Top New Podcasts: “The History Of Coffee” And Its Social Impact (BBC Radio)

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the history and social impact of coffee. From its origins in Ethiopia, coffea arabica spread through the Ottoman Empire before reaching Western Europe where, in the 17th century, coffee houses were becoming established.

There, caffeinated customers stayed awake for longer and were more animated, and this helped to spread ideas and influence culture. Coffee became a colonial product, grown by slaves or indentured labour, with coffea robusta replacing arabica where disease had struck, and was traded extensively by the Dutch and French empires; by the 19th century, Brazil had developed into a major coffee producer, meeting demand in the USA that had grown on the waggon trails.

With

Judith Hawley
Professor of 18th Century Literature at Royal Holloway, University of London

Markman Ellis
Professor of 18th Century Studies at Queen Mary University of London

And

Jonathan Morris
Professor in Modern History at the University of Hertfordshire

Producer: Simon Tillotson

Website: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000c4x1

New History Books: “American Disruptor – The Scandalous Life Of Leland Stanford” (De Wolk)

It is also the saga of how Stanford, once a serial failure, overcame all obstacles to become one of America’s most powerful and wealthiest men, using his high elective office to enrich himself before losing the one thing that mattered most to him – his only child and son. Scandal and intrigue would follow Stanford through his life, and even after his death, when his widow was murdered in a Honolulu hotel – a crime quickly covered up by the almost stillborn university she had saved.  Richly detailed and deeply researched, American Disruptor restores Leland Stanford’s rightful place as a revolutionary force and architect of modern America.

American Disruptor is the untold story of Leland Stanford – from his birth in a backwoods bar to the founding of the world-class university that became and remains the nucleus of Silicon Valley. The life of this robber baron, politician, and historic influencer is the astonishing tale of how one supremely ambitious man became this country’s original “disruptor” – reshaping industry and engineering one of the greatest raids on the public treasury for America’s transcontinental railroad, all while living more opulently than maharajas, kings, and emperors.

New Health Studies: 43% Of Americans Prescribed Antibiotics Improperly

From a British Medical Journal (BMJ) online article:

BMJ journal cover Dec 2019…primary care providers (general practice, paediatrics, and internal medicine) performed the best, giving a considerably lower percentage of antibiotic prescriptions without a documented indication (12%) than other specialists such as gynaecologists and urologists, who commonly prescribed antibiotics (24%), as well as those in all other specialties (29%).

As many as two in five antibiotic prescriptions (43%) provided in outpatient settings in the US could be inappropriate, a study published by The BMJ has found.1

Researchers from Oregon, USA, looked at prescriptions in ambulatory settings such as primary care and found that a quarter (25%) were deemed to be inappropriate, while a further 18% did not have an indication.

To read more: https://www.bmj.com/content/367/bmj.l6961

New Research Videos: “In Search Of The Amazon’s Tallest Tree” (Cambridge)

Research has discovered the tallest known tree in the Amazon, towering above the previous record holder at a whopping 88.5 metres. This giant could store as much carbon as an entire hectare of rainforest elsewhere in the Amazon. Toby Jackson, a plant scientist in the University of Cambridge, took part in an expedition to find the tree in a remote region of northern Brazil, and validate its height the old-fashioned way – by climbing it.

To read more: https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/expedition-finds-tallest-tree-in-the-amazon

Art History: “Bullets And Steel” In Elizabethan Armor (Art Institute Of Chicago Video)

Jeffrey D. Wasson, the armorer who crafted the accurate replica of the Art Institute’s Greenwich armor, and Jonathan Tavares, the Art Institute’s associate curator of arms, armor and European decorative arts before 1700, discuss how utilizing experimental archaeology allowed them to uncover the methods used by Renaissance armorers in crafting the bulletproof protection.

To read more: https://www.artic.edu/events/4684/conversation-bullets-and-steelthe-making-of-elizabethan-armor-2

Top New Travel Videos: “Navarre – Paradise Lost” In Spain By Txema Ortiz

Filmed, Edited and Directed by: Txema Ortiz

Navarra a beautiful and wonderful place. A lost paradise.

Navarre Paradise Lost Timelapse Travel Video by Txema Ortiz 2019

4K timelapse done entirely in Navarra. This video shows only a small part of the many charming places that this land has, in which you can admire various areas of the Navarra geography, its contrasts and its diversity of landscapes, which make it a very beautiful place to landscape and cultural level, a place to visit because it is worth it, its landscapes, its people, its culture and its cuisine are unique.

Video made with more than 15,000 photographs and several months of work at different times of the year.

