Spectrum

Freelance journalist Tania Rashid says covering human tragedies can take a psychological toll on reporters who face human misery day-after-day. She says it is immensely distressing to see people suffering, through no fault of their own, simply because of their race or ethnicity. Rashid has spent a great amount of time covering the Rohingya refugee crisis as the Rohingya people flee Myanmar into Bangladesh to form the world’s largest refugee camp. Her reporting of the trials, tribulations and turmoils of the refugees has led to stories about terrible living conditions, lack of food, rape, abuse and sex trafficking. She even went undercover to report how Rohingya young girls are recruited to work in brothels. Rashid also reported on how 12 and 13 year old girls are being forced into marriages with strangers they don’t even know. Rashid says that witnessing such immense human tragedy forces her, as a reporter, to sometimes reach out with help for the subjects of her stories. She cannot just remain a passiv

Author and election analyst Kyle Kondik, from the University of Virginia Center for Politics, says the latest poll results are tipping toward favoring impeachment because voters can more easily grasp the issues comprising the Ukrainian controversy. The elements surrounding President Trump asking Ukrainian officials to provide political dirt on his potential Democratic opponent Joe Biden are much easier for voters to understand than the muddled and legalistic report from Special Counsel Robert Mueller, Kondik says. Therefore, recent polls are showing over 50 percent of Americans favoring both impeachment of the President and removal from office by the U.S. Senate. However, Kondik cautions that these early polls are volatile and can easily change. At this point, Kondik does not think there will be sufficient cross-over Republican voting in the Senate to remove Trump from office. Instead, he believes that Trump will be impeached by the Democratic House but not removed from office by the Republican Senate. Two o

President Donald Trump’s newly announced withdrawal of American troops from Northeastern Syria opens the door for Turkey to attack America’s Kurdish allies in the region, says Dr. Nukhet Sandal, Chair of the Political Science Department at Ohio University. The potential of Turkey attacking an unprotected U.S. ally is dangerous at many levels, according to Dr. Sandal. Primarily it sends a message to other U.S. allies that we will not stand behind them during times of international upheaval. We will not protect them, she says. It makes America untrustworthy in her view. Dr. Sandal also believes that this abandonment of the Kurds invites further meddling in this region by Turkey, Iran, and Russia. Most importantly, she notes that currently, the Kurds have about 10,000 ISIS prisoners in their custody and about 70,000 ISIS family members. The Kurds have said that if they are fighting the Turks that they will not be able to appropriately guard these prisoners and their release or escape could be imminent. Trump

Chris Thile is an acclaimed musician and songwriter, as well as the host of American Public Media’s nationally syndicated live, weekly variety show “Live From Here.” WOUB’s Emily Votaw speaks with Thile about the creative process behind his work for “Live From Here”, what it’s like to host a live radio show in 2019, and what he enjoys about performing on college campuses. Besides being a solo artist, Thile was one of the co-founders of the Grammy-winning acoustic trio, Nickel Creek, and is a member of the bluegrass group “Punch Brothers.” In 2012, Thile was a McArthur Fellow. Emily Votaw is the Culture Editor at WOUB Public Media and an occasional guest host on WOUB’s Spectrum Podcast.

College and university student enrollments are in a downward spiral because of multiple factors including parents and students questioning the value of a college education, according to Dr. Richard Vedder, author, historian, columnist, and emeritus professor of economics at Ohio University. Demographically, there is a decline in the number of traditional college eligible students born during a period of low fertility in America and the numbers are expected to get worse. The number of traditional 18-22 year old students will drop more than 15% between 2025 and 2029. Currently, we are in our seventh straight year of decline nationally. Not only are there fewer students but students and parents are now questioning the value of higher education compared to the costs involved. Dr. Vedder says there is a “flight to quality” – students want to get in the elite institutions of higher learning but if they can’t many do not see a lesser ranked college or university as a viable alternative. Students look at the high co

