of Skeptical Science, about the political arguments over climate change.” At the link right-click “Listen Now” and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Immigration Resistance 70 mins – “Professor Edward O’Donnell talked about the pejudice many immigrants faced in the 19th century with regard to religion, customs, and social status. This was from a course titled the “Irish American Experience.’” At the link open “Lectures in History,” right-click “Discussion on 19th Century Anti-Immigration Movements” and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Internet Openness 29 mins – “Law professor Christopher Yoo talked about the debate over how to ensure an open Internet. In January 2014, a federal appeals court ruled the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) rules governing the internet were not legal. Professor Yoo was asked by the FCC to participate in roundtables addressing the subject.” At the link open “The Communicators” section, right-click “The Communicators: Christopher Yoo“ and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Jobs Act 30 mins – “A series about what happens when someone who knows nothing about business starts one. With Alex Blumberg from This American Life & Planet Money.” Much of the discussion centers on the Jobs Act and its impact on innovation since passing in 2012. Forbes Magazine in its Nov 2014 issue reports 242,000 innovative jobs have appeared in the last 10 years as part of an accelerating trend typified by WeWork. [Also see Spice Incubator Kitchens topic.] At the link find the title, “#7 How Listeners Become Owners, November 10, 2014” and right-click “Media files 176185715-hearstartup-how-listeners-become-owners.mp3” and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Martin Luther King 59 mins – “Tavis Smiley talked about his book, Death of a King: the Real Story of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Final Year, about the final year of the civil rights leader’s life.” At the link open the “Q&A” section, right-click “Q&A: Tavis Smiley” and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Military Mental Health 48 mins – “It’s Veterans’ Day — when we honor those who’ve served our country in the Armed Forces. But the meaning of the observance is changing as we move further away from the era of universal military service. The small number of soldiers we depend on bears larger and larger burdens — not just in combat, but afterward through debilitating post-traumatic stress that has provoked a rising number of suicides. We’ll talk to a general who lost two sons, an author and two veterans-turned-Congressmen about what we can do. This hour, On Point: helping veterans overcome PTSD.” At the link right-click “Download this story” and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Pacific Rim 8 mins – “The Pacific Age: Under American leadership the Pacific has become the engine room of world trade. But the balance of power is shifting, writes Henry Tricks.” At the link find the title, “Special report: The Pacific,” right-click “Media files 20141311_pacific_sr_aa.mp3” and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Palliative Care 69 mins – “Becky Liddicoat Yamarik, Hospice Palliative Care Physician, talks to EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the joys and challenges of providing care for terminally ill patients. The two discuss the services palliative care provides, how patients make choices about quality of life and when to stop receiving treatment, conflicts of interest between patients and families, and patients’ preparedness to make these decisions.” At the link right-click “Download” and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Proton Therapy 29 mins – “Keith is once again on location in Houston, Texas, at the MD Anderson Cancer Treatment Center Proton Therapy Center, and he talks with clinical physicist Michael Gillin. Gillin explains why protons, and not other elementary particles, are used in this treatment…and why proton therapy harms less healthy tissue than standard radiation treatment for cancer.” At the link right-click the play button beside “Listen” and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
PTSD Fix 52 mins – “ When Larry Cesspooch returned from the Vietnam War, his family told him to “go into the Sundance and wipe yourself off.” Cesspooch is a member of the Ute Indian Tribe, and cleansing ceremonies are a deep part of Native American warrior traditions. Now, with suicides accounting for more US military deaths than combat, people are looking for ways to deal with the horrors of PTSD. Monday, director Taki Telonidis joins us to talk about a new film that explores how these traditions could help our veterans. Healing the Warrior’s Heart was produced by The Western Folklife Center in collaboration with Gary Robinson of Tribal Eye Productions and KUED Channel 7.” At the link right-click the play button beside “Listen” and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Public Speaking 39 mins – “Christine Clapp – Back by popular demand, more than a year later, we are talking with our favorite communications expert – Christine Clapp. In this episode we cover crucial topics such as the most common mistakes amateur speakers/presenters make, the most powerful ways to persuade others through communication, the 5 steps of Monroe’s motivated sequence, and the best system for speaking off the cuff. Christine covers all of these topics and many more in great detail in her brand new book, Presenting at Work: A Guide to Public Speaking in Professional Contexts.” At the link right-click “Download” and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Reconciliation Limits 54 mins – “Twenty-five years ago this November, East and West Berliners began chipping away at the iconic wall that had kept them apart for three decades, and symbolized the deep divisions that the Cold War had inflicted on the world at large. As this piece of history crumbled, the Western press was almost euphoric: Freedom, we were told, had triumphed over political repression and cultural imprisonment. But the fall of the Berlin Wall also set in motion a