MOOCs: The Future of Higher Education?
Top universities are increasingly offering MOOCs, or massive open online courses.
Don’t ever email the professor. Never friend the teacher on Facebook. Those are some of the rules A.J. Jacobs learned when he joined the ranks of millions enrolled in massive open online courses, MOOCs. Harvard, MIT and Stanford are among universities offering virtual classes free of charge
“The GOP Must Seize The Center or Die”
That was the proposition being debated on NPR’s Intelligence Squared. It is perhaps the most important debate in American politics today.
The Intelligence Squared website describes the debate as follows:
2012 was a disappointing year for Republicans. The failure to win key swing states in the presidential election and surprising losses in the House and Senate have prompted some reflection. Was their embrace of small government, low taxes, and a strong conservative stance on social issues at odds with shifting American demographics? Or did the GOP embrace the right platform, but the wrong candidates?
The debaters included David Brooks (The New York Times) and Mickey Edwards (former US Congressman (R-OK)) arguing in favor of the motion and Laura Ingraham (The Laura Ingraham Show) and Ralph Reed (Faith & Freedom Coalition).
NPR’s Radio Lab tells the chilling story of a man falsely convicted of rape.
On July 29th, 1985, a 36-year-old woman named Penny Beerntsen went for a jog on the beach near her home. About a mile into her run, she passed a man in a leather jacket, said hello and kept running. On her way back, he re-appeared. What happened next would cause Penny to question everything she thought she knew about judging people — and, in the end, her ability to be certain of anything.
NOTE: This segment contains graphic descriptions of sexual assault and violence.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00u6qUelp6c&feature=player_embedded#!
Planet Money recently re-aired an episode chronicling “The Surprisingly Entertaining History Of The Income Tax.” This history includes Donald Duck (above) and a dying Supreme Court Justice. To understand the Donald Duck propaganda (“Taxes to beat the Axis!”), I recommend listening the the Planet Money story first.
Tax Day has come and gone, but the “celebration” continues. NPR Planet Money team discusses those people who actually celebrate Tax Day, the recipients of the Earned Income Tax Credit.