Johns Hopkins University Great Ideas Podcast

Louis Whitcomb discusses his deep sea explorations

Darryn Waugh, chair and professor in the Morton K. Blaustein Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences discusses the interaction between global climate change and ozone depletion, which is caused in part by past and current use of CFCs, or chloroflourocarbons.

Pat Bernstein, founder and chair of the financial literacy program Stocks in the Future, discusses the program and how it inspires middle school students to improve their overall academic performance by learning about the world of finance.

How do you evaluate and respond to news reports about health-related research? If you're not careful, says Johns Hopkins environmental engineer Ed Bouwer, the numbers can lead you astray. In this month's podcast, Bouwer explains the difference between absolute and relative risk, concepts detailed in his book "The Illusion of Certainty: Health Benefits and Risks," co-authored with Erik Rifkin.

Lawrence Raifman, lecturer in psychological and brain sciences in the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, discusses the psychology behind the recession and advises investors to keep things in perspective and try to think long term.

Lester Spence, assistant professor of political science, discusses the symbolic consequences of Barack Obama for Americans.

Mary Jo Salter, a poet and a professor in the Writing Seminars, discusses poetry's past and present, including how the Internet is lending an immediacy to the genre.

Adam Segal, who teaches in the Master of Arts in Communication program in the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences Advanced Academic Programs, is watching two key developments in this year's presidential campaign: outreach to Hispanic voters and increased use of interactive technology to market candidates.

Avi Rubin, a professor of computer science and technical director of The Johns Hopkins University Information Security Institute, discusses electronic voting security issues.

P.M. Forni, director of the Civility Initiative at Johns Hopkins, has advice on how to respond when people are rude.

Ron Fairchild, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Summer Learning, explains why it's important for kids to keep intellectually active even when school's out for the summer.

Yash Gupta, the first dean of Johns Hopkins' new Carey Business School, says he wants his students to learn that making a difference is more important than maximizing shareholder value.

Samer Hattar, assistant professor of biology at Johns Hopkins University, says exposure to light also affects such functions as mood, ability to learn and ability to sleep.

Johns Hopkins University President William R. Brody discusses what can be done to improve U.S. health care and what doctors -- and patients -- can do to make it happen.

Johns Hopkins University President William R. Brody discusses health care reform issues and what's missing from the debate in the 2008 presidential campaign.