The Exchange

Research now shows that Alzheimer’s can be diagnosed years before signs of dementia.  Science has not, however, produced any new treatments and evidence of prevention is still being studied.  We’ll look at recent developments and at concern over stress on families and the impact of this disease on the healthcare system.Guests Meg Curtis – Alzheimer’s advocate and widow of Skip Curtis who passed away at age sixty-two from Alzheimer’s. Dr. Robert Stern – Director of Boston University’s Alzheimer’s Disease Center and Professor of Neurology and Neurosurgery. Dr. Robert Santulli – Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Dartmouth, Director of the Dartmouth Memory Clinic and Director of Geriatric Psychiatry at the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center

The Granite State gets ready for what are called “health exchanges” under  the Affordable Care Act.  These are new marketplaces where consumers and small businesses can shop for health coverage, advocates say these will encourage competition and lower costs, but there are many unknowns, including who will regulate the insurance companies that participate.Guests: Todd Bookman - NHPR Health and Health Care Reporter Lisa Guertin - President of Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield New Hampshire and co-chair of the  Health-Exchange Advisory Board Roger A. Sevigny - New Hampshire’s Insurance Commissioner Click here to read the document "Joint Health Care Reform Oversight Committee 'Partnership v. Federal Plan Management: Impacts to New Hampshire Health Insurance Markets"

The Granite State gets ready for what are called “health exchanges” under  the Affordable Care Act.  These are new marketplaces where consumers and small businesses can shop for health coverage, advocates say these will encourage competition and lower costs, but there are many unknowns, including who will regulate the insurance companies that participate.Guests: Todd Bookman - NHPR Health and Health Care Reporter Lisa Guertin - President of Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield New Hampshire and co-chair of the  Health-Exchange Advisory Board Roger A. Sevigny - New Hampshire’s Insurance Commissioner Click here to read the document "Joint Health Care Reform Oversight Committee 'Partnership v. Federal Plan Management: Impacts to New Hampshire Health Insurance Markets"

The Granite State gets ready for what are called “health exchanges” under  the Affordable Care Act.  These are new marketplaces where consumers and small businesses can shop for health coverage, advocates say these will encourage competition and lower costs, but there are many unknowns, including who will regulate the insurance companies that participate.Guests: Todd Bookman - NHPR Health and Health Care Reporter Lisa Guertin - President of Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield New Hampshire and co-chair of the  Health-Exchange Advisory Board Roger A. Sevigny - New Hampshire’s Insurance Commissioner Click here to read the document "Joint Health Care Reform Oversight Committee 'Partnership v. Federal Plan Management: Impacts to New Hampshire Health Insurance Markets"

The Granite State gets ready for what are called “health exchanges” under  the Affordable Care Act.  These are new marketplaces where consumers and small businesses can shop for health coverage, advocates say these will encourage competition and lower costs, but there are many unknowns, including who will regulate the insurance companies that participate.Guests: Todd Bookman - NHPR Health and Health Care Reporter Lisa Guertin - President of Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield New Hampshire and co-chair of the  Health-Exchange Advisory Board Roger A. Sevigny - New Hampshire’s Insurance Commissioner Click here to read the document "Joint Health Care Reform Oversight Committee 'Partnership v. Federal Plan Management: Impacts to New Hampshire Health Insurance Markets"

Author Molly Michelmore explores what she calls the fundamental paradox of American Politics:  We’re hostile toward taxes, but we also demand the privileges government offers from social security to local police protection.  Michelmore examines the history of this conundrum and finds these attitudes consistent from FDR’s New Deal to the Reagan Revolution.GuestMolly Michelmore - Associate Professor of History at Washington and Lee University and author of "Tax and Spend: The Welfare State, Tax Politics and the Limits of American Liberalism"

Author Molly Michelmore explores what she calls the fundamental paradox of American Politics:  We’re hostile toward taxes, but we also demand the privileges government offers from social security to local police protection.  Michelmore examines the history of this conundrum and finds these attitudes consistent from FDR’s New Deal to the Reagan Revolution.GuestMolly Michelmore - Associate Professor of History at Washington and Lee University and author of "Tax and Spend: The Welfare State, Tax Politics and the Limits of American Liberalism"

Author Molly Michelmore explores what she calls the fundamental paradox of American Politics:  We’re hostile toward taxes, but we also demand the privileges government offers from social security to local police protection.  Michelmore examines the history of this conundrum and finds these attitudes consistent from FDR’s New Deal to the Reagan Revolution.GuestMolly Michelmore - Associate Professor of History at Washington and Lee University and author of "Tax and Spend: The Welfare State, Tax Politics and the Limits of American Liberalism"

