The Ethical Life: Recent Episodes
The Ethical Life
Scott Rada, Lee Enterprises social media manager, and Richard Kyte, director of the Ethics Institute at Viterbo University, talk about the intersection of ethics and modern life.
Episode 168: Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss the complex topic of regret and how it can shape our lives.
The discussion explores the distinction between regret and remorse, with Kyte explaining that regret involves wishing for different outcomes, while remorse is tied to actions that have hurt others. They emphasize the importance of learning from regrets to inform future decisions, rather than dwelling on the past.
They agree that consulting one's "future self" to avoid making choices that may lead to future regrets is helpful. One of the biggest regrets people can have, the hosts say, is not acting sooner and moving forward, instead spending too much time ruminating about the past.
Read more
It’s time to make peace with your regrets, by Vasundhara Sawhney, Harvard Business Review
What Is the power of regret? A conversation with Daniel Pink, by Josh Wright, Behavioral Scientist
World Regret Survey
The secret to living without regrets, by Jason Feifer, One Thing Better
About the hosts
Scott Rada is a digital strategist with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wisconsin. He is also the author of "Finding Your Third Place: Building Happier Communities (and Making Great Friends Along the Way)."
Episode 167: In a world that often feels increasingly rude, hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss the challenge of combating incivility in our everyday lives.
The rise in rudeness can be largely attributed to heightened stress and anxiety levels worldwide. "When people are stressed, they are not on their best behavior," Kyte said. "They're less patient with others and more prone to reacting impulsively."
This dynamic can play out in a variety of settings, from the workplace to public spaces such as retail stores and on the road. But Kyte emphasizes that not all rude behavior is equal. He distinguishes between occasional lapses in civility, which may stem from neglect or preoccupation, and chronic, intentional rudeness that often comes from a place of dislike for others.
The hosts also delve into the contagious nature of both rudeness and kindness, underscoring the responsibility we all have in shaping the social environments we inhabit. By supporting customer service workers, reaching out to loved ones, and being open to positive interactions with strangers, individuals can help foster more considerate behavior.
Read more
Rudeness may be contagious, but kindness is communicable, by Richard Kyte
How to deal with rude people at work (10 effective steps), Indeed
New research shows that workplace rudeness is 'contagious,' by Megan Border, Anderson School of Management
Coping With The Rise Of Incivility, by Joyce Russell, Forbes
The increase in road rage, The Washington Post
About the hosts
Scott Rada is a digital strategist with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wisconsin. He is also the author of "Finding Your Third Place: Building Happier Communities (and Making Great Friends Along the Way)."
Episode 166: Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada debate the value of existing federal holidays and the potential for adding new ones.
The discussion begins by examining the dual functions of holidays — some serve as occasions for celebration, while others are meant to encourage reverence and reflection on national values.
While the hosts support making Election Day a federal holiday, there was less agreement about what to do with Columbus Day. Both hosts agree that the holiday should be scrapped, but the suggestion to turn it into Explorer's Day was only embraced by Rada.
Throughout the discussion, Kyte expressed skepticism about adding too many new federal holidays, citing concerns that they often become more about commercial opportunities than meaningful observance.
About the hosts
Scott Rada is a digital strategist with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wisconsin. He is also the author of "Finding Your Third Place: Building Happier Communities (and Making Great Friends Along the Way)."
Episode 165: Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss the troubling decline of trust in American institutions. From government and science to religion and media, public faith in once-revered pillars of society has plummeted in recent years.
Kyte attributes this crisis to reduced interdependence and collaboration among citizens. "We don't depend on other people in the course of our daily lives nearly as much as previous generations did," he said. "We've lost the habit of working together."
This erosion of casual, face-to-face interactions has fueled a growing cynicism, with many Americans increasingly distrustful of experts and authority figures.
The hosts also examine the role of media, noting how a "mean world syndrome" — a focus on negative news — can contribute to a sense of despair and distrust.
