Why are doctors so unhappy with the medical profession? Televisions shows such as "Game of Thrones" and "Mad Men" draw huge audiences, but can viewers discuss the shows without spoiling the drama for others? Is there spoiler etiquette? The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change published its latest report this week. How much would it cost to keep climate change in check?
Why are doctors so unhappy with the medical profession?
Medicine has long been a popular career path for the best and brightest students, but most U.S. doctors today are unhappy in their jobs—and 90 percent are unwilling to recommend the healthcare profession to others.
Growing doctor dissatisfaction comes as millions of Americans have new access to health coverage under the Affordable Care Act, and there are not enough physicians to meet this new demand.
Forty-three percent of doctors say they are considering retiring due to transformative changes happening in the U.S. health care system, according to surveys by The Doctors Company, a physician liability insurer.
Primary care doctors are stretched thin, spending more on processing insurance forms and spending less time with patients. The average ‘face time’ between physician and patient is only about 12 minutes.
More doctors are abandoning the profession—joining MBA programs to transition into management, or taking jobs in finance or elsewhere. Young medical professionals select high-paying specialties, aiming for early retirement. Suicide rates for physicians are higher than those of the general public.
Why are doctors so dissatisfied with their jobs? How have recent changes in health care made life harder for primary care physicians? Is health care becoming a less desirable profession? What can be done to keep doctors from burning out?
Guests:
Dr. Lotte Dyrbye, MD , Professor at Mayo Clinic. She has authored many studies looking at the well-being of both med students and physicians in practice
Dr. Stephen Schimpff, MD, internist and former CEO of University of Maryland Medical Center, author of the upcoming book "The Crisis in Primary Care"
Spoiler alert, Twitter apps, and other modern strategies to avoid the dreaded S word
The seventh and penultimate season of AMC’s “Mad Men” debuted over the weekend. Bring up that topic though at any modern American office and chances are you’ll be met with a polite, “please don’t tell me anything about it.”
Spoilers for TV shows, movies, sports events are everywhere these days: online, on Twitter, and in innocuous conversations between coworkers. The changing nature of entertainment consumption, like binging an entire season of a TV show after it airs or DVR-ing something to watch later, for instance, has also produced more spoilers than ever before.
How do you avoid spoilers? As avid culture vultures, how should we behave to not spoil season finales or important plot points for others?
Guest:
Eric Ravenscraft, writer at the popular blog, Lifehacker, who has written about the topic for the site
Is Google's one-day sale of Google Glass really about buying social acceptance?
Today, a limited number of U.S. residents can buy Google Glasses - without an invite. At a price of $1,500, the Internet-connected headset can be yours, but just how many people want to own them?
A recent survey by market research firm Toluna showed 72 percent of Americans don't want the glasses because of privacy concerns. Today, Consumer Watchdog outlined its top 10 worries about Google Glasses, including stalking and safety issues.
Will Google overcome the concerns by introducing the product slowly but surely?
Guest:
John M. Simpson, Consumer Watchdog's Privacy Project Director
Jeremy Kaplan, Editor-in-chief, Digital Trends - news and review site focused on technology
How much would it cost to keep climate change in check?
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released its new report on Sunday laying out the staggering realities of the impact of climate change. The UN's expert panel said that increases in CO2, mainly from the burning of fossil fuels, pushed global temperatures up by an average of 2.2 percent a year between 2000 and 2010.
If nothing changes, we could see global temperatures rise by 5 to 7 degrees fahrenheit by 2100. The consequences of such a rise would be devastating for many nations around the world.
Tucked into the report is an assessment of how much it would cost for governments around the world to switch from fossil fuels to zero- or low-carbon sources including wind and solar power.
The IPCC's chairman called the cost "relatively modest" and said it's well within our reach. In order to achieve the necessary reduction in CO2, the UN panel said that investment in fossil fuels would drop by about $30 billion annually while investments in low-carbon sources would grow by $147 billion.
The costs may be called 'modest' but are governments willing to make the investments necessary to keep global CO2 emissions in check? Secretary of State John Kerry called the investments a global economic opportunity but will the US be a leader in investing in renewable energy? How much will it really cost to prevent a catastrophic temperatures rise?
Guest:
Andrew Steer, President and CEO of the World Resources Institute and formerly the Special Envoy for climate change at the World Bank
Should the NBA allow ads on uniforms?
Advertisements are everywhere at NBA games. There are digital signs on scorers’ tables, logos placed cleverly on backboard supports, and arenas with names like Staples Center and FedEx Forum. Now, the league plans to take things further—by allowing sponsors’ logos on players’ jerseys.
New NBA commissioner Adam Silver announced last month that ads on uniforms are likely coming in the next five years, pointing to international soccer and basketball clubs as precedent for turning players into billboards.
“We know what the value is to advertisers in a world of 1,000-plus channels to be able to show fans in-game branding,” Silver said.
Under the current proposal, each team is allowed one patch, and each patch would be 2.5 inches by 2.5 inches.
In 2011, as Deputy Commissioner, Silver estimated that putting logos on uniforms could be $100 million a year to the NBA. At the time, then-commissioner David Stern opposed the idea.
The WNBA started putting ads on jerseys in 2009. Los Angeles Sparks jerseys now display a Farmer’s Insurance logo where the team name used to be, which bothers some fans.
Should the NBA go the way of NASCAR and adorn athletes with corporate logos? Will ads on jerseys tarnish the NBA’s brand? How far is too far when it comes to this type of advertising?
Guest:
Paul Swangard, Managing Director, Warsaw Sports Marketing Center, University of Oregon
War! What is it good for? Has war had a positive or negative impact on human history?
The lyrics to the popular Motown song "War!" aren't very ambiguous when it comes to what it's good for. Absolutely nothing. But historian and archaeologist Ian Morris would like to politely disagree.
In his new book, "War! What is it good for? Conflict and the progress of civilization from primates to robots," Morris lays out his arguments about why the deadly, messy business of war has actually been a good thing for human society. By studying history from the Stone Age through modern technology, Morris makes the case that, over the long run, war has made humanity safer and richer.
By fighting wars, stronger societies have absorbed weaker societies and installed governments that had a vested interest in keeping the peace. Essentially, war made governments and governments made peace.
In addition to making people safer and doubling the global lifespan, war has also made societies richer, writes Morris. Peaceful societies, made stronger by war, provide the foundations for economic prosperity and growth.
War may have helped human society get to where it is today but where will it take us in the future? As scientific and technological innovations continue to advance (hello robot soldiers!) will the next global war be too devastating to recover from? Will we ever be able to have a future without war?
Guest:
Ian Morris, professor of classics and history at Stanford University and author of "War! What is it good for? Conflict and the progress of civilization from primates to robots" (April 2014)