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Narratives of public education in the early United States generally describe the building of a public system designed to allow people to gain knowledge and access to advancement in their lives. But, what’s often left out is the role race has always played at the root of education in America. The new book, “America Grammar: Race, Education, and the Building of a Nation” makes the case that the exploitation of Black and Indigenous people played an essential role in building American education systems all the way back to this country’s founding. We talk with its author to dig into this aspect of American history.

We get some insight into the world of dementia caregiver support — and we we learn about a relatively rare form of dementia called Frontotemporal Degeneration (FTD). It’s a type of dementia that affects the areas that control behavior, personality, language, and decision-making. People with FTD might start acting differently, like becoming rude or impulsive, or they may have trouble speaking and understanding language. It usually appears in people younger than 65, and unlike other forms of dementia, memory problems aren't usually the first sign, but instead changes in behavior or communication skills are more noticeable early on.

We learn about a nationwide clinical trial, funded by the National Institute of Aging, that's trying to determine if high doses of a synthetic form of Vitamin B1 called benfotiamine might be an effective treatment for mild cognitive impairment or early Alzheimer's Disease. Also known as thiamine, Vitamin B1 is important for brain health, and it's known that people with Alzheimer's have a thiamine deficiency.

The Senate trial began Tuesday on one article the House approved, charging former President Donald Trump with incitement of insurrection for the Capitol riot. Most senators want a short trial.

A recent op-ed in the Wall Street Journal opens with the story of a man who believed his 83-year-old mother was plotting to assassinate him. His conversational partner and sounding board — in that case ChatGPT — told him he wasn’t crazy and his instincts were sharp, and that vigilance was fully justified. Not long after the man killed his mother before taking his own life. This is an example of what’s been dubbed ‘AI Psychosis’ — that’s when people are if not encouraged to cause harm to themselves or others, at least are not discouraged to do so by chatbots like ChatGPT or Gemini, or others. We talk with its author, who is co-founder of a nonprofit that's creating tools and demos to help people understand AI systems on a visceral level.

It's Parkinson’s Awareness Month, so we’re talking with two people working to help those with the neurodegenerative disease here in Southwest Florida. Dr. Ramon Gil is a neurologist at the Parkinson’s Treatment Center Of Southwest Florida, and Mary Spremulli is a medical speech-language pathologist and owner of Voice Aerobics Speech Language Therapy in Punta Gorda. We also meet one of her clients, Mike Davidson, who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s five years ago.

As the internet has become the go-to place for most people to find news and information there has been a rise in organized efforts to create fake news and misinformation on a large scale — these are what are referred to as Troll Farms. They're like sweatshops for news articles — oftentimes meant to misinform — that have come to be known as 'pink slime' websites. They are essentially websites that are created to look like legitimate, often local, news sources but are really an effort to trick people who visit them into thinking the news they present is coming from actual journalists, when in reality they are overt attempts to misinform and often to sow division. Our guest went through the process of having one of these AI Content Farms built to see how the process works, and wrote about the experience for the Wall Street Journal.

While it might seem obvious that a devastating hurricane would have an immediate negative impact on the mental well-being of those impacted, there is a growing understanding among mental health professionals that underlying concerns over possible future natural disasters is also weighing on many people’s minds. And there is growing evidence that the growing size and scope of natural disasters is being driven by climate change. We talk with Dr. Lise Van Susteren, she is a forensic psychiatrist who is an expert on the physical and psychological impacts of climate change.

Throughout the month of July WGCU is celebrating the 30th anniversary with the “Move to Include” initiative, a nationwide public media effort that seeks to inspire and motivate people to embrace different abilities and include all people in all aspects of life.

The Enlightenment of Katzuo Nakamatsu, The House on Via Gemito, and Cousins together form a tour of human darkness where liberation comes in many forms.