"Media's focus on bad news creates a sense of despair and distrust in the world," Kyte said.
Kyte also distinguishes between healthy skepticism, which questions knowledge claims, and destructive cynicism, which stems from a negative view of human nature. He advocates for cultivating hope — a belief in the fundamental goodness of people.
About the hosts
Scott Rada is a digital strategist with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wisconsin. He is also the author of "Finding Your Third Place: Building Happier Communities (and Making Great Friends Along the Way)."
Episode 164: Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada talk about the transformative world of online dating apps and their influence on how people connect in the 21st century.
While dating apps have made it easier for many to find potential partners, the hosts agree that they also can increase stress and anxiety around relationships. The conversation explores how increased digital interaction can impact happiness and interpersonal dynamics, with Kyte emphasizing the importance of using online tools to complement, rather than substitute, real-life engagement.
The episode also examines the geographical and cultural implications of online dating, and the hosts discuss whether these apps have the power to break down barriers and foster greater diversity, or if they may instead contribute to a sense of alienation. They also delve into the age-old debate of "opposites attract," analyzing the role of complementary personalities in successful relationships.
About the hosts
Scott Rada is a digital strategist with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wisconsin. He is also the author of "Finding Your Third Place: Building Happier Communities (and Making Great Friends Along the Way)."
Episode 163: With the presidential election just weeks away, the latest episode of The Ethical Life podcast explores the complex challenge of engaging with undecided voters.
Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss how the shrinking pool of undecided voters reflects the growing polarization in American politics.
"We've become much more polarized, and that could be that there's less overlap between views of Democrats and Republicans," Kyte explains. He notes that in 2016, about 10% of voters were undecided a month before the election, but that number has dropped to just 3 to 4% this year.
The hosts examine the different strategies campaigns are using to reach these elusive undecided voters, from large rallies aimed at energizing the base to individual door-to-door canvassing efforts. They also critique the formulaic, emotionally driven campaign ads that dominate the airwaves in battleground states.
The discussion challenges the common perception of undecided voters as disengaged. Kyte says a recent article in The Atlantic suggests "there are people who've been paying attention more than the rest of us" and are genuinely grappling with complex issues.
The hosts also tackle the ethical dilemma of whether it's appropriate for campaigns to focus on specific issues they believe will resonate with undecided voters in key states, even if those issues aren't the most pressing national concerns.
Read more
Richard Kyte: Voters face hard truths as Election Day nears
About the hosts
Scott Rada is a digital strategist with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wisconsin. He is also the author of "Finding Your Third Place: Building Happier Communities (and Making Great Friends Along the Way)."
Episode 162: Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada explore the importance of self-awareness and how to strike a balance between adapting to external circumstances and staying true to one's core values.
Kyte emphasizes the challenge of developing an accurate self-identity, noting the powerful influence of self-deception. He suggests that being part of a community with honest, caring friends can help recalibrate one's self-perception.
The discussion delves into the potential negative impact of social media on self-identity, particularly for younger people, and the need to filter out random online opinions in favor of feedback from trusted individuals. The conversation also examines the role of introspection and self-knowledge, drawing on Sigmund Freud's metaphor of the iceberg to illustrate the conscious and unconscious aspects of the mind.
Generational differences in the workplace are also explored, with Kyte explaining how cultural phenomena within certain professions can lead to harsh treatment of newcomers. The experts discuss the sensitivity of younger generations, which they attribute to the decline in robust interpersonal relationships and the impact of social media.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast
How to reinvent your self-Identity and live your best life, by Nida Leardprasopsuk, Forbes
In defense of soft, weak Zoomers, by Matt Yglesias, Slow Boring
About the hosts
Scott Rada is a digital strategist with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wisconsin. He is also the author of "Finding Your Third Place: Building Happier Communities (and Making Great Friends Along the Way)."
