Open Technological Innovation and Tomorrow’s Terrorists with Audrey Kurth Cronin
Air Dates: November 11-17, 2019 After Alfred Nobel developed dynamite, his invention reshaped the world—literally. From mining to infrastructure projects, dynamite proved essential to the building of the modern world. But it also changed political violence—both on battlefields and in the streets where the first wave of modern terrorists adopted the explosive as a weapon of choice. Audrey Kurth Cronin says we have work to do to manage the new … Read More
“Story in the Public Square” will Debut Fourth National Season on Public Television January 6, 2020
Newport, R.I. – The two-time Telly Award-winning series Story in the Public Square will continue to be broadcast across the United States with the debut of its fourth national season beginning January 6, 2020, the series announced on Tuesday. The show has been in production since January 2017 on SiriusXM Satellite Radio and in southeastern New England from its flagship TV station, Rhode Island PBS. Story in the Public Square … Read More
Opium: How an Ancient Flower Shaped and Poisoned Our World with Dr. John Halpern and David Blistein
Air Dates: November 4-10, 2019 In 2017, opioid addiction claimed nearly 50,000 American lives—that’s as many Americans as were lost in the entire Vietnam War, and more than were lost to gun-shots and automobile accidents combined. Dr. John Halpern and David Blistein explore the history of opium—from antiquity to the modern world—and describe a solution to the opioid crisis that blends an understanding of what works and what has failed, … Read More
The Guarded Gate: Bigotry, Eugenics, and the Immigration Act of 1924 with Daniel Okrent
Air Dates: October 28-November 3, 2019 In 1924, a new American law ended the wave of immigration to this country that had begun in the 19th century. Hundreds of thousands of southern- and eastern-European immigrants had entered the United States each year before the law, but after 1924, those numbers were reduced to a trickle. Daniel Okrent is the author of a remarkable history of the bigotry and sham science … Read More
Memory, Connection, and Healing Through Storytelling with Patricia Nguyen
Air Dates: October 21-27, 2019 If you are a regular viewer of “Story in the Public Square,” you know we define “story” and “story-teller” very broadly. Educators, artists, scholars—and more—all qualify in our eyes; but occasionally, we meet a talent that weaves all three skills together with a profound humanity that commends their work to us, as they inspire and even heal others. Patricia Nguyen is just such a person. … Read More
Disinformation and Russian Intelligence with Michael Isikoff
Air Dates: October 14-20, 2019 In the early morning hours of July 10, 2016, a young staffer for the Democratic National Committee was murdered as he walked home from a bar. Without any real evidence, Seth Rich’s death became a focal point for efforts to debunk the story that Russia hacked the DNC to help Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign. Michael Isikoff, however, tells us that the conspiracy theories around Seth … Read More
The Value of Liberal Arts in a Digital World with Scott Hartley
Air Dates: October 7-13, 2019 For generations, a liberal arts education was the gold standard of preparation for career and a well-rounded-life. For much of the last decade, however, voices—including those of prominent technology leaders—have warned that the jobs of today and tomorrow require education in so-called STEM fields: science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Not surprisingly, enrollments in liberal arts fields have declined. Scott Hartley argues that far more than … Read More
The Iranian Nuclear Landscape with Ilan Goldenberg
Air Dates: September 30-October 6, 2019 In 2015, the United States and Iran concluded years of difficult diplomacy that froze Iran’s nuclear weapons program for ten years. Less than two years later, Donald Trump was president and withdrew the United States from that agreement in May of 2018. IIan Goldenberg warns that while neither the United States nor Iran want a war, the potential for miscalculation and stumbling into war … Read More
Gun Violence as a Public Health Crisis with Joseph Sakran
Air Dates: September 23-29, 2019 On an otherwise typical Friday night in 1994, 17-year-old Joseph Sakran, a high school student in Northern Virginia, was shot through his throat by an errant bullet from a fight at a high school football game. Trauma surgeons saved his life, launching him on a career as a trauma surgeon and as a leading voice against gun violence. Dr. Joseph Sakran is the Director of … Read More
System or Market? The Political Debate over Healthcare in America with Michael Fine
Air Dates: September 16-22, 2019 The political debate over healthcare in the United States seems cyclical—it rises and falls with America’s political calendar. Dr. Michael Fine argues that for patients and caregivers, issues like cost, access, and outcomes are real, they are present, and they often have life-and-death consequences. A former director of the Rhode Island Department of Health, Fine has been a writer, community organizer, family physician and public … Read More