Vanderbilt University
Writer-in-Residence at Vanderbilt University and the author of Ada's Rules: A Sexy Skinny Novel
PROFILE
Alice Randall
Guest
FROM Alice Randall
To the Point
America's Obesity Epidemic and the Culture of Fatness It's common knowledge that Americans live in an environment that promotes obesity. But, despite years of warnings, they're getting fatter than ever. The Centers for Disease Control and Duke University have reported that one third of children from two to 19 are overweight, and by 2030, 42 percent of adults will be obese. The question is what to do. Is the food industry just like Big Tobacco, marketing products that are harmful to health, rather than being nutritious? Is it time for new regulations? Is it all about brain chemistry? Are there cultural pressures that make some Americans fat because they want to be? Public agencies, universities and healthcare organizations conducted a conference this week called " The Weight of the Nation ," and next week HBO will air a four-part series by the same name.
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How was the trip? President Trump's travels got less fun as he went from the Middle East to Europe.
To the Point
Who's to blame for the opioid crisis? Some of the lawyers who took on Big Tobacco are now going after Big Pharma. It’s all about the deadly epidemic of opioid use. Are the drug companies to blame? What about the users? Later, on today’s Talking Point: making sense of Britain’s upset election.
To the Point
Human Rights in the era of Donald Trump President Trump’s UN Ambassador, Nikki Haley, said today the US might pull out of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council. Serious violators of human rights are members of the Council itself–and a US resignation could make things worse. Later on today’s show, now that he’s into his second term, comedian turned US Senator Al Franken is telling jokes again.
To the Point
What happens when America retreats from the world? Is President Trump taking his "America First" agenda to extremes, withdrawing the country from the international stage on trade and climate change, distancing America from its traditional allies across the Atlantic and even threatening to physically isolate the country through the building of a wall along its southern border? León Krauze guest hosts.