SUGARPROOF: The Hidden Dangers of Sugar That Are Putting Your Child’s Health at Risk and What You Can Do by USC Professor of Pediatrics and Program Director for Diabetes and Obesity at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Dr. Michael Goran and Dr. Emily Ventura - an experienced nutrition educator, public health advocate, writer, and cook.

PART ONE with Dr. Michael Goran

LISTEN | WATCH 

PART TWO with Dr. Michael I. Goran and Dr. Emily E. Ventura

LISTEN

In SUGARPROOF: The Hidden Dangers of Sugar That Are Putting Your Child’s Health at Risk and What You Can Do, USC Professor of Pediatrics and Program Director for Diabetes and Obesity at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Dr. Michael Goran, and co-author Dr. Emily Ventura, an expert in nutrition education and recipe development, explain the overabundance of sugar in kids’ diets and how different types of sugar can have a direct adverse effect on kids’ weight, chronic disease risk, behavior, and how well they do in school. In a groundbreaking study, Dr. Goran’s team conducted a detailed analysis of the sugary products that kids love and found that these yogurts, cereals, sodas, and juices often had more sugar than advertised and also contained different types of sugar than were being disclosed. Most of us know that sugar can wreak havoc on adult bodies, but few realize how uniquely harmful it is to the growing livers, hearts, and brains of children. Today’s children are not just consuming more sugar than ever, but they are consuming sugars that are particularly harmful to them–and their parents don’t even know it.

A child doesn’t need to be overweight to have a sugar problem. In fact, even if well-meaning parents purchase organic cereal and low-fat yogurt, their child could still have dangerously high levels of blood lipids or body fat wrapped around internal organs. Sugar could be causing problems in school, disrupting sleep, and/or contributing to inflammatory conditions such as asthma and acne. With a 7-day and 28-day challenge to help families right-size sugar in their diets, along with 39 recipes all without added sugars, everyone can give their children a healthy new start to life.

Sugarproof busts myths about the various types of sugars and sweeteners, helps families identify sneaky sources of sugar in their diets, and suggests realistic, family-based solutions to reduce sugar consumption and therefore protect kids. “Sugarproof” isn’t about quitting sugar entirely. It’s about becoming less reliant on sweet foods and drinks as daily staples. Goran and Ventura offer a reliable and straightforward approach, teaching parents to raise informed and empowered kids who can set their own healthy limits without feeling restricted.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Dr. Michael I Goran is one of the world's most widely recognized experts in childhood nutrition and obesity research, with more than 30 years of experience as a researcher, mentor, and educator. He is a Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine, Co-Director of the USC Diabetes and Obesity Research Institute and leads the Program in Diabetes and Obesity at the Children's Hospital of Los Angeles. He holds the Dr. Robert C and Veronica Atkins Endowed Chair in Childhood Obesity and Diabetes. Michael is a native of Glasgow, Scotland, and received his Ph.D. from the University of Manchester, UK.

Dr. Emily Ventura is an experienced nutrition educator, public health advocate, writer, and cook. After working in writing and public relations in the arenas of environmental protection and food, she completed her Master's in Public Health and Doctorate of Philosophy in Health Behavior Research at the University of Southern California. She was selected as a Fulbright Scholar to teach Public Health Nutrition in Italy and now lives in California and works as a writer, recipe developer, and mother to two young boys.

Meet my NEW favorite history teacher - author Rob Swigart! Rob is a former technology journalist, technical writer, computer game designer, poet, futurist, archaeology writer, pilot, diver, aikido black belt. He talks about his new historical fiction novel, Mixed Harvest and how he developed his love of archeology, and more!

LISTEN | WATCH

Announcing a new historical fiction novel by award-winning author, Rob Swigart. His book, Mixed Harvest: Stories of the Human Past (Berghan Books, January 2020) is an excavation into the deep past of human development and its consequences through a series of unforgettable stories. Through a first encounter between a Neanderthal woman and the Modern Human she called Traveler, to the emergence and destruction of the world’s first cities, Mixed Harvest tells the tale of the Sedentary Divide, the most significant event since modern humans emerged.

