Are socially interactive teachers helping or hurting? Obama’s political future: how bad is it? How our brain’s flaws shape our lives.
Helping or hurting?
Three years ago, a 15-year old was fatally shot by a classmate in an Oxnard school. Brandon McInerney is now on trial for killing Larry King. McInerney's defense team is arguing he was provoked, because King was gay and made unwanted advances that created escalating tension. So far, teachers testifying at the trial say school adminstrators ignored warnings about the safety of the kids involved. It has come out that the murdered student often came to school wearing women's spike-heeled boots and makeup. His former English teacher, Dawn Boldrin, testified that she gave King a strapless formal dress. In court last month defense lawyers displayed a large photograph of King, taken by Boldrin, holding up the dress and smiling broadly. She made the gift because King was struggling with family and sexual identity issues. Brandon McInerney’s lawyers are claiming that King sexually harassed their client. How do teachers and administrations deal with friction between students? How are teachers schooled in the art of dealing with students with problems that may need special attention or nurturing? And, if you are a teacher, would this case make you hesitate to get more involved with your students’ psycho/social or sexual problems, or does it motivate you to become more involved?
Guest:
Joel Baum, Director of Education at Gender Spectrum
Obama’s political future: how bad is it?
The nation is plagued by a credit downgrade, a sluggish economy, plummeting stock prices, high unemployment, record deficits - and it’s all happening on President Obama’s watch. Although it’s too early to make sensible predictions about Obama’s re-election chances, some of his previous supporters on the left and (not surprisingly) politicians and pundits on the right are declaring his political demise. There’s plenty for both parties to pick away at but what really matters in November 2012 is whether the Democrats, Independents and swing voters who elected him are still in his camp. As the mood in the country sours and anxiety over his chances for re-election grows, Obama supporters must be concerned about the challenges he is facing. Can President Obama weather the economic storm? Or is he destined to be a one-term president?
Guests:
Ron Elving, NPR’s Senior Washington Editor; his column, Watching Washington, appears online at NPR.org
Lawrence Jacobs, Director of the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance at the University of Minnesota.
How our brain’s flaws shape our lives
The brain is not a machine. We forget things, we are susceptible to false advertising, false memories, propaganda and irrational beliefs. Though it’s the control center for the whole body and the mind, the brain is amazingly flawed. In his new book Brain Bugs, neuroscientist Dr. Dean Buonomano explores these flaws, which he calls brain bugs and examines how these blind spots and imperfections lead us to make misguided personal, professional and financial decisions. Dr. Buonomano takes us from the well-trodden terrain of memory to the frontiers of understanding how the brain processes fear, susceptibility to marketing, and religious belief. “Brain Bugs” explores the causes and consequences of these flaws in terms of the brain's innermost workings and their evolutionary purposes and Buonomano provides insights into how we can exploit the brain’s natural strengths while downplaying its inherent weaknesses. Will exploring the brain's flaws give us the tools to compensate for them? Do the brain’s bugs give us a reproductive edge? Which brain bugs bother you the most and which ones actually serve to make you more creative and resourceful?
Guest:
Dean Buonomano, author of Brain Bugs: And How the Brains Flaws Shape Our Lives; professor in the Departments of Neurobiology and Psychology and the Brain Research Institute at UCLA