Ohio University researchers and students are fighting to prevent the dreaded Chagas disease in Ecuador and its spread to the United States. Each year, according to the World Health Organization, over 8 million people are infected with Chagas disease mostly in Latin America. However, nearly 300,000 people in the United States are also infected. The disease kills nearly 20,000 people each year. Additionally, some 15,000 babies are born infected with the disease. Chagas disease is spread by a parasite called the “kissing bug” and it is prevalent in southern Ecuador. It thrives in rural and overcrowded urban centers, according to Dr. Mario Grijalva, the director of the Infectious and Tropical Disease Institute at Ohio University. To prevent the spread of the disease, new housing units must be built for families to safely occupy. These units are free of the “kissing bugs.” Dr. Grijalva’s Institute has partnered with various academic units at Ohio University to raise awareness of Chagas disease and to help raise

Amy Nordrum, a veteran science journalist, feels that fact-based science reporting helps an audience navigate through new technologies and new discoveries that will impact people’s daily lives. Nordrum currently is news editor of “IEEE Spectrum,” an award-winning technology and engineering magazine based in New York City. She also is a frequent guest on Public Radio’s “Science Friday” with Ira Flatow talking about a wide-range of science topics. Nordrum writes and edits news stories about computing, artificial intelligence, power and energy, biomedical engineering, and telecommunications. Her favorite stories cover elements of business and technology and explain the importance of technology to the average person. She says she really enjoys her guest appearances on Science Friday. She tells us how the appearances are scheduled and how she prepares for the show. Over her journalism career, Nordrum has done a wide range of science reporting. She has written about health care, biotech, and pharmaceuticals for th

Most entertainment news is generated on the east or west coasts and not in the heartland. Yet, John Kiesewetter spent 40 professional years at the “Cincinnati Enquirer” and three decades as its “Television Critic” writing everything from local criticism to major features. After his job was eliminated at the Enquirer, his career continues to this day. He is now the TV/Media reporter for Cincinnati Public Radio, WVXU FM and wvxu.org. There he writes an almost daily blog, and contributes on-air interviews to various locally generated radio programs. “I had a great run when newspapers were great, when papers had big features staffs and money to travel,” Kiesewetter says. Travel allowed him access to major celebrities and the latest in entertainment news. But, Kiesewetter doesn’t want just any story. Instead, he focuses on stories he thinks are important to the average listener and reader. That philosophy has served him well. He tells us how he traveled to meet stars as well as talking with celebrities who cam

Science reporting and writing has become the mainstay of award-winning journalist Maria Gallucci. She feels that factual writing about the environment and in-depth science reporting is important and necessary in a world clouded with concepts of “alternative facts” and “spin.” Gallucci is a bi-lingual reporter who has had global experience with an emphasis on reporting about energy and the environment. One of her specialties is reporting about the environmental footprint and issues facing the container ship industry. She currently covers clean energy development and environmental issues in the world of maritime cargo shipping. Gallucci is a former 2017-2018 University of Texas Energy Journalism Fellow and has worked for Mashable, International Business Times, Makeshift Media and InsideClimate News as a reporter and editor. She also has reported from Mexico City. She talks with the Spectrum Podcast about science reporting and some of the issues she confronts as a free-lance journalist. She also talks about eth

Throughout his 31 years as an astronomer on the faculty at Harvard Dr. Robert Kirshner has been a leader in using supernovae to map the universe and chart the universe’s expansion over time. Some of his discoveries gave him Science Magazine’s Breakthrough of the Year Award in 1998 and led to a Nobel Prize in Physics in 2011. He is one of the leaders in the concept that the universe is not only expanding but it is doing so today at an accelerated rate compared to years past. This expansion is thanks to “dark energy,” says his team of scientists. Dr. Kirshner, however, has not been satisfied with just communicating to fellow-scientists about his discoveries. He wants the average person to understand the concepts of the expanding universe and the rolls of our solar system and galaxy in the much greater cosmos. He has broken down his discoveries into understandable terms for the non-scientist in his popular book “The Extravagant Universe: Exploding Stars, Dark Energy, and the Accelerating Cosmos, published by Pri

