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Archives for October 2016

Protecting Your Brain As You Age (Rebroadcast)

Whether we like it or not, time marches on. And as it does, we age.

One of the most challenging realities for everyone to face in life is that we are all, inevitably, destined to grow old (if we’re lucky, that is).

Aging correlates to a steady decline of functional abilities, both physical and mental. Memory and cognition peak in our early twenties, and we begin a very slow, steady decline of those functions as we near our senior years.

After age 80, many bodily functions – including brain function – seem to have reached the average limit of their operation. So what can we do to preserve our brains for as long as possible?
You know what they say: use it or lose it. The more you think now, the more you will be able to think later, as you age. Activities that are interactive and intellectually rewarding, like having good conversations with people, are not only enjoyable – they’re also good for your brain.

The next time you spend too long talking to someone, lost in a good conversation, there’s your excuse – you were exercising your brain. And by the same token, physical activity and fitness help preserve brain function. After all, your brain is a part of your body – so you have to take care of your body to take care of your brain.

So: think a lot, move a lot, and live a lot if you want to live longer. Drs. Art Markman and Bob Duke give you more of the details.

You’re only as old as you feel: Continued activity – both physical and mental – protects you as you age.

Texas Standard: October 20, 2016

Three keys to last night’s debate: Hombre, Nasty, and I’ll keep you in suspense—unlocking the rhetoric today on the Texas Standard.

If the first wave was Texas shifting from rural to urban, what’s next? Some point to what’s happening in our host city today. We’re in Waco, where the Magnolia effect is impossible to ignore. We’ll explain.

Speaking of transformations: how a destructive greenhouse gas could become a useful source of energy.

Yesterday’s futurists promised us videophones. Though the future is now, our digital savant tells us you ain’t seen nothin’ yet…

We’re just getting started—live and Statewide from Waco, no matter where you are- it’s Texas Standard time…

Texas Standard: October 19, 2016

A third and final presidential debate tonight poses an important question: do we really need to go through with this? We’ll debate it. Also Texas has more people in immigration detention centers than any other state, but who’s covering the tab? And call the doctor, but careful there: Texas rules on telemedicine are among the toughest. Today, a check up on showdown between state regulators and a fast growing industry. Also, despite a certain lack of name recognition, a native texan gets tapped for the rock and roll hall of fame shortlist. Those stories and so much more today on the Texas Standard:

Dr Pepper: The Story of Texas’ Favorite Soft Drink

My favorite snack as a teenager was a Dr Pepper with salty peanuts. You remember: you pour the peanuts into the Dr Pepper and let them float around and season the drink. Didn’t get much better than that.

Dr Pepper is the oldest soft drink in America. Older than Coca-Cola, in fact, by a full year. It was created in 1885 by a pharmacist, Charles Alderton, in Waco, Texas. And its original name was Waco – it was served there at the soda fountain in the drugstore. The drink was an instant hit; customers would sit down on one of those old spinning stools and say, “Shoot me a Waco.”

As its popularity exploded, the makers couldn’t keep up supplying the syrup to all the other drug stores that wanted it, so a company was formed, and a new name created.

The name Dr Pepper was suggested by Wade Morrison, the owner of the drugstore. The story goes that Morrison supposedly named it after his would-be father-in-law back in Virginia, a man he wanted to impress because he was in love with his daughter.

Morrison never did get the girl, but I bet the old man Pepper regretted that rejection when Dr Pepper became a national sensation and made the not-good-enough Morrison quite rich. Maybe the saddest person in this whole affair was Charles Alderton – the pharmacist who created Dr Pepper. He simply gave away the recipe because he was more interested in medicine than marketing.

Dr Pepper’s formula is held in two separate bank vaults in Dallas. Each vault has half of the formula and no one person knows the entire secret. Coca-Cola has similar safeguards.

Contrary to soda pop mythology, Dr Pepper is not made of prune juice, nor does it have any part prune juice in it. It is made of a blend of fruit extracts. But the blend of flavors results in a uniqueness that makes many people swear that Diet Dr Pepper is the most undiety tasting soft drink in existence. And let’s not forget Dublin Dr Pepper, now sadly out of production, but once regarded as the finest Pepper of all, thanks to Imperial pure cane sugar.

Dr Pepper Poker – a version of poker where tens, twos, and fours are wild – takes its concept from the numbers 10, 2, and 4 that used to be on every Dr Pepper bottle. The label encouraged you to have three Dr Peppers a day at 10, 2, and 4 to keep you, well… peppy.

A poker purist will not play Dr Pepper. But I like it. It is the only time I have had four a kind, legitimately.

W.F. Strong is a Fulbright Scholar and professor of Culture and Communication at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. At Public Radio 88 FM in Harlingen, Texas, he’s the resident expert on Texas literature, Texas legends, Blue Bell ice cream, Whataburger (with cheese) and mesquite smoked brisket.

