Jim Tull – Positive Thinking in a Dark Age

I recall a Buddhist parable involving a stick that appears from a distance to be a snake, causing fear to rise in the perceiver. As the perception shifts upon closer examination, the fear subsides and the relieved hiker continues down the path. Understanding and awareness have a lot to do with how we feel and how we act. As hosts …

Visionaries – 12.12.16

“Ivan Shumkov and MOOCs.” Ivan is a New York based architect, entrepreneur, professor, scholar and curator who talks with us about MOOCs — Massive Open Online Courses that are disrupting education. Ivan is a pioneer in online education and founder of the Build Academy, providing professional education for the building industry. He earned his PhD in Architecture at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia and Columbia University GSAPP. Ivan has taught at NYU, Harvard University GSD, Pratt Institute School of Architecture, Parsons the New School for Design, International University of Catalonia, and ETSA Barcelona.

Kyra Gurney – Suspected of Corruption at Home, Powerful Foreigners Find Refuge in the U.S.

This report is a collaboration between ProPublica and the Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism at Columbia University. A version of this story is being co-published with The Miami Herald. Wealthy politicians and businessmen suspected of corruption in their native lands are fleeing to a safe haven where their wealth and influence shields them from arrest. They have entered this country …

STACY MORFORD – When Permafrost Melts, What Happens to All That Stored Carbon?

The Arctic’s frozen ground contains large stores of organic carbon that have been locked in the permafrost for thousands of years. As global temperatures rise, that permafrost is starting to melt, raising concerns about the impact on the climate as organic carbon becomes exposed. A new study is shedding light on what that could mean for the future by providing …

ELIZABETH GROSSMAN – How fossil fuel use threatens kids’ health

The burning of fossil fuels — coal, oil and gas — creates pollution that not only can harm health but also foster climate change. Together these impacts pose an outsize risk to children, studies show. Their data point to a growing need for society to better protect kids. That’s the conclusion of a new report. It was prepared by Frederica …

Andrew Rice – This is New York in the not-so-distant future

Klaus Jacob, a German professor affiliated with Columbia’s University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, is a geophysicist by profession and a doomsayer by disposition. I’ve gotten to know him over the past few years, as I’ve sought to understand the greatest threat to life in New York as we know it. Jacob has a white beard and a ponderous accent: Imagine if Werner …

Deirdre Fulton – How the Decline in Union Membership Is Hurting All of Us: Report

The decline of organized labor in the United States has contributed significantly to wage stagnation and rising inequality, according to a new report released Tuesday by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). “Rebuilding our system of collective bargaining is an important tool available for fueling wage growth for both low- and middle-wage workers and ending the era of persistent wage stagnation.” …

Deirdre Fulton – In Major Ruling, Grad Students Win Right to Unionize at Private Universities

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) said Tuesday that graduate students who work as teaching and research assistants at private colleges are employees—a ruling with “big implications” for both higher education and organized labor in the United States. Inside Higher Ed explains: The NLRB said that a previous ruling by the board—that these workers were not entitled to collective bargaining because they are …