As storms, tornadoes and flooding ravage the Midwest and The Plains and as a new and scary hurricane season approaches, more and more people rely on The Weather Channel and the Weather Group to provide them live coverage of major weather events. We count on up-to-the-minute, live weather storytelling to keep us abreast of the latest developments and whether we, or our friends and relatives, are in harm’s way. Most of us who watch the Weather Channel during times of live weather coverage rely on a woman we never see on camera and don’t know – Angela Massie. She is the vice president of live storytelling at The Weather Channel in Atlanta and coordinates the network’s live coverage across the nation during times of weather peril. She determines what mandates live coverage and how assets and talent are distributed to bring the best and broadest form of coverage. She came to the Weather Channel in 2014 as an executive producer and then became a senior executive producer before being promoted to vice president. Cur

“The Wall: Unknown stories. Unintended consequences.” is a Pulitzer Prize winning multimedia series from USA Today Network and Gannett that delves into life along the southern border of the United States – the same border where President Donald Trump proposes to build his wall. “The explanatory report, led by then Arizona Republic’s vice president of news and editor Nicole Carroll, recently named editor in chief of USA TODAY, provides an in-depth look at the border through immersive technology, including aerial and 360-degree video, virtual reality, bots, drones, documentaries, photos, podcasts, and LiDAR data,” says USA Today promotional material. When The Wall received the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting, the Pulitzer Committee said it won “for vivid and timely reporting that masterfully combined text, video, podcasts and virtual reality to examine, from multiple perspectives, the difficulties and unintended consequences of fulfilling President Trump's pledge to construct a wall along the U.S.

A new podcast will launch on Memorial Day – “Defining Moments Podcast: Conversations about Health and Healing. The podcast is created by Dr. Lynn Harter and is produced by WOUB Public Media. Dr. Harter is a Communication Studies professor, Emmy-winning documentarian, storyteller and the co- founder of the Barbara Geralds Institute for Storytelling and Social Impact in the Scripps College of Communication at Ohio University. Her academic specialty is narrative theory and storytelling practice and she is an expert in the field of health communication. The new podcast showcases stories about living well in the midst of vulnerability and hardship. Episodes feature an eclectic group of guests who share moments of uncertainty, innovation and resilience. Dr. Harter draws on twenty years of experience in health contexts to spark conversations that move between personal anecdotes and societal health challenges. In a new podcast feature, each episode will be accompanied by articles written for “Health Communication” p

Listening is the key to important and difficult conversations, according to Al Letson the current host of “Reveal,” the first hour-long public broadcasting show and podcast produced by the Center for Investigative Reporting and the Public Radio Exchange (PRX). He claims with the explosion of social media and cable news shows that Americans have lost the ability to listen to each other. We talk past one another instead of with one another. He also claims that sometimes the best way to deal with a confrontational conversation or hostile ideas being expressed is to just walk away. He feels that bitter arguments should not replace constructive conversation--but if they do—he does not engage. He does not give them space in his life. Letson equates true listening to an “act of love.” He claims that sometimes the most powerful thing that a person can do is “shut up and listen.” Letson has spent much of his career listening and talking, especially on his famous radio programs and podcasts. From 2008 to 2014, he was t

Dr. Venki Ramakrishnan, a molecular biologist, is president of the Royal Society in Great Britain, the same organization formerly headed by Sir Isaac Newton and Ernest Rutherford. He feels it is the duty and obligation of top scientists to explain, in understandable terms, their discoveries to the general population to extend understanding and knowledge. Dr. Ramakrishnan, in this Spectrum Podcast, explains ribosomes. They exist in every living cell to synthesize proteins. For his work in ribosomes, Dr. Ramakrishnan shared a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2009. In this podcast, he uses approachable metaphors to explain the functioning of these highly complex cell components. In recent years, Dr. Ramakrishnan has extended his work in ribosomes and has taken his discoveries to a higher level. He notes that malfunctioning ribosomes can be instrumental in causing certain diseases. However, harnessing and directing the functioning of ribosomes can bring about cures for some diseases and human maladies. For example,