Episode 161: The traditional bookstore is undergoing a resurgence, transforming into vibrant community hubs that defy predictions of their demise in the digital age. This turnaround comes after many had forecast the "complete demise" of bookstores in the face of competition from e-commerce and digital books.
Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada attribute this sucess to three key factors: serving as community gathering spaces, curating unique local collections and hosting events that bring readers together.
"Bookstores are ideal places to define and pass on local culture," Kyte said. "They can present something unique about the culture and history of a region better than any other physical place."
Links to stories discussed during the podcast
The revival of independent bookstores brings communities together, by Richard Kyte
Some surprising good news: Bookstores are booming and becoming more diverse, by Alexandra Alter and Elizabeth A. Harris, The New York Times
Pearl Street Books, La Crosse, Wis.
Barnes & Noble, Rochester, Minn.
About the hosts
Scott Rada is a digital strategist with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wisconsin. He is also the author of "Finding Your Third Place: Building Happier Communities (and Making Great Friends Along the Way)."
Episode 160: Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss the ongoing issue of traffic safety and road design in the United States.
Despite advancements in vehicle safety, over 42,000 people died in traffic crashes in 2022. The hosts argue that the U.S. has a higher rate of traffic fatalities compared to other wealthy nations, and this is partly due to cultural attitudes and a lack of political will to implement stronger safety regulations and road design improvements.
They discuss how features like roundabouts, narrower lanes and traffic calming measures can significantly improve road safety, but often face resistance from the public. The hosts also note that aggressive and distracted driving behaviors have worsened in recent years, and suggest automated speed enforcement could help address this.
Looking to the future, the hosts are optimistic that the rise of autonomous vehicles could have a positive impact on overall driving behavior, as self-driving cars would follow traffic laws and set a new standard for safe driving. However, they also raise ethical questions about public acceptance of autonomous vehicle technology, even if it proves to be statistically safer than human drivers.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast
Why are American drivers so deadly, by Matthew Shaer, The New York Times Magazine
Addressing America's traffic death crisis, by Matthew Yglesias, Slow Boring
Will you keep driving when autonomous vehicles are safer than humans?, by Demetria Gallegos, The Wall Street Journal
2025 Chevy El Camino RS comes back to digitally hunt Ford's Maverick and the Santa Cruz, by Aurel Niculescu, Auto Evolution
About the hosts
Scott Rada is a digital strategist with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wisconsin. He is also the author of "Finding Your Third Place: Building Happier Communities (and Making Great Friends Along the Way)."
Episode 159: Hosts Scott Rada and Rick Kyte discuss the growing trend of Americans moving less frequently and their own experiences with putting down roots.
Rada, who moved frequently as a child, and Kyte, who spent his entire childhood in the small town of Frazee, Minnesota, reflect on the pros and cons of living in one community for over 20 years.
Kyte explains that the advantages of staying put include developing deep connections within the local area and getting to know the community exceptionally well. In contrast, Rada's more transient upbringing may have provided him with different skills, though he acknowledges the challenges of being the "new kid" when moving to a new place.
The hosts explore how modern comforts and technology have made it easier for people to remain in one location, potentially impacting professional ambition and community engagement.
They also highlight an innovative housing project in New Glarus, Wisconsin, that is designed to foster a sense of neighborhood and support for residents with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast
Why Americans stopped moving, by Erica Pandey, Axios
Americans no longer want to move for work. Here's why, by Irina Ivanova, CBS News
75% of Americans Have Regrets About Moving, by Sam M. Huisache, Home Bay
Putting violence in perspective: how safe are America’s educators in the workplace?, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
About the hosts
Scott Rada is a digital strategist with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wisconsin. He is also the author of "Finding Your Third Place: Building Happier Communities (and Making Great Friends Along the Way)."
Episode 158: Hosts Scott Rada and Rick Kyte talk about the complex issue of procrastination and its ethical ramifications.
