Hour 1
Last week Michelle Obama announced a new initiative to combat childhood obesity called "Let’s Move." Since 1980, childhood obesity rates have increased threefold. Today, close to one-third of children in the United States are overweight or obese. The First Lady’s plan calls for healthy school lunches, increased physical activity, healthier eating at home, and improved access to nutritious foods in rural areas and inner cities. This hour, GARY FOSTER, Director of the Center for Obesity Research and Education at Temple University, and SHIRIKI KUMANYIKA, a Professor of Epidemiology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, discuss the Let's Move campaign and some of the challenges to tackling childhood obesity.

Filed under: education, family issues, health, parenting, social issues, teens |

Hour 2
Henrietta Lacks was a poor Southern tobacco farmer who worked the same land as her slave ancestors; she died in obscurity more than 60 years ago, buried in an unmarked grave. But her cells, taken by scientists without her knowledge, became one of the most important tools in medicine, the first "immortal" human cells grown in cultures. Called "HeLa" cells, they were involved in scientific breakthroughs ranging from a polio vaccine to in vitro fertilization, cancer to cloning. REBECCA SKLOOT's new book, "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks," tells this remarkable story, as well as what happened when Lacks’ ancestors discovered Henrietta’s pivotal role in modern science, and the many bioethical issues it raises.

Filed under: author, family issues, health, social issues |