Website: https://vimeo.com/txemaortiz

Actor Video Profiles: Danny DeVito On His “Most Iconic Characters” (GQ)

GQ logoDanny DeVito breaks down his most iconic roles, including his characters in ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,’ ‘Batman Returns,’ ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,’ ‘Taxi,’ ‘Throe Momma from the Train,’ ‘Twins,’ ‘Matilda,’ ‘Hercules,’ ‘L.A. Confidential,’ ‘Curmudgeons’ and ‘Jumanji: The Next Level.’

Media: 41% Of Americans Believe News Has Become Less Reliable, 44% No Change (Rand Corp, 2019)

From a Rand.org online release:

Rand Corporation LogoMany people (41 percent) indicated that they believed that news has become less reliable than in the past; a similar number (44 percent) said they believed there has been no change; and 15 percent said they thought news is more reliable now.

Different demographic groups get their news in different ways

  • People whose primary news sources are social media and in-person contacts are generally younger and female, and they tend to have less education than a college degree and lower household incomes.
  • People whose primary news sources are print publications and broadcast television tend to be be significantly older, and they are less likely to be married.
  • People whose primary news source is radio are significantly more likely to be male, less likely to be retired, and more likely to have a college degree.
  • People whose primary news sources are online platforms are significantly younger, more likely to be male and have a college degree and higher income, and less likely to be black.

Attitudes toward the reliability of news are mixed

  • Overall, 44 percent reported that they believed “the news is as reliable now as in the past.”
  • Nearly the same amount — 41 percent — reported a belief that the news has become less reliable.
  • A minority (15 percent) said that they believed that the news is more reliable now.
  • There was an association between news consumption profiles and perceptions of reliability — people who relied more heavily on online, radio, and social media/in-person platforms to obtain news were less likely to say that news is more reliable now than in the past.

Rand News Study Respondents' Most Used News Source

Rand News Study Respondents' Top Two Most-Used News Source

 

To view full Rand Study: https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR4212.html?utm_source=WhatCountsEmail&utm_medium=RAND%20Policy%20Currents+AEM:%20%20Email%20Address%20NOT%20LIKE%20DOTMIL&utm_campaign=AEM:631600804

Top Science Podcasts: New Epilepsy Drug Research & Anatomy Of Lightning From Space (ScienceMag)

scimag_pc_logo_120_120 (2)About one-third of people with epilepsy are treatment resistant. Up until now, epilepsy treatments have focused on taming seizures rather than the source of the disease and for good reason—so many roads lead to epilepsy: traumatic brain injury, extreme fever and infection, and genetic disorders, to name a few. Staff Writer Jennifer Couzin-Frankel talks with host Sarah Crespi about researchers that are turning back the pages on epilepsy, trying to get to the beginning of the story where new treatments might work.

And Sarah also talks with Torsten Neurbert at the Technical University of Denmark’s National Space Institute in Kongens Lyngby about capturing high-altitude “transient luminous events” from the International Space Station (ISS). These lightning-induced bursts of light, color, and occasionally gamma rays were first reported in the 1990s but had only been recorded from the ground or aircraft. With new measurements from the ISS come new insights into the anatomy of lightning.

Website: https://www.sciencemag.org/podcast/hunting-new-epilepsy-drugs-and-capturing-lightning-space

Shopping: Albertsons And Takeoff Technologies Launch EGrocery “Micro-Fulfillment” Centers

From and Albertson Companies online news release:

Takeoff eGrocery Micro Fulfillment“The micro-fulfillment center model is a key element in the store of the future,” said Vivek Sankaran, Albertsons Companies President and Chief Executive Officer. “It combines the efficiency of automation with the ease of meeting customers when and how they want to shop. In working with Takeoff, we can evolve how the MFC ties into our store and e-commerce ecosystems and accelerate our path to best serve our customers.”


December 12, 2019 – Albertsons Companies and Takeoff Technologies are teaming up to collaborate on the future of grocery micro-fulfillment centers (MFC). The two companies have decided to form a strategic partnership with dedicated teams to collaborate on the evolution of the microfulfillment capabilities to drive the future of e-commerce order fulfillment.

Albertsons Companies logoAlbertsons Cos., which operates stores in 8 out of 10 of the largest MSA’s in the United States, has also agreed to purchase additional MFCs from Takeoff and is evaluating market expansion opportunities. Albertsons Cos. and Takeoff worked closely together on the successful implementation of the company’s first MFC in South San Francisco in October 2019.

To read more: https://www.albertsonscompanies.com/newsroom/12-12-19-albertsons-companies-takeoff-develop-strategic-partnership.html