Bob Barrett

Ever since the establishment of our democracy, citizens of the United States have demonstrated both pleasure and disgust with their government by exercising their right to vote.

Remember the story of Johnny Appleseed...the man who legend says roaming the country planting his seeds wherever he went?  Well, Janisse Ray isn’t roaming the country planting seeds, she’s touring colleges and universities talking about the importance of saving different varieties of seeds before they are lost forever. Today on The Best Of Our Knowledge, we’ll hear from Janisse about The Seed Underground.

Penn State, Syracuse University, the Catholic Church...these are just a few...the most publicized institutions that have been scandalized by child sex abuse.  Many of the abusers have been caught and put in jail.  But does that bring closure to the men who were abused?  On today’s Health Show, we’ll speak to a psychotherapist about the emotional health issues facing male survivors of child sex abuse.

Remember the story of Johnny Appleseed...the man who legend says roaming the country planting his seeds wherever he went?  Well, Janisse Ray isn’t roaming the country planting seeds, she’s touring colleges and universities talking about the importance of saving different varieties of seeds before they are lost forever. Today on The Best Of Our Knowledge, we’ll hear from Janisse about The Seed Underground.

It’s no secret that obesity continues to be one of the most pressing health problems in the US...and researchers are continuing to study the problem.  What’s to study, eat less and exercise, right?  Well, sometimes it goes deeper than that.  On today’s Health Show, we’ll talk to a clinical scientist about the chemistry of obesity.

We’ll also hear about the science of sleep and sleep deprivation by someone who was on a quest to understand his own sleeping disorder.

History is happening every day.  Some days may be more notable than others, but we never know when we wake up in the morning if today is going to be a day that will be remembered forever.  50 years ago, there were 13 days in October that became some of the most tense in American history.  Today on The Best Of Our Knowledge, we’ll remember the Cuban Missile Crisis and hear how the history books remember those days.

Then we’ll head to Philadelphia, where a group of students are working to make school safe for everyone, include LGBT students.

The outcome of one Capital Region New York State Senate race could be the key to whether the Senate majority remains in the hands of Republicans, or flips to Democrats, giving Democrats full control of both legislative chambers and the governor’s office.

Prostate cancer isn’t easy.  Not that being diagnosed with cancer is ever easy...but with prostate cancer the treatment options literally go from all to nothing at all.  And sometimes, doing nothing is the best option.  On this week’s Health Show we’ll talk to one of the authors of “Invasion of the Prostate Snatchers”...and try to find out just how much fighting you should do against the disease.

We hear a lot about the amount of debt many students take on while attending college.  But how many of those schools are making sure those students know how to deal with that debt...or even understand it once they graduation? Today on The Best Of Our Knowledge, we’ll hear about one northeast school that now mandates courses in financial literacy for all their students.

We’ll also spend an Academic Minute trying to find a little financial sense in the cost of health care in the US.

In the past couple of decades a lot of money and effort have gone into the fight against drunk driving...with positive results.  The refrain of “one for the road” is now not taken literally often.  One reason for the success is the ease of testing a driver for alcohol use...a simple roadside breath test.  For some time now, there have been efforts to duplicate that technology to test for drugs other than alcohol.  On today’s Health Show, we’ll hear an evaluation of that technology and hear where it’s already being used.