The discussion explores the emotional and psychological reasons behind procrastination, with Kyte explaining how people often minimize the stress of tasks by not thinking about them. Rada shared personal experiences of completing dreaded tasks and realizing they weren't as difficult as anticipated, highlighting the satisfaction that comes from checking items off a to-do list.
The hosts also examine how factors such as anxiety, fear of failure and high personal standards can contribute to procrastination, particularly among students facing big assignments. They consider whether some individuals may actually produce better work under the pressure of tight deadlines.
Rada and Kyte speculate that the rise of instant gratification and digital distractions likely exacerbate procrastination in today's society. However, they also discuss the importance of balancing future planning with present awareness and gratitude.
Finally, the podcast offers strategies to overcome procrastination, such as focusing on tasks that energize the individual and avoiding unnecessary commitments. Rada shares productivity hacks like the "two-minute rule" and the "one-touch rule," while Kyte emphasizes the value of dedicated time for tackling larger projects.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast
Scientists discover what really causes us to procrastinate, by Jocelyn Solis-Moreira, StudyFinds
Why people procrastinate, and how to overcome it, by Javier Granados Samayoa and Russell Fazio, Scientific America
About the hosts
Scott Rada is a digital strategist with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wisconsin. He is also the author of "Finding Your Third Place: Building Happier Communities (and Making Great Friends Along the Way)."
Episode 157: Hosts Scott Rada and Rick Kyte explored the profound impact of kindness on mental health, workplace culture and societal structures.
Research shows kindness benefits not only the giver and receiver, but also those who witness it, highlighting the inherently social nature of kind acts.
"It's beneficial within a community of people," Kyte said. "That's what's most interesting — we have all this evidence now of the profound ways in which we are social creatures."
But the decline of "third places," spots where people naturally interact with one another and foster kindness, was something the hosts found worrisome. This reduction in daily opportunities for kindness has the hosts worried people are losing practice in being kind.
"We get out of practice of looking for opportunities to help one another out," Kyte said.
The discussion also touched on balancing assertiveness with kindness, using Rada's experience dealing with an insurance claim as an example. The hosts emphasized the importance of recognizing the humanity in others, even in frustrating situations.
Additionally, the hosts explored the potential risks of developing habits of treating AI assistants as people, rather than tools, warning this could negatively impact real human interactions.
The role of kindness in the workplace was another key focus, with the hosts highlighting a story about a manager who improved safety by getting to know his employees. They stressed managers' responsibility to ensure fairness and address legitimate needs within teams.
"Learning how to do that well is the mark of a good life," Kyte said. "Part of that is dealing with people."
Links to stories discussed during the podcast
Everyday kindness has the ripple effect we need, by Richard Kyte
The heart and science of kindness, by Melissa Brodrick, Harvard Health Publishing
The importance of kindness at work, by Gail Corkindale, Harvard Business Review
The mental health benefits of simple acts of kindness, American Psychiatric Association
I was addicted to my smartphone, so I switched to a flip-phone for a month, by Kashmir Hill, The New York Times
About the hosts
Scott Rada is a digital strategist with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wisconsin. He is also the author of "Finding Your Third Place: Building Happier Communities (and Making Great Friends Along the Way)."
Episode 156: Hosts Scott Rada and Rick Kyte discuss the findings of a New York Times/Siena College poll that revealed some intriguing insights into American beliefs and behaviors.
The poll found that while 88% of Americans support the legalization of marijuana for medical use, our federal policies do not reflect this widespread approval. Kyte noted that survey results don't always translate directly into policy, as there are often other practical considerations involved.
The hosts also examined the public's views on small businesses vs. large retailers. While 86% of Americans say small businesses have a positive effect, their spending habits often favor big-box stores and online giants. Rada and Kyte discussed how personal convenience and cost savings can outweigh stated beliefs about supporting local enterprises.