Mixed Harvest is perfect for those who love history as well as those who want to learn more about history but have found it boring in the past. It’s engaging and heartwarming storytelling keeps readers interested from start to finish and allows them to learn about the history of humans in the process. Knowing our past is important in shaping our future, and these stories can help on the road to gaining that wisdom.


In an interview, Rob Swigart discusses
:

His background in archeology and how it lead to Mixed Harvest
His refusal to “write between the lines” and how his strong commitment to sustainability, and lessons we can learn from our forebears, has influenced his writing
How Mixed Harvest expertly balances history and fiction
How his previous novels and academic writing prepared him for Mixed Harvest
Why learning about human history is important for today
His varied experiences as a technology journalist, technical writer, computer game designer, poet, futurist, pilot, diver and aikido black belt.
Mixed Harvest humanizes the rapid transition to agriculture and pastoralism with a grounding in the archaeological record.

ABOUT ROB SWIGART
Former technology journalist, technical writer, computer game designer, poet, futurist, archaeology writer, pilot, diver, aikido black belt, parent, rumpus room manager. Current fiction writer, grandparent, and sometime urban rambler.

Triple-amputee Linda Olson, M.D. FACR talks about her book, GONE: A Memoir of Love, Body, and Taking Back My Life. Perfect for those looking for inspiring, uplifting stories about the power of positive thinking

LISTEN

At age twenty-nine, Linda Olson, M.D. FACR was vacationing with her husband in Germany when their van was hit by a train, shattering their lives as well as her body. “I didn’t marry your arms or your legs. If you can do it, I can do it,” was the first thing her husband said to her in the hospital after she woke up as a triple amputee in 1979.

In her courageous new release GONE: A Memoir of Love, Body, and Taking Back My Life (on sale October 27, She Writes Press), Olson shares the inspiring true story about how she learned to walk with prostheses, change diapers and insert IVs with one hand. Despite challenges, Olson pursued an illustrious thirty-year career as an award-winning Professor of Radiology at UCSD and raised two children to canoe, backpack, kayak and travel in remote places. One of Parade magazine’s best memoirs of 2020, GONE is part medical-survivor memoir, part marriage guide and parenting confessional, and part travel blog, asking readers to find not only courage but also laughter in the unexpected adversities we all face. Diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease in 2015, Olson is now a motivational speaker committed to empowering patients and families to live life as full as possible via her “Get Out and Go” message. Would you be interested in having Linda Olson on the show this October? Some suggested talking points/questions below my signature!


“Olson’s riveting narrative is about love and devotion as much as it is about attitude and tenacity… Inspirational, gripping, and a testament to positive thinking.” ―Kirkus Reviews

"Certain to provide a new perspective to the obstacles faced in one’s own life, Gone is a consistently engaging account of one woman’s efforts to achieve the impossible. A worthy addition to anyone’s list of amazing memoirs. I can recommend it highly for anyone who needs a lesson in the power of positive thinking.” ―Readers Lane

KUCI's Janeane Bernstein speaks with Justin Reich about his new book, Failure to Disrupt: Why Technology Alone Can’t Transform Education

LISTEN 

In Failure to Disrupt: Why Technology Alone Can’t Transform Education, Justin Reich delivers a sobering report card on the latest supposedly transformative educational technologies. Reich takes readers on a tour of MOOCs, autograders, computerized “intelligent tutors,” and other educational technologies whose problems and paradoxes have bedeviled educators. Learning technologies―even those that are free to access―often provide the greatest benefit to affluent students and do little to combat growing inequality in education. And institutions and investors often favor programs that scale up quickly, but at the expense of true innovation. It turns out that technology cannot by itself disrupt education or provide shortcuts past the hard road of institutional change.

Proponents of large-scale learning have boldly promised that technology can disrupt traditional approaches to schooling, radically accelerating learning and democratizing education. Much-publicized experiments, often underwritten by Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, have been launched at elite universities and in elementary schools in the poorest neighborhoods. 