Texas Standard: October 18, 2016

The US promised retaliation against Russian hacking. Is the wired war now underway? We’ll consider the implications of all out cyber warfare. Also The Clinton campaign buys media time in deep red Texas. But that doesn’t necessarily mean they think the state is in play. We’ll take a closer look at the ad, and the strategy. And a matter of choice or false choices? Lawmakers relaunch a long running debate over a voucher-like plan for schools. And after raising expectations of impending expansion, the Big 12 punts –sticking with the 10 teams currently in the conference. So what was that public pageant all about, anyway? Those stories and much more today on the Texas Standard:

Texas Standard: October 17, 2016

He calls it a big beautiful wall, running along the 2 thousand mile length of the US southern border. But could it really be built? We’ll explore. Plus thanks President Obama, but no thanks: we’ll hear why a federal inmate in Texas is turning down a white house commutation of his sentence. Also, naming rights, and some say wrongs. As a public school in Houston accepts a multimillion dollar grant and a new name: that of the donor. And a 25 million dollar homecoming for Texas Monthly: what the sale of an iconic magazine says about the state of the industry , and the state of Texas itself. All those stories and much more today on the Texas Standard:

Dr. Rudy Jackson, pt. 2 (Ep. 45, 2016)

In Black America producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. concludes a conversation about college preparedness with Dr. Rudy Jackson, Jr., PhD. Dr. Jackson is founder and president of College Prep Professionals, LLC, and Director of Co-Curricular Assessment at Georgia Gwinnett College.

Roy Hargrove (10.16.16)

Roy Hargrove is an American jazz trumpeter who made a name for himself in the early 90s with his first solo record Diamond in The Rough and went on to record with jazz greats like Herbie Hancock, Joe Henderson, Stanley Turrentine and others.

In this edition of Liner Notes Rabbi and jazz historian Neil Blumofe talks about what the life and work of Hargrove can teach us about appreciating and learning from the past, to adapt to a quickly changing present, for a brighter future.

Higher Ed: Curiosity, Creativity, and Confidence in Kids

How can educators, parents, and other adults encourage young people to be curious and get creative? In this episode of KUT’s podcast Higher Ed, KUT’s Jennifer Stayton and Southwestern University President Dr. Ed Burger respond to a listener’s question about promoting intellectual curiosity and confidence in kids. There’s a lot of interest these days in encouraging younger learners to pursue studying science, the arts, and math. A listener wants to know how young people can be encouraged along those paths by exciting them to ask questions and be confident in their pursuits. Hear Ed discuss with Jennifer how he has inspired curiosity and creativity among students, and the impact that work has had on him as a teacher. Curious about the latest puzzler? You’ll need all your marbles for this one.

This episode was recorded on August 10, 2016.

KUT Weekend – October 14, 2016

In Austin, the area around 12th and Chicon streets is in the midst of a radical change that’s been decades in the making. This fall, KUT is exploring what happens when a place becomes valuable to a new group of people. In this special edition of KUT Weekend, we bring you the first round of our reporting.

Subscribe at https://weekend.kut.org

I-35

Highways are supposed to let us get around local traffic, across town or to the next big city quickly. But anyone who has lived in Texas for more than a week knows that there’s one exception to the rule: Interstate 35. Locals who live along the highway itself avoid it on their daily commutes. Long-distance travelers will drive an extra two hours on backroads just to ensure they won’t have to use it. But sometimes you just have to, sometimes there’s no choice, sometimes you sigh and say, “Let’s try I-35.”

12th & Chicon: Businesses Adapting

A drug market intervention by the Austin Police Department in 2012 changed the activities previously common to 12th & Chicon. Despite the positives from this effort, there have been downsides too. Several of the long-standing businesses in the area are learning to adapt to the new 12th & Chicon.

Texas Standard: October 14, 2016

A blessing for Balmorhea? Not exactly…but it is an unlikely partnership and a potential model for fracking in Texas. We’ll explore. Also it’s hard enough to say who and who isn’t a real Texan…but what makes an American? We’ll explore an underlying question in our election season of discontent. Also honor flights for American heroes…but why so few women warriors on board? That’s changing with a takeoff from Texas. And remember San Angeles the fictional megalopolis from film? According to a demographers writing for Forbes: fasten your seat belts, Texas America’s next megalopolis is in the making as we speak…all that and then some today on the Texas Standard:

Popularity

We might consider ourselves pretty savvy. We choose the “best” toothpaste, bottled water, or television set. We go to the movies we “want” to see, and listen to the music we like because it’s “good”. What we might not take into consideration is how popularity fits into our value judgments about everything, from people and products to ideas and beliefs.

In this edition of Two Guys on Your Head, Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke talk about the psychology of popularity.

12th & Chicon: KUT’s Coverage Approach

The KUT newsroom wants to share stories from the people that live near 12th and Chicon and know it best. In doing this, we do feel we have to acknowledge that our news staff does not reflect the diversity of the community we’ll be covering. We have several objectives in this project, and one of them is to learn ourselves, how to better report from this neighborhood and others in Austin. We discussed with Dr. George Sylvie, an associate professor at The University of Texas School of Journalism, the “how to’s” of covering a community we, and other media, may not be familiar with; how do you build trust, how to address stereotypes, how to seek non-official sources, how not to advocate, and more.

V&B – Brain Briefs Book Launch [Part Three]

It’s a three-part discussion with KUT’s 2 Guys on Your Head, celebrating one great book! Join KUT’s Rebecca McInroy in conversation with Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke to talk about their new book Brain Briefs: Answers to the Most (and Least) Pressing Questions About Your Mind. We’ll talk about everything from how to overcome writers block, to why time seems to speed up as we age.

Link to Part One.

Link to Part Two.

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