long and difficult process of reconciliation among German citizens. And, indeed, of reconciling the First and Second Worlds — a process still fraught with tension and uncertainty. On this episode, the Guys dig up buried hatchets to help us explore some of our own best and worst efforts at making amends. How have Americans tried to restore ties and move beyond strain and strife? When does it work? And what are the limits of reconciliation?” At the link right-click “Download” and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Seven Years War 4 mins – “Today, the last naval battle of The Seven Years War…To the north of Canada’s Gaspé Peninsula is the St. Lawrence Seaway, the old Northwest Passage to the Great Lakes region, the route used by French explorers and settlers since the early 16th century. To the south is the smaller Restigouche River. When The Seven Years War began, in 1756, the Restigouche valley was home to some French Acadian settlements, but it primarily remained part of the Mi’kmaq Indian nation. We in America call that war, The French and Indian War, but it was a much larger conflict — a worldwide political realignment that touched all Europe as well as America. In North America, it was the British against the French and their Native American allies over control of Canada as well as much of what would later be part of the US.” At the link right-click “Click here for audio…” and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Spice Incubator Kitchens 2 mins – “Organizers of the Spice Kitchen Incubator, a program which helps refugees start their own businesses, unveiled their new kitchen space in Salt Lake City yesterday. Natalie El-Deiry is the department director at the International Rescue Committee and oversees the Spice Kitchen Incubator project. She says her organization had received a growing number of requests from the refugee community for help establishing food businesses. After training entrepreneurs in non-permanent spaces across the city, El-Deiry said she’s excited to see the program finally have a space of its own…” At the link right-click the play button beside “Listen” and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Teenage Alcoholic 22 mins – “Tina Dupuy was a teenage alcoholic. She joined Alcoholics Anonymous at the age of 12, got sober by 13. And she learned to tell the hell out of her story at speaking events. She even became “AA Famous.” But at the age of 33, she had a sudden realization that made her question the very story she was famous for.”
Text Book Arbitrage 14 mins – “There’s a term in economics, arbitrage, that basically means free money. It’s finding a difference in price, a pricing mistake, you can exploit to make money. Arbitrage is a risk-free way to buy low and sell high. Every day there are loads of people and sophisticated computer algorithms searching for an arbitrage opportunity, but true arbitrages are almost impossible to find. Today on the show, we meet two guys who say they’ve found one, and we visit the storage locker in Utah where they keep their secret.” At the link find the title, “#581: Free Money,” right-click “npr_362312467.mp3” and select”Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Virus Researcher 59 mins – “Vincent Racaniello and Glenn Rall meet up with Ann Skalka and talk about her long and productive career in virology, from biochemistry to bacteriophage lambda to retroviruses.” At the link right-click “Download TWiV 310” and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
War Failure 47 mins – “America has been at war ever since 9/11 – thirteen years and counting, longer than World Wars I and II combined. American soldiers are returning to Iraq to fight the Islamic State after it appeared they had left for good. Will we also have to reverse course in Afghanistan, where soldiers are scheduled to depart by year-end? Are we winning, losing or something in between? Or have we already lost? That’s the argument in a new book from a retired three-star general – who accepts personal responsibility for the outcome. This hour, On Point: taking stock of our Global War on Terrorism.” At the link right-click “Download this story” and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Wolfram Alpha 18 mins – Stephan Wolfram discusses the application of information technology to biology. Reference made to an April conference concerns a 2015 event. At the link right-click “Making the World’s Knowledge Computable,” and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu. Completion of a registration form may be required.
X-ray Crystallography 10 mins – “X-ray crystallography allows the structure and shape of small but highly complex molecules such as proteins, viruses or insulin to be determined. It is a complicated and labour-intensive technique sometimes taking years of patient work to produce a usable crystal. The idea was pioneered by William and Lawrence Bragg who won the Nobel Prize in 1915. Elspeth Garman describes some of the technological advances which have allowed X-ray crystallography to revolutionise biology.” Several mentions of this link are made for a video describing the process. At the link right-click “Download Audio” and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
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ARCHIVE
An alphabetic encyclopedia of 4700 of these hyperlinked descriptions is here and updated quarterly. A file of the podcasts is here , updated weekly, and can be downloaded as a 21+ GB zipped file, or individually. A separate folder of C-Span, Diane Rehm, et. al. files that aren’t available at their sites is here, too, and can also be downloaded as a zip file or individually. Over 210 feeds used to prepare this blog are harvested with Feedreader3 and Juice. The feeds are available in this opml file which Feedreader and Juice can import. A list of the feeds is here. Free Commander is used to compare old with new downloads and remove duplicates. MP3 Speed Changer is used on batches of new files to boost playback speed 150%. A speed listening background article is here. Please comment on any problems with the links and downloads.
Media Mining Digest 