Such was the excitement that, in 2012, the New York Times declared the “year of the MOOC.” Less than a decade later, that pronouncement seems premature.
Technology does have a crucial role to play in the future of education, Reich concludes. We still need new teaching tools, and classroom experimentation should be encouraged. But successful reform efforts will focus on incremental improvements, not the next killer app.

“Reich is to be congratulated on writing an important corrective to our public fascination with ‘disrupting’ higher education. It is all the more devastating for its even-handedness. There is no cheap online solution to delivering world class higher education that meets our nation’s ideals and needs. Anything proposed to do so runs roughshod over closely held values: rigor, access, equality, and justice. This is a must-read for anyone with even a passing interest in the present and future of higher education.”―Tressie McMillan Cottom, author of Lower Ed: The Troubling Rise of For-Profit Colleges in the New Economy


“This magisterial book offers a remarkable account of the different approaches to online learning and what can be expected of them. Comprehensive, wide-ranging, and incisive, this book offers a definitive account of the past, present, and future of technology-assisted learning. If you had to pick one book to learn about all things online learning, this would be the one.”―Jal Mehta, coauthor of In Search of Deeper Learning: The Quest to Remake the American High School

“If you have already decided that educational technology is a utopia or a dystopia, there’s no need to read this―or, indeed, any―book. But if you desire a clear, balanced, and insightful evaluation of the range of educational technologies, Justin Reich’s book will inform and delight you.”―Howard Gardner, author of Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences

“Technology in learning carries a high cost economically and culturally. In a game of trade-offs between efficiency and human development, research remains the critical lens to guide decisions. This exceptional book is the best resource currently available to guide readers to understanding the failure of technology in classrooms, what needs to be done to make a real impact, and the critical importance of education as community.”―George Siemens, Executive Director of the Learning Innovation and Networked Knowledge Research Lab, The University of Texas at Arlington

About the Author
Justin Reich is Mitsui Career Development Professor of Comparative Media Studies and Director of the Teaching Systems Lab at MIT. He is the host of the TeachLab podcast and has written about education and technology for Education Week, New Yorker, The Atlantic, Washington Post, and Science.--

The AntiRacist table is a community space for all people committed to living with purpose and intention to shine a light on and dismantle hate, racism, and injustices in America.

At the table — both metaphorically and literally, we work, nourish, celebrate, strategize, grieve, grow, learn, and fight, together and alone.

The AntiRacist Table was created in response to the Racial Reckoning in America, as a way to bring AntiRacism into daily life as a daily practice. Educating Americans about African American history and the Black experience, along with rehumanizing Black people and motivating action to help create an AntiRacist America are our goals.

Ultimately, the choice is up to you–What awaits you is allyship, abolition, co-conspiratorship, and the dismantling of racism in yourself, your family, your community, your school, and your workplace.

Welcome to our table. Changemakers and forces for good unite!


ABOUT US

We are the great-great-granddaughters of Caroline and Allen, who were born enslaved in the state of Alabama. We are the daughters of a Black man who grew up in segregation. We are the mothers of Black sons and daughter. This work is deeply personal to us. We feel and hear the call. It echoes at our very core. As Maya Angelou said, we are “the dream and the hope of the slave.” We carry their legacy and the fight for human rights today.

We are activists and supporters of people in their quest to be the changemakers we need to create a just world for our collective future.

Kirsten is an attorney and a student of nonviolence communication (NVC), right speech, conflict resolution, and meditation. Her undergraduate degree is in African American Studies and English, and in addition to her JD, she holds an LLM in Alternative Dispute Resolution.

Lynn is an educator who is passionate about teaching young children and supporting families, work that she has done for over ten years. In addition to her Undergraduate degree in Fine Arts she has her MAT in Early Childhood Education.

