True Crime Podcasts, World Wide Hum, Spanish Flu
Making A True-Crime Podcast (0:34) Guest: Dave Cawley, investigative reporter and host of the COLD podcast for KSL News The creators of the true-crime podcast COLD revealed new information this week. The viral podcast is about the unsolved 2009 disappearance of Susan Powell. (Originally aired March 7, 2019) Have You Heard the Hum? Several Theories Try to Explain This Mysterious Noise (16:37) Guest: Glen MacPherson, Director of the World Hum Map and Database Project All around the world, people claim to hear a persistent low humming noise that’s sometimes known as the World Hum. Not everyone can hear it. Just some people. The noise usually follows them wherever they go. Glen Macpherson built a steel box to see if he could block out the humming. But even inside of it, the noise was there. MacPherson is not a conspiracy theorist –though there are plenty of those chasing down the world hum. MacPherson’s take is more scientific. He’s a high school science and math teacher and director of the World Hum Map and Database Project which is trying to solve the mystery of the Hum. (Originally aired June 4, 2019) Rock-Eating River Worms (36:02) Guest: Dan Distel, Research Professor of Marine Science and Director Of The Ocean Genome Legacy Center at Northeastern University There’s a worm-like clam that’s recently made a come-back to Brooklyn piers and is causing millions of dollars of damage. The shipworm bores into and digests wood, making little tunnels that permanently weaken the structure. (Originally aired July 16, 2019) The Deadliest Flu Pandemic in Living Memory Happened 100 Years Ago. Could it Happen Again? (51:10) Guest: Richard Gunderman, MD, Ph.D., Chancellor's Professor of Radiology, Pediatrics, Medical Education, Philosophy, Liberal Arts, Philanthropy, and Medical Humanities and Health Studies, Indiana University Some physicians are worried this flu season could be particularly bad. Australia just went through one of its worst flu seasons, and that can sometimes inform what our flu season in the US will be like. But nothing comes close to the flu pandemic a century ago that killed 50 million people worldwide. Could a pandemic like that happen again? (Originally aired November 28, 2018) War Games Play Pivotal Role in Military Strategy and International Relations (1:13:06) Guest: David Shlapak, Senior Defense Researcher at the RAND Corporation Before a country launches an actual military strike, it will often conduct military exercises –war games, they’re sometimes called –as a form of sabre rattling to warn an enemy. Iran is doing that right now on its border with Turkey –an apparent response to Turkey’s airstrikes inside Syria. At the start of the summer, the US military participated in a military practice exercise in the Arctic Circle –in full view of Russia. (Originally aired June 17, 2019) Driverless Cars to Overtake Planes (1:27:47) Guest: Scott Winter, assistant professor of Graduate Studies at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University In the near future, you may have the option to hop in a self-driving car or get on a plane. Which would you choose? Being able to skip airport security and having room to lean back and sleep does sound really appealing. So appealing in fact, that airlines might be in trouble. (Originally aired July 30, 2019)