Patt Morrison for Tuesday, March 20, 2012

PATT MORRISON SCHEDULE

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

1-3 p.m.

 

CALL-IN @ 866-893-5722, 866-893-KPCC; OR JOIN THE CONVERSATION ONLINE ON THE PATT MORRISON BLOG AT KPCC-DOT-ORG

 

 

1:06 – 1:50: OPEN

 

1:50 – 1:58:30

The satellite swarm: why we should care to know more about Earth's magnetic field

As modern technology has developed, much of our infrastructure has grown beyond its dependence upon the Earth’s magnetic field to function. But many businesses still rely upon a magnetic compass for navigation. What’s more, our magnetosphere is our greatest defense against the solar wind (charged particles constantly being hurled our way by the Sun) and solar flares that have the potential to severely cripple life as we know it. Given the importance of our magnetic field, we should probably know as much about it as possible. So the European Space Agency (ESA) has set out to do just that – the Swarm mission, set to launch in July, will launch three precisely calibrated satellites to monitor and map our magnetic field more accurately than ever before. The data collected from the mission should give new insights into exactly how much the magnetic field shifts and weakens. So how much do we gain to learn about our magnetic field, and why should we care? The Bad Astronomer, Phil Plait, is here to field your questions… 

 

Guest:

Phil Plait, astronomer and author of  Discover Magazine’s “Bad Astronomy” blog; author of "Death from the Skies!"

 

2:06 – 2:30

The richer sex at work

Almost 40% of working wives make more than their husbands and now a new Harvard study tells us that women rate higher in workplace leadership roles than their male counterparts. What do these monumental shifts at work and at home tell us about the future of marriage, household division of labor and gender roles?

 

Guests:

NOT CONFIRMED:

Michael Greenstone, director, The Hamilton Project and Senior Fellow in Economic Studies at the Brookings Institute

 

Jack Zenger, CEO, Zenger-Folkman, a leadership consulting firm; he’s also author of the study “Are Women Better Leaders than Men?”

 

2:30-2:39: OPEN

 

2:41 – 2:58

What the Book of Revelations tells us about the Apocalypse, according to Elaine Pagels

The Book of Revelation has defined the Christian concept of the Apocalypse, in terms of imagery and prophecy, more than any other book included in the Bible. For nearly 2,000 years, the final book of the New Testament has inspired some of Western culture’s greatest paintings, music, and poetry. In her new book “Revelations: Visions, Prophecy and Politics in the Book of Revelation,” Princeton University religion professor Elaine Pagels examines the Book of Revelation in the context of the time it was written, in the first century during a Roman war against Jews, and who it was written by, a likely refugee from Jerusalem called “John of Patmos.” Pagels also investigates why the book seems so different in tone and content than the rest of the New Testament and why it has been so controversial, in light of interpretations and doomsday prophecies. Why is its authorship and content so widely disputed?

 

Guest:

Elaine Pagels, professor of Religion at Princeton University; she’s the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship and the author of “Revelations: Visions, Prophecy and Politics in the Book of Revelation”

IN STUDIO

 

Elaine Pagels will be talking tonight at 7:30 pm at the Getty Museum. For more information, visit the Patt Morrison page at KPCC-dot-org

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lauren Osen

Southern California Public Radio - 89.3 KPCC

626-583-5173 / 626-483-5278

losen@scpr.org @Patt_Morrison