The First Baby Weighing Under a Pound to Live: Still Fighting

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The First Baby Weighing Under a Pound to Live: Still Fighting
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As an infant, Kim Boykin made headlines as she was the first baby to weigh less than pound and live. Now, decades later, she’s writing a book about how her life began as a tiny baby struggling for air. And that struggle for air has since been a theme for her life. The book is called A Black Mother’s Cry. Her book illustrates what it is like to be a mother. It’s not a flowery novel about the ideal mother. It’s not a self-help book full of solutions. Rather, it is an unfiltered look into the darkest moments in a mother’s life.

In our interview with Kim Boykin, we talk about how–like the so-called “chain of poverty”–there is also a “chain of bad parenting” which is difficult to break. For those who have been raised in less-than-ideal family situations, Kim Boykin offers a voice of resilience and persistence.

Fact: Albinos are Hunted in Africa

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Fact: Albinos are Hunted in Africa
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Hundreds of albinos have been killed in Sub-Saharan Africa in the last decade. Why? Because there’s a sizable bounty on their body parts. According to widespread belief, albinos possess magical powers that could make one rich or successful. As a result, people with albinism in these regions live in constant fear of being attacked.

In our interview with her, Sarah Hall brings to light these sad realities. But as part of the force to combat these problems, she’s launched campaigns in Tanzania to alleviate the stigma against albinos. But as we take a deeper look at these prejudices, we see that this issue is much closer to home than Sub-Saharan Africa. As it turns out, widespread misinformation is not unique to albinism, but is at the heart of issues like racism and homophobia.

Post-Christmas Giving: If You’re Out of Money, Give Time

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Post-Christmas Giving: If You're Out of Money, Give Time
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Christmas is over, but opportunities to give are not. Here are 3 things you can do to not be a Scrooge/Grinch coming into the new year.

  1. Archer Wagstaff is a 4-year-old battling cancer for the second time in his young life. In order to help his family pay the medical bills for weekly chemotherapy treatments, Sean Sevy’s family has already raised over $600. But 600 bucks only puts a small dent in his family’s medical bills. That’s why we’re inviting listeners to contribute to this cause. If you’d like to donate or learn more about this fundraiser, click here.
  2. If you’re not in a position to donate money (and Christmas expenses will do that to you) then donate your time. There’s plenty of opportunities in your community, and if you live in the US, you’ll likely find them on an app called JustServe. Check out the website and download the app at JustServe.org.
  3. A lot of companies give employees opportunities to serve as part of the company’s mission. This is called Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). But we talk about the good and bad ways of going about CSR as we interview Melissa Sevy on this podcast episode. Some companies focus heavily on philanthropy even though such endeavors don’t really benefit the company. On the contrary, other companies successfully get employees involved in service opportunities even when the actual projects have little to no actual impact. These are the extremes, but Melissa offers several ways companies can effectively benefit their employees and the world around them. If you’re in a position of influencing the Corporate Social Responsibility of your company, give this a listen. If you’re not in that position, give this a listen. There are some important principles here, namely: what types of service projects actually work.

Is Trump: Han Solo or the Emperor?

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Is Trump: Han Solo or the Emperor?
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While liberals would say Trump is the Emperor, everyone can agree that–like Han Solo–Trump is self-centered, he doesn’t take crap, and he’s definitely an outsider. And if Trump is Solo, then VP-elect Mike Pence is (you guessed it) Chewbacca: the honorable sidekick who we mostly see as endearing, but when needed, he can rip arms off (you’d agree if you saw him tear apart Hillary at the VP debates).

In this episode, we talk about two trending things in the news: the new Star Wars movie and Trump’s newly-appointed cabinet. We become acquainted with these soon-to-be leaders of America while learning what their associated Star Wars character may or may not tell us about them. And this intense Star Wars discussion could not be possible without our guest Star Wars guru Jaron Janson.

If you’re liking the show, rate us on iTunes. If you can’t figure out how to do that (it’s harder than it sounds, oddly enough), click here.

Throw it Away OR Thrift Store? Most Throw it Away

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Throw it Away OR Thrift Store? Most Throw it Away
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85% of the clothing, shoes, etc. of middle class America ends up in the trash. Even people with intentions of taking it all to the thrift store still end up chucking it. MacKay Crookston saw this problem. So he created an app, called Giveit, where people can get rid of their junk in minutes. It’s simple: you take a picture of your junk, leave it in a bag on your doorstep, and somebody comes by to pick it up. On this week’s show, we not only interview MacKay Crookston, but we actually downloaded the Giveit app and tried it out. And it works! In just a few hours someone’s going to pick up some old shoes and clothes that have been sitting around in Sean’s house. You can download the app here.

But how does MacKay plan on making money with this business? In asking this question we learn something unexpected: thrift stores (like Good Will and the DI) don’t donate clothes to developing countries. They sell it to them. And donating clothing to a third world country is actually a bad idea. Why? Well, listen to the podcast to find out.

The Solution to Homelessness

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The Solution to Homelessness
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The number of homeless people in the US is actually increasing as affordable housing is harder to come by. So what’s being done? For answers, we turn to someone who has been working on this problem for nearly 20 years. Celeste Eggert is the Director of Development for a Utah-based organization called The Road Home. Her organization, in collaboration with several other Utah organizations, has helped put Utah on the map as a role model for considerably reducing chronic homelessness. She explains what it takes to actually get people out of the streets and back into the community. She also addresses an age old question: Is it bad to give money to panhandlers?

