[Swprograms] Podding Along - Issue 110

[John Figliozzi <jfiglio1@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Most radio listening takes place in the car or while doing other things that allow freedom for the ear, but not the eyes and hands.  Podcasts permit a shift of listening time from a set appointment to virtually any convenient occasion.   
I do it while âpower walkingâ (most) every other day (when itâs not cold and wet or I havenât succumbed to laziness).  The âartâ of putting one foot in front of the other can be pretty monotonous and by âpodding alongâ while plodding along the mind also gets something useful to do. 

Some of the best radio comes from the public networks of the UK, Australia, Ireland, Canada, New Zealand and the U.S.  Apart from the originating programâs web site, most programs are made available through any number of other amalgamation sources such as iTunes and TuneIn. 

Admittedly, these are thoroughly subjective recommendations, but my interests and tolerance for incompatible views are pretty wide-ranging. Hereâs another in a continuing series of small samplings:

-----

âFighting Ignorance from Ivory Towersâ
OCKHAMâS RAZOR - ABC Radio National
To overcome the rising tide of public anti-intellectualism, Professor Mark Dodgson says the association in the public mind with academic and elite has to be broken.  What people canât stand is the sense of superiority exuded by those seen to live in ivory towers, divorced from everyday reality.  He says itâs time for academics to re-build public trust in their expertise, and overcome the idea that they are remote and self-interested elites.  (11â)
http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/ockhamsrazor/fighting-ignorance-in-ivory-towers/8521114

âFueling Free Willâ
THE PHILOSOPHERS ZONE - ABC Radio National
Alfred Mele has spent four years and four million dollars trying to get to the bottom of free will. His mega project attempted to understand free will in philosophy, science and religion. One view he holds to be true is that free will is a bit like fuel: it comes in grades, depending on what you think free will actually is. And heâs certain that science has some way to go if it wants to debunk free will.  (26â)
http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/philosopherszone/mele/8287256

âTax Heroâ
PLANET MONEY - NPR
Doing your taxes doesn't have to be a pain. In many countries around the world, filing taxes is so easy and painless, "tax day" isn't even a thing.  Back in 2005, a little group of California tax experts were talking shop and they figured, we could do that here in the U.S. A lot of people in California get all of their income from their paychecks, and taxes are already withheld from those paychecks. In those cases, California could just fill out the W-2 for the taxpayers, who could check for errors and just send them back in. Easy as 1-2-3. (That was the slogan the state came up with). They named it: ReadyReturn.  A tax law professor, Joseph Bankman, thought this was such a no-brainer, he offered to help test out the idea with a small group of California taxpayers. He ran a little trial and ReadyReturn was such a huge success. Taxpayers raved about how great it was. Other states started paying attention to see if they could use the plan, too. California's governor at the time, Arnold Schwarzenegger, supported the plan.  Bankman thought getting ReadyReturn through the California legislature would be smooth sailing. He thought wrong. (24â)
http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2017/03/22/521132960/episode-760-tax-hero

âCan Trump Take the Money?â
PLANET MONEY - NPR
In 1776, just after the U.S. declared independence, Benjamin Franklin traveled to France to serve as an ambassador. Franklin was a hit in Paris. When he returned home, King Louis XVI gave Franklin an extravagant gift - a portrait of the king ringed by 408 fine diamonds.  This gift kicked off a conversation among the Founding Fathers as they were drafting the constitution: Should politicians be able to benefit from their offices? How would we ensure elected officials stay independent? How do we prevent them from being influenced by foreign governments?  The founders wrote the Emoluments Clause into the U.S. Constitution.  It reads:  "No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State."
Now, these 49 words have been thrust into the spotlight.  A group of lawyers filed a suit against President Trump, days after he took office. They claim he is violating the Emoluments Clause. That he's profiting from his office: foreign diplomats are paying to stay in his hotels, the Apprentice airs on state-owned networks abroad, and China just granted the Trump name trademark protection.  We've never had a president like Donald Trump, and so we're only now testing the limits of the emoluments clause.  (22â)
http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2017/03/10/519704015/episode-758-can-trump-take-the-money

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A monthly compendium of these newsletters, plus on occasion additional pertinent material, is now published in The CIDX Messenger, the monthly e-newsletter of the Canadian International DX Club (CIDX).  For further information, go to www.cidx.ca

Good listening!

John Figliozzi
Editor, "The Worldwide Listening Guide"
7th edition available from Universal Radio, Amazon, W5YI.com and Ham Radio Outlet


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