Cornell University
Professor of Eating Behavior at Cornell University and Director of its Food and Brand Lab; author of Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More than We Think," his website is MindlessEating.org
PROFILE
Brian Wansink
Guest
FROM Brian Wansink
Which Way, L.A.?
Overconsumption: The American Way This is the holiday when gluttony is not just acceptable, it’s almost required if you try to taste everything on the Thanksgiving table. But ask yourself: is this the only time you eat more than you ought to? Obesity is a national epidemic, and over-consumption of another kind is on the rise. Credit card debt is up by 66 percent since last year and by 368 percent since 2009, when the Great Recession made Americans try to be frugal. Why do we want so much more than we can afford and, probably, more than we need? Is there a relationship between mindless eating and manic buying?
To the Point
Overconsumption: The American Way This is the holiday when gluttony is not just acceptable, it’s almost required if you try to taste everything on the Thanksgiving table. But ask yourself: is this the only time you eat more than you ought to? Obesity is a national epidemic, and over-consumption of another kind is on the rise. Credit card debt is up by 66 percent since last year and by 368 percent since 2009, when the Great Recession made Americans try to be frugal. Why do we want so much more than we can afford and, probably, more than we need? Is there a relationship between mindless eating and manic buying?
To the Point
Who's Having Free-range Turkey This Thanksgiving? You may think that today's traditional Thanksgiving meal is the same as it always was, but that's not necessarily so. The food Americans eat is changing. Farmers' markets are all the rage, and in grocery stores, consumers are reading nutrition labels on bottles and cans. With celebrity chefs appearing on TV, cooking and eating habits are changing, too, but not everybody can afford to go green and organic. We hear about changes in food, shopping, cooking and eating from upscale suburbs to urban ghettos, and from region to region. From posh neighborhoods to urban ghettos, from region to region America's food is changing. So are the ways we produce it, buy it, cook it and eat it.
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To the Point
Will the Senate write a healthcare bill in secret? While Democrats and Republicans argue White House relations with Russia, another question is being decided behind closed doors: who gets help buying health insurance and who doesn't? We hear how the pros and cons are being shrouded in secrecy.
To the Point
Trump's 'America First' goes missing abroad In the Middle East, President Trump is changing some policies of the Obama Administration—and reversing his own campaign attacks on Islam as a religion that "hates us." We hear about his visit to Saudi Arabia and what's at stake for the rest of his foreign excursion.
To the Point
Trump's new look at civil rights and global warming President Trump is reportedly ready to pull the US out of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. We look at the possible consequences. On the second half of the program, we hear about cuts in Obama-Era civil rights programs called for by the Trump Administration's first budget plan.
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.