Thousands of Kids Won’t Have Christmas, Unless…

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Thousands of Kids Won't Have Christmas, Unless...
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Last year, Coins for Kids provided Christmas to thousands of kids who would otherwise go without presents. Sean Sevy, who was a former Santa for the organization, interviews radio host Carl Lamar, one of the organization’s pioneers. They talk about how a small idea at Carl’s radio station in 1990 is now a huge success for the close-knit Southern Utah community. While some kids simply want toys, Coins for Kids has provided for kids who lacked basic necessities: a pillow, warm clothes, and even a hearing aid. For more information on this organization, visit coinsforkids.net

The Urinal Splash-Back Problem: Solved

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The Urinal Splash-Back Problem: Solved
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When men use urinals, pee splashes everywhere. Dr. Tadd Truscott and Randy Hurd are engineers who have solved this problem with urinal inserts also known as “urine black holes.” We talk with these fluid dynamics experts on what got them talking about the splash-back problem and how they solved it. Finally, we have a solution to a problem that has been around as long as men wearing khakis have used urinals.

If you like the thought of splash-free urinals, and if you like our podcast, rate us on iTunes.

Trump’s Victory: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

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Trump's Victory: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly
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Last week was GOOD for Republicans, BAD  for Democrats, and UGLY for Facebookers. Trump’s victory had us searching far and wide to try to understand all of the ugly things showing up in protests and social media. We visited a protest where we talked to Muslim women holding up the sign “Muslims against Trump.” We phoned our Ugandan friend who had a lot to say about Trump’s victory on Facebook. Yes, there were a lot of ugly things last week, but we successfully found nuggets of good in the aftermath of this one-of-a-kind election.

Evan McMullin’s Political Other Half: Mindy Finn (Interview)

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Evan McMullin's Political Other Half: Mindy Finn (Interview)
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Most people view “Empowered Women” as a talking point for Democrats, but for Evan McMullin’s running mate Mindy Finn, it’s largely a conservative issue. In fact, “Empowered Women” is the name of Mindy Finn’s non-profit organization. Mindy tells us how her non-profit gives women opportunities to be leaders, entrepreneurs, and even politicians. If she does in fact become the next Vice President of the United States, she plans to further her influence she has already had as founder of Empowered Women.

If you like our show, leave us a review on iTunes.

The Future of Energy: Renewables and…Tire Pressure? (Part 2)

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The Future of Energy: Renewables and...Tire Pressure? (Part 2)
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Owning a solar panel can cut your energy bill, but guess what else will: inflating your tires. Dr. Jason Quinn gives us the pros and cons of renewable energy sources like nuclear, solar, wind, and hydro-power. His position on energy is shaped by his years of energy research as well as his love of the outdoors. This is part 2 of our series on energy. To see Jason’s TEDx talk, click here.

An Engineer’s take on Climate Change & Energy with Dr. Jason Quinn

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An Engineer's take on Climate Change & Energy with Dr. Jason Quinn
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We know what politicians have been saying about Climate Change and Energy, but what do scientists say? In this week’s interview, Dr. Jason Quinn gives us a fresh perspective on climate change, fossil fuels, fracking, and biofuels. This is part one of a two part series on energy.

If you’ve liked this podcast, rate us on iTunes.

Addressing the Elephant in the Room: The Republican Party

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Addressing the Elephant in the Room: The Republican Party
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Utah is now a swing state. A recent poll shows a three-way tie in Utah between Trump, Hillary, and the newbie in the race: Evan McMullin. All of this is the result some of the crazy things that have happened in the Republican Party in the last ten days.

If you like our podcast, rate us on iTunes. The world needs to know about what you think. And your rating helps others find us amidst the sea of podcasts.

A Ugandan Perspective on Women Empowerment

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A Ugandan Perspective on Women Empowerment
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Tina Kyambadde is a manager for over 60 Ugandan artisans for Musana International. Musana is a company where artisans craft jewelry in Uganda which is sold in the US. Their slogan is “Jewelry for Change.” The money generated not only employs these Ugandan artisans, but it is used to ensure that these women have basic needs such as education for their children. Women in Uganda face many forms of gender inequality in the workplace and education. Tina is out to change that. She believes that “women need to know that the best way to develop the world is by empowering women.” And she’s pulled it off. Dozens of women working for Musana International have gone from bleak circumstances to complete self-reliance. For more information on Tina’s organization, or if you want to buy some of this hip jewelry yourself, visit MusanaIntl.com.

France 101: From French Toast to French Kisses

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France 101: From French Toast to French Kisses
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Almost one year ago, millions of Facebook users put a French flag filter on their profile picture to show solidarity with the people of France in light of the terrorist attacks on November 13, 2015. As next month will be the one year anniversary of these terrorist attacks, we believe that 11/13 will be commemorated much like 9/11. As 11/13 remembrance day is approaching, Un-Uninformed has taken the opportunity to explore a little more about France. We talk about French Fries, French Toast, and French Kisses. But we dig even deeper. We look into the context of last year’s attacks. We even explore the longstanding love/hate relationship between America and France.

We’re now on iTunes. Subscribe to get up to speed on news and the world around you with a weekly 20-minute podcast here.

Podcast: Kendall & Sean on Trump & Hillary

A Presidential Mock Debate. The rules: only respond with Tweets.

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Podcast: Kendall & Sean on Trump & Hillary
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Join the first episode of Un-Uninformed as Sean & Kendall do a mock debate of Trump & Hillary. The only provision is this: candidates must only use past tweets to respond to the moderator’s questions. This makes for a concise debate because responses are limited to Twitter’s 140-character limit.