America Trends

The answer is no.  At least, given the real science of anti-aging as it exists today.  The true goal of real scientists is to improve the health span, not necessarily the life span. Now, mind you, there is a great deal of work going on in labs throughout the world on the subject and the … Continue reading EP 301 Are We Really Going to be Able to Live to 150?

The statistics tell us that men more often than not are both the perpetrators and victims of violent assault and murder.  Yet if you look at the audience for the growing number of media outlets devoted to it, women are obsessed with it.  Movies, TV shows and networks, books and podcasts may have trouble filling … Continue reading EP 300 Why Do Women Love True Crime?

Like two superheros, the back story behind the start up war of FanDuel and DraftKings is fantastical and the characters larger than life. Perhaps more compelling is the explosion they set off in fantasy sports and legalized gambling in America.  We have just begun to feel the ripples as state after state is getting in … Continue reading EP 299 Are FanDuel and DraftKings Upending Sports in America?

: ‘Our leaders, our electorate and our hallowed system of government itself are extremely old’, so begins a compelling article by Timothy Noah on politico.com.  And while age can be a virtue, when accompanied by wisdom and experience, it can also define the issues and interests a society chooses to be most concerned about.  Some … Continue reading EP 298 America, the Gerontocracy

 America’s patchwork for payment of medical expenses has ostensibly left the poorest and sickest among us vulnerable in ways unlike virtually any other advanced nation in the world.  To call the whole system a mess is an understatement.  That’s why it continues to get so much bandwidth in our political debate.  And while the Affordable … Continue reading EP 297 American Health In Crisis

Sure there are blogs, podcasts and citizen journalists, and even public television and radio.  But, the vast majority of citizens get their information from a dwindling number of outlets that aren’t under the control of six major corporations in this country.  While the role of the media in our society is to investigate, inform and … Continue reading EP 296 Can Corporate Media Tell Us What’s Going On In a Post-Truth America?

: Renowned psychiatrist, Dr. Arthur Kleinman, learned a lot about caregiving when his wife, Joan, suffered early-onset Alzheimer’s Disease.  It made him re-assess much about his own professional approach to patients and that of the medical community, in general.  In his book, ‘The Soul of Care’, he looks at why care is so central to … Continue reading EP 295 Does the Medical Community Provide ‘Care’ Anymore?

You can work very hard in America, yet still be broke.  And you can be white in America and still be poor. As our guest points out in her searing memoir, ‘Heartland’, ‘poor whiteness is a peculiar offense in that society imbues whiteness with power-not by just making it the racial norm next to which … Continue reading EP 294 Working Hard Yet Still Broke in the Richest Country on Earth

 Given the cost and what’s at stake in choosing a college, perhaps, we are asking the wrong questions when we set about the process. Oh, there are a slew of books, rankings and resources which announce themselves as being definitive guides to making that choice.  But, are they? Using the ‘jobs to be done’ concept … Continue reading EP 293 Choosing the College That’s Right For the Job

: Over the past few decades, the job of college professor has been completed transformed.  And, according to Herb Childress, for the worse.  He’s the author of ‘The Adjunct Underclass’ and questions whether we can really value higher education when we treat educators like desperate day laborers.  In order to underpin the notion of academic … Continue reading EP 292 Adjunct Professors Now Dominate Many Colleges: Does It Matter?

 At one time in the not too distant past, the drinking age in America was 18 with the logic being that if young men, at the time, could be conscripted to fight at that age in the jungles of Vietnam, they should be able to drink at home.  Then, in 1984, Congress raised the age … Continue reading EP 291 Should the Drinking Age Be Lowered to 18–Again?

 Phil Mudd, who you see often as an analyst on CNN, was the former deputy director of the CIA Counterterrorism Center so he has firsthand knowledge of the vast changes in strategy and tactics that took place at     the CIA in the wake of the 9-11 attacks on our nation.  He understands how and … Continue reading EP 290 Black Site: The CIA in the Post 9-11 World

In the podcast realm, true crime is by far the most listened to genre. Our focus on it is simply because it’s part of such a growing, and disturbing, trend in our society.  Following on to our most recent post about the FBI profiles of active shooters in America, we turn our attention to the … Continue reading EP 289 Angry Young Men Have Become America’s Most Dangerous Predators

 The nation is trying to reckon with the deadly concoction of troubled young men, possessing tools of war and espousing, in many cases, hatred toward  fellow Americans because of their color, sexual orientation, religion or other characteristics.  The body count from this anti-social behavior continues to rise and prayers and condolences are becoming an insubstantial … Continue reading EP 288 Can the American Carnage Be Stopped?

   What if tomorrow nobody but the United States would use the US-dollar?  Say begins a compelling article by our guest, Peter Koenig.  You might say, back up, I don’t even understand what that means.  Well, we need to.  And so we lay out in a meticulous fashion the central role that the U.S. dollar … Continue reading EP 287 The World is Dedollarizing and You Need to Understand What That Means

 The notion of African-American and Jewish leaders walking arm in arm during the civil rights movement of the 1960’s stirs many, so proud that they were on the right side of history.  And yet that imagery may mask some truths that historians are now uncovering.  Chief among them is Professor Marc Dollinger, author of ‘Black … Continue reading EP 286 Black Power, Jewish Politics: A Look Back and Forward

  If you’ve had a lot of regrets about the decisions you’ve made in your life that brought you to this point…well, a new study points to the fact that you are not alone.  According to the numbers, 4 in ten people say they regret how they’ve lived their lives so far.  Frankly, I consider … Continue reading EP 285 Regrets, I’ve Had a Few..

The NBA is ‘woke’ in many respects but not when it comes to cutting off ties with the lucrative Chinese market which comprises a growing revenue stream for the association.  The recent controversy,  fueled by comments by Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey, points out the delicate dance between defending democratic ideals of freedom of … Continue reading 3 Special Edition American Companies are Selling Their Souls, as Well as Their Products, to Profit from the Chinese Market

  When broadcasting and mass circulation newspapers were king, we all received the same news, advertising and messages.  In the earliest days of digital technology, we, the consumer, have been king.  The competition between on line and on the ground retailers has given us choice and competitive pricing.  As marketing becomes totally individualized through the … Continue reading EP 284 The Invisible Brand: Marketing in the Age of AI

: While total bankruptcy petitions nationwide by consumers and businesses are well below Great Recession levels, most analysts agree that there is a trend upward.  We dig into the numbers and the reasons with Samuel Gerdano, executive director of the American Bankruptcy Institute, the nation’s largest association of bankruptcy professionals.  In many ways, this podcast … Continue reading EP 283 Bankruptcies On the Rise in America