SCOUT DURWOOD, Comedy Electronica, shares her road to comedy, her past and current projects, and more

LISTEN | WATCH

SCOUT DURWOOD 

Comedy Electronica 

As much as this is a story about a comedian, singer, and actress, it really starts with a kid who wore a tiara to school every day…

That kid grew up to be Scout Durwood. Many years before she made audiences laugh starring on MTV’s Mary + Jane and Oxygen’s Funny Girls, she knew that being different was her greatest strength. That free spirit continues to shine in her newest EP Comedy Electronica Vol. 1, set for release later this summer via Blue Élan Records. The EP will be preceded by a series of companion music videos premiering on YouTube beginning June 26th with Steal UR Girlfriend.

After meeting and collaborating with Dave Darling (Def Leppard, Queen Latifah, Tom Waits, Brian Setzer) on her debut album, Take One Thing Off, the duo rejoined in the studio last summer to record the follow-up, Comedy Electronica. “I knew I wanted to lean more into pop sensibilities with this album so Dave and I imposed a hard rule of ‘no real instruments,’ explained Scout. “We only broke that rule for a theremin and I think there’s a little bit of guitar mixed in somewhere.”

First single, “Steal UR Girlfriend,” is a hilarious but all too accurate portrait of life as a lesbian. “I've always been interested in gender roles and how we alter our behavior to mimic ‘masculine’ or ‘feminine’ roles, so of my three ‘bros’ in the video, one is a gay cis man and the other is non-binary. I love drag in all directions. Whenever I put makeup on, I consider it getting into drag even if it's intended to make me look more like a girl. We shot the video in a day in a warehouse in Inglewood. Keva Walker did the choreography and was incredible to work with on set.”

“Growing up, I was painfully weird, but blissfully unaware of it,” she smiles. “I was everybody’s lovable little weirdo. After college, I moved to New York. I knew I wanted to be in show business, and in my mind, the way to make it was to be the most original, most creative, and most outside-the-box.”

She went way outside-the-box, spending nearly five years as a draw in New York’s burlesque scene: named as one of the Huffington Post’s “20 Burlesque Stars to Know,” to boot. With this unforgettable experience under her belt, she traded the Big Apple for Los Angeles in 2012. After multiple starring roles, her thirty-minute comedy special was released in 2018 on the Epix series, Unprotected Sets.

Also in 2018, her musical debut Take One Thing Off accompanied a twenty-two episode digital series of the same name. The digital series was included as part of the 2020 Slamdance lineup as well as nominated for Best Indie Series at the 2019 YouTube Streamy Awards -- an annual awards ceremony which recognizes and honors excellence in online video, including directing, acting, producing, and writing. Scout is also an accomplished cabaret singer and nationally touring stand-up comedian. She currently has a scripted half-hour comedy series in development with Sony / Freeform Entertainment, and hosts a monthly live variety show, Everybody GoGo, in Los Angeles.

“I think I’m still that girl in a tiara who doesn’t know she’s weird. That’s become the heart of my comedy. I’m happy to be different, and I hope other people feel the same way. It’s about letting your freak flag fly, and if that isn’t reason enough to dance, I honestly don’t know what is.”

Janeane speaks with Zachary Faerber, a Trauma Consultant with Arthrex, about loss, resilience, and finding your passions in life

LISTEN | WATCH

My name is Zachary Faerber, I am 26 years old but have lived a long life in those 26 years. I spent my younger years taking care of my sick parents and helping out with my brother and sister. I graduated with honors and distinctions in Medical Anthropology with the life goal of helping others. I started my career managing stem cell donations for blood cancer patients at the same hospital my father passed away at. I now work as an Orthopedic Device Consultant, helping surgeons through difficult surgical procedures. I also have a fitness and lifestyle coaching business in the hopes to maximize the amount of people I can help. I have always been drawn to doing and being MORE for the people around me, my hope is my story can inspire the same for anyone listening.

It is worth mentioning that during this incredibly unconventional time, life is spinning out of control for so many people. I loved being able to come onto this podcast and share how I choose to keep myself sane during the COVID pandemic. The key is keeping to a routine and shifting your mindset. Realize all the things you can be grateful for and go out every day in an attempt to make the world a better place.

Feel free to reach out to me with any questions or if you feel there is anything I can do to help!

My instagram is @zach_faerber and my email is zacharyfaerber@gmail.com.