We wrap up our three-day series on possible lessons from the Newtown shootings, with a look at some of the battles brewing over gun control and gun rights. President Obama has said he’ll do what it takes to curb gun violence. And lawmakers here in the Granite State are gearing up to take on such gun-related issues as the state’s Stand Your Ground law. Guests: J. R. Hoell - Republican Representative from Dunbarton. Member of the House Children and Family Law Committee. And a board member of the NH Firearms Coalition. Hoell is  sponsor of legislation that would repeal the licensing requirement to carry a concealed weapon. Stephen Shurtleff - Democratic Representative from Penacook and House Majority Leader. He is retired from US Marshals Service and is sponsoring legislation that would repeal the state’s Stand Your Ground law. Also joining us: Ted Kirkpatrick - Director of Justiceworks, a criminal justice research and development unit at UNH, which studies crime, including gun-related homicide. Bob Lee  - Owner of Lee’s Gun Shop in Hudson.        

We wrap up our three-day series on possible lessons from the Newtown shootings, with a look at some of the battles brewing over gun control and gun rights. President Obama has said he’ll do what it takes to curb gun violence. And lawmakers here in the Granite State are gearing up to take on such gun-related issues as the state’s Stand Your Ground law. Guests: J. R. Hoell - Republican Representative from Dunbarton. Member of the House Children and Family Law Committee. And a board member of the NH Firearms Coalition. Hoell is  sponsor of legislation that would repeal the licensing requirement to carry a concealed weapon. Stephen Shurtleff - Democratic Representative from Penacook and House Majority Leader. He is retired from US Marshals Service and is sponsoring legislation that would repeal the state’s Stand Your Ground law. Also joining us: Ted Kirkpatrick - Director of Justiceworks, a criminal justice research and development unit at UNH, which studies crime, including gun-related homicide. Bob Lee  - Owner of Lee’s Gun Shop in Hudson.        

Violent video games - do they create real-world violence? It's a question studied for years, and renewed in light of the massacre in Newtown, Connecticut. Meanwhile, some in Congress are calling for an investigation into the effects of these games on children. As part of a three-day series looking at the conversation post-Newtown, we're examining the debate over video game violence.Guests: Brad Bushman, Professor of Communication and Psychology at Ohio State University, and a professor of communication science at the VU University, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. He studies the causes, consequences, and solutions to the problem of human aggression and violence.  Cheryl Olson co-founded the Center for Mental Health and Media at Massachussetts General Hospital. She was the principal investigator for a Harvard research project studying the effects of video games on young teens Based on that research, she coauthored a popular book, Grand Theft Childhood: The Surprising Truth about Violent Video Games and What Parents Can Do. Callouts: Rona Zlokower– Executive Director of Media Power Youth, an organization based in Manchester that educates youth, parents, and professionals on issues of media literacy. Jamin Warren – Co-founder of Kill Screen, a videogame arts and culture company interested in the intersection between games, play, and other seats of culture from art to music to design; he was previously a WSJ reporter.

Though it’s unclear what motivated the shootings, many say mental health care can be a line of defense in preventing tragedies. But in the Granite State, these services have been cut and a new report says the system is in “crisis”. As part of a three day series on possible lessons from Newtown, we look at the conversation around mental health.Guests Robert Murray – Psychiatrist, vice president, and medical director of  Riverbend Community Health in Concord Ken Norton – Special projects director for the New Hampshire chapter of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill Nancy Rollins – Associate Commissioner in the division of community based services at New Hampshire’s department of health and human services We'll also hear fromChuck Morse – Republican state senator from Salem, chair of the senate finance committee

A recent study found little evidence of health benefits from organic foods, challenging organic’s reputation as the healthy alternative to conventional  agribusiness.  But others say researchers did find some vital differences around  pesticide levels and that the study was too narrow, ignoring  vital environmental and ethical reasons for eating organic.  Today we'll look at the arguments on both sides. Guests Steve Savage – Stanford-trained biologist with a PhD in plant science from University of California in Davis. He’s a consultant for the agriculture industry and a prominent critic of those who make big claims on behalf of organic agriculture. Bill Duesing – Executive director of the Connecticut chapter and interstate council president of NOFA, the Northeast Organic Farmers Association.