Other topics covered included the disconnect between the 81% who claim to believe in God and the much smaller percentage who actively practice their faith. The hosts also addressed Americans' near-constant smartphone use, with 81% keeping their devices close by, despite 57% admitting to addiction.
Episode 155: Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss the concerning trend of poor sportsmanship observed at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
According to Kyte, the decline in graceful acceptance of defeat is not limited to the Olympics, but is evident across various levels of sports, from professional leagues to youth athletics. He pointed to incidents of abusive behavior from parents toward referees and players as indicative of a broader societal issue.
"There's plenty of things indicating that sportsmanship is declining, and I think it's an indication that we have as a society that's more and more focusing on the outcomes themselves and not on performance," Kyte said.
However, Kyte also highlighted examples of athletes who demonstrated exceptional sportsmanship, such as Noah Lyles and Josh Kerr, who were able to handle both victory and defeat with humility and grace.
The discussion also touched on the role of media coverage in shaping the public's perception of the Olympics. Rada and Kyte agreed that the extensive focus on personal stories and medal ceremonies can sometimes overshadow the raw competition and diverse range of events.
"I really wish American coverage spent a little more time on the sports themselves," Kyte said, suggesting that the networks should aim for a more balanced and representative portrayal of the Olympic Games.
The conversation ultimately underscored the importance of instilling values of resilience, self-compassion, and a focus on personal performance rather than solely on outcomes — lessons that can have a lasting impact on individuals and society as a whole.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast
The crybaby Olympics, by Christopher Beam, The Atlantic
Losing gracefully is one of the most important lessons from playing sports, by Fred Bowen, The Washington Post
How to be a better loser, by Blakely Low-Scott, Psyche
About the hosts
Scott Rada is a digital strategist with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wisconsin. He is also the author of "Finding Your Third Place: Building Happier Communities (and Making Great Friends Along the Way)."
Episode 154: Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada are both off this week, so we looked back through our show’s archives and picked four of our favorite ethical dilemmas from the past year. This recurring weekly feature can be found at the end of each of our episodes.
Topics include how to respond to a suspected bicycle thief, the ethics behind surprise parties and wedding gift etiquette.
About the hosts
Scott Rada is a digital strategist with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wisconsin. He is also the author of "Finding Your Third Place: Building Happier Communities (and Making Great Friends Along the Way).
Episode 153: The number of U.S. births declined last year to the lowest level since 1979, and the rate of American women of childbearing age having babies is the lowest on record. Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss the many economic and cultural factors driving this downward trend, and whether this cyclical decline should be a cause for joy or concern.
Episode 152: As the back-to-school season nears, we turn our attention to a recent survey by the Pew Research Center that provides a comprehensive look at what it’s like to be a teacher in America today. The findings are revealing and concerning, showing the significant challenges and stressors educators face. Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada talk about the current state of the teaching profession and how it reflects broader societal issues.
Richard Kyte: Social bonds, digital distractions both affect how we learn
Episode 151: Summer jobs are a rite of passage for many teens, offering a first taste of independence and responsibility. But these jobs come with their own set of benefits and challenges. On the one hand, they can teach valuable skills and provide financial independence. On the other hand, they can lead to stress, exploitation, and a delicate balancing act between work and personal life.
Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss how we can ensure that the summer jobs teens take on are truly beneficial for their development without compromising their well-being.
About the hosts
Scott Rada is a digital strategist with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wisconsin, and author of "Finding Your Third Place: Building Happier Communities (and Making Great Friends Along the Way).
From best-selling books to motivational seminars, self-help has become a billion-dollar industry, promising personal transformation and success. But behind the allure of self-improvement, there are significant ethical questions.
How do self-help gurus and authors profit from people’s vulnerabilities? What responsibilities do these leaders have towards their followers? And, as self-help encourages us to constantly strive for betterment, what pressures and potential pitfalls does this create?
Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss how to discern genuine guidance from exploitation, and what ethical framework should we apply when navigating this industry?