Despite covering major stories in over 100 countries, award winning photojournalist Jeff Widener is best known for his iconic photograph of a lone Chinese protester standing in front of a column of tanks during the Tiananmen Square protest in Beijing, China in 1989. The ‘Tank Man’ photo won Widener worldwide acclaim. He was a Pulitzer Finalist and his photo was picked by America Online as one of the top 10 photos of all time. More interesting than the photo, however, is the backstory of how Widener got the photo and his surreptitious way of getting the film back to the Associated Press office in China to distribute the picture worldwide. On this edition of the “Spectrum Podcast,” hear the details from Widener himself…the twists and turns of what he had to do to get this amazing photograph. Also, hear how this famous photojournalist got started taking pictures at age 7 and while in high school won the 1974 Kodak/Scholastic National Photography Scholarship beating out over 8000 competitors. He then worked for

Kashmir is a region located high in the Himalayan Mountains between two historical adversaries: India and Pakistan. It was partitioned in the 1940’s at the end of British colonial rule but it remains a point of unrest even today. Over the past decades, Kashmir has been a battleground for skirmishes and armed conflict between the two nuclear powers of India and Pakistan. It is part of the geo-political tug of war between these two powers. However, many groups within Kashmir are pushing for independence from both countries. Kashmir is the focus of research for Dr. Haley Duschinski, the Director and Graduate Director of the Center for Law, Justice, and Culture at Ohio University. She recently returned from Brussels and the European Parliament’s human rights subcommittee hearing on Kashmir. She also attended the United Nation’s Human Rights Council sessions in Geneva and conducted a human rights visit to Northern Ireland. Although India and Pakistan continue to fight over the Kashmir region, many Kashmir residen

Tania Rashid views storytelling focusing on human rights and women’s issues through her own personal lens of experiences. Her life encounters have molded her into the journalist and filmmaker that she is – tracking down stories of the enslaved, the impoverished, and women who are abused, raped, trafficked and discounted by various societies. As a young girl, Rashid grew up in Saudi Arabia where she witnessed her Bangladesh mother be deprived of even the most basic rights – such as the right to drive or the right to an education. She then moved back to her ancestral home in Bangladesh where she found rampant governmental corruption, political instability and violence. From there, her family moved to the United States and settled in Utah where she was the “only brown, Muslim girl in my class, in a community of Caucasian Mormons.” Rashid learned first-hand what it felt like to be “different” and to be the target of racism, she says. Her background in the Middle East and South Asia combined with her being the sub

Jennifer Rudick Zunikoff believes in the power of stories and storytelling to build communities and to bridge cultural and religious divides in our country. Zunikoff is a storyteller, poet, educator, facilitator and coach and is the founder and director of The Golden Door: Storytelling for Social Justice. “It is an organization that brings storytellers and facilitators to schools to coach teachers and to educate students and build safe, encouraging classroom communities,” says Zunikoff. For almost 10 years she also co-taught Oral Histories of Holocaust Survivors at Goucher College and coached over 100 students in the genre of oral histories. Zunikoff will be in Athens this weekend as part of a weekend collaborative “Community Building” workshop organized by the Appalachian Ohio Storytelling Project. The theme of the weekend is “A Welcoming America: Take Your Place at Our Table,” according to Thomas Burnett, director of the Storytelling Project. Zunikoff will be the featured storyteller at a Saturday, April

A group of reporters at The Cincinnati Enquirer worked together to create a multimedia series that would tell the real story of one week of the heroin epidemic in the Cincinnati metropolitan area from many different aspects. To tackle this voluminous task, it would take the commitment of the whole newsroom, says Dan Horn the leader of this reporting and photographic entourage. Once the group got approval from editors for this project, they launched into a massive effort to look at the heroin epidemic from many different angels. They used data as well as personal stories of addiction, overdose, rehabilitation and death. They also examined the impacts of the newborns and babies of addicts, according to Anne Saker, who covers the science of health and the business of medicine for the Enquirer. The result was that this series won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting. Horn says they were not looking for an award while assembling the story. Instead, they were seeking ways of bringing the scourge of the hero