Links to stories discussed during the podcast
5 problems with the self-help industry, by Mark Manson
About the hosts
Scott Rada is a digital strategist with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wisconsin, and author of "Finding Your Third Place: Building Happier Communities (and Making Great Friends Along the Way).
As the fall election creeps closer, most of us think of our political divide as Red America vs. Blue America. But another way to view our nation’s fractured landscape is to sort people into two camps: idealists and pragmatists. Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss these two political philosophies, the benefits of each and whether one approach is stronger.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast
Indiana is revealing the real consequences of one-party rule, by Mitch Daniels
About the hosts
Scott Rada is a digital strategist with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wisconsin, and author of "Finding Your Third Place: Building Happier Communities (and Making Great Friends Along the Way).
Episode 148: On last week’s episode, we celebrated the release of Richard Kyte's new book, “Finding Your Third Place: Building Happier Communities and Making Great Friends Along the Way.” But this is such an important topic, we thought we’d dig into it a bit more.
For those who don’t know, third places are those community spots, like coffee shops, parks and libraries, that serve as informal public gathering spaces. They are neither home nor work, but somewhere in between.
Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada talk about how regular visits to third places can foster a sense of belonging, which can lower our stress and increase our social connections.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast
Finding a place where we belong can be a struggle, by Richard Kyte
If you want to belong, find a third place, by Allie Volpe, Vox
About the hosts
Scott Rada is a digital strategist with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wisconsin.
Episode 147: Richard Kyte’s new book, “Finding Your Third Place: Building Happier Communities (and Making Great Friends Along the Way),” is hitting bookstore shelves this month, and he talks with Scott Rada about why we all need to find somewhere where everyone knows our name.
About the hosts
Scott Rada is a digital strategist with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wisconsin. His book, "Finding Your Third Place," will be published by Fulcrum Books.
Episode 146: A recent study found that just 53% of American adults read at least one fiction or nonfiction book in the past 12 months, the lowest level on record. Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss why instilling a love for reading early is important and why avid readers are better critical thinkers who can focus more deeply.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast
Why aren't young people reading anymore?, by Richard Kyte
Why kids aren't falling in love with reading, by Katherine Marsh, The Atlantic
About the hosts
Scott Rada is a digital strategist with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wisconsin. His forthcoming book, "Finding Your Third Place," will be published by Fulcrum Books.
Episode 145: A recent article in The Atlantic by Arthur C. Brooks says that the people whose lives are the happiest are able to find a balance between having enough important, mission-driven things to do in their lives without feeling overwhelmed by stress. Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada talk about how to find that middle ground so you can have a healthier life.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast
Long working hours increasing deaths from heart disease and stroke, World Health Organization
Navel Gazing A journey through the life — and notebooks — of journalist John Dickerson
About the hosts
Scott Rada is a digital strategist with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wisconsin. His forthcoming book, "Finding Your Third Place," will be published by Fulcrum Books.
There was a period of time in America, roughly 1940 to 2000, during which we were largely part of a monoculture. Most of us watched the same TV shows and movies, read the same newspapers, and listened to the same radio stations. Today, however, because of the Internet, that's clearly not the case. And although this feels new to many of us, over the long arc of history, most people have never been part of a monoculture. Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss how these changes affect how we live today.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast
How the logic of cults is taking over modern life, by Derek Thompson and Sam Illing
The misunderstood reason millions of Americans stopped going to church, by Jake Meador, The Atlantic
About the hosts
About the hosts Scott Rada is a digital strategist with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Fulcrum Books will publish his soon-to-be released book, "Finding Your Third Place."
Episode 143: Americans’ love affair with sports is stronger than ever. According to a poll earlier this year by Pew Research, about half of Americans say they took part in organized, competitive sports in high school or college; most Americans who played sports in high school or college say their athletic experiences improved their physical health and confidence; and nearly 4-in-10 Americans follow professional or college sports at least somewhat closely.
Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss whether legalized gambling, the reliance on TV revenue and costly taxpayer-funded stadiums make sports less appealing.
Discussion topics:
The dark side of the sports betting boom, by Nathaniel Meyersohn, CNN
Cash-grabbing power players are sending college sports Into a soulless spiral, by Pat Forde, Sports Illustrated
Stadium subsidies are getting even more ridiculous, by Dan Moore, The Atlantic
About the hosts
Scott Rada is a digital strategist with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wisconsin. His forthcoming book, "Finding Your Third Place," will be published by Fulcrum Books.
Episode 142: Most economists say that the U.S. economy is in a relatively strong position. Although inflation is still a concern, overall GDP numbers are strong, the unemployment rate is low, and wages are rising. Yet in a poll from earlier this year, just 28 percent of Americans rated national economic conditions as excellent or good.
There are many reasons for this disconnect, but one is certainly the high price of housing and the stubborn problem of homelessness in many of our cities.
Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada talk about how the tight housing supply and zoning restrictions are especially harmful for those with the lowest incomes.
Links to stories mentioned in the podcast:
Share of gross rent in household income in the United States in 2022, by Statista
Why is housing inventory so low? Understanding the the U.S. housing shortage, by Jess Ullrich, Bankrate
Where are all the apartments for families? by Rachel Cohen, Vox
Homeless or overhoused: Boomers are stuck at both ends of the housing spectrum, The Wall Street Journal
Biden administration to boost affordable housing programs, supply of manufactured homes, by Alex Gangitano, The Hill
Looking for a new car under $20,000? Good luck. Your choice has dwindled to one vehicle, by Tom Krisher, The Associated Press
About the hosts: Scott Rada is a digital strategist with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wisconsin. His forthcoming book, "Finding Your Third Place," will be published by Fulcrum Books.
Episode 141: Our lives are dependent on the choices we make, and in most cases, we have more choices than ever.
A study by Harvard University shows that having fewer choices can promote happiness because the more options you have, the more opportunities you have to regret the choice you've made. There is also a term called the “parallelizing paradox,” which is when people who are faced with more options than they can effectively consider feel unsure what to do.
Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss how people can navigate the seemingly unlimited number of options they face in everyday life.
Episode 140: Nearly seven months after the Israel-Hamas war began, many campuses across the country are dealing with pro-Palestinian demonstrations and encampments.
Some college presidents have chosen to involve the police, which has led to hundreds of students being arrested. In addition, these protests have again stirred up a debate about the limits of free speech, as some think the messaging has become antisemitic.
Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss the four tenets of ethical protests and why such principles are important.
Links to stories mentioned in the podcast:
What students read before they protest, by Ross Douthat, The New York Times
Columbia University responds after Robert Kraft says he's pulling support over anti-semitic violence, by Greg Norman, Fox Business
College students should study more, by Matthew Yglesias, Slow Boring
About the hosts: Scott Rada is a digital strategist with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis. His forthcoming book, "Finding Your Third Place," will be published by Fulcrum Books.
Episode 139: If you were making a list of superstar psychologists, Carl Jung would be toward the top. According to a recent story by Arthur C. Brooks in The Atlantic, the one-time associate of Sigmund Freud coined the terms extravert and introvert, along with many of the other words we use to describe mental health today.
One topic he thought a lot about was happiness, and how difficult it was to obtain. In 1960, as he neared the end of his long life, Jung shared five pillars that he said could help us make progress toward being happy. Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss these five pillars and why they each play an important role:
- Good physical and mental health.
- Good personal and intimate relations, such as those of marriage, family and friendships
- Seeing beauty in art and in nature.
- A reasonable standard of living and satisfactory work.
- A philosophical or religious outlook that fosters resilience.
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis. His forthcoming book, "Finding Your Third Place," will be published by Fulcrum Books.
Episode 138: There are 137 episodes of The Ethical Life podcast, and that means there are more than 6,000 minutes of hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada talking about various ethical issues. This also means that AI can stitch together all this information and create replicas that would sound — and possibly even think — like them.
Some people already are using such technologies to attempt to keep alive relationships for people who have died. The hosts discuss whether such technologies would help with the healing process or instead make it tougher to move on.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
Using AI to talk to the dead, by Rebecca Carballo, The New York Times
Artificial intelligence advances fuel industry trying to preserve loved ones after death, Max Zahn, ABC News
AI versions of deceased loved ones could be a serious threat to mental health, by Nigel Mulligan, The Conversation
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis. His forthcoming book, "Finding Your Third Place," will be published by Fulcrum Books.
Episode 137: With more data accumulating about us each day, hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada talk about whether privacy is still important — or even possible.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
What Gen Z really cares about when it comes to privacy, David Ruiz, Malwarebytes
AI hustlers stole women’s faces to put in ads. The law can’t help them, by Nitasha Tiku and Pranshu Verma, The Washington Post
The rise of the worker productivity score, Jodi Kantor and Arya Sundaram, The New York Times
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis. His forthcoming book, "Finding Your Third Place," will be published by Fulcrum Books.
Episode 136: Earlier this year, James and Jennifer Crumbley were convicted, in separate trials, of involuntary manslaughter. In 2021, their son, then 15, shot and killed four students at his Michigan high school. Six more students and a faculty member were wounded. He is serving a life sentence, with no possibility of parole.
The Crumbleys were accused of failing to take critical steps, including safely securing a gun at home, that could have prevented their son's attack. They will be sentenced later this month.
In the wake of this verdict, The New York Times asked a group of teens whether parents should ever be held responsible for the harmful actions of their children? And if so, under what circumstances?
Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss the responses the teens had to that question and why there often are many layers of blame in such a tragic situation.
Episode 135: It’s common to hear people say they’ve reached the point in life where they don’t care what others think about them. This can either sound like someone who is firm in their convictions, or it can give the impression that they don't value feedback from others about their actions and beliefs.
Host Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss when it's appropriate to give advice — or even judge — others, and why we've been trained to believe that politics and religion are two topics that should be avoided at all costs.
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis. His forthcoming book, "Finding Your Third Place," will be published by Fulcrum Books.
Episode 134: It used to be that, with a few exceptions, actors and musicians were simply performers. Yes, we might have had an occasional look into their private lives, but most people simply enjoyed their films and their music.
But for better or worse, social media has turned performers into brands — and they often find themselves in the middle of our political and cultural storms.
Today, it’s probably difficult to be a Kid Rock fan and be a Democrat, and we all saw the many conspiracy theories made up about Taylor Swift as she takes positions often at odds with Republicans.
Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss whether entertainers should make their political views public and how those views affect their fans.
Richard Kyte: Should celebrities speak out about politics?
Episode 133: Last month, the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that three couples who had frozen embryos accidentally destroyed in a storage facility could pursue wrongful death lawsuits. After the ruling, three major providers of in vitro fertilization temporarily paused those services in the state because of concerns about civil liability. Those treatments have since resumed after legislative action.
Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss how this case is a window into some of the most fundamental questions we face about our how life begins.
Episode 132: The 2020 presidential election had the highest voter turnout in 120 years, with 66.8 percent of citizens 18 and older voting in that election. But that still means that 1 out of every 3 eligible adults — that’s 80 million people — stayed home.
Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss why people choose not to participate and whether the need for chaos drives some voters toward candidates who want to burn everything down.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
Poll: Despite Record Turnout, 80 Million Americans Didn't Vote. Here's Why, by Domenico Montanaro, National Public Radio
They Could Decide the 2024 Election. If They Vote, by Marcela Valdes, The New York Times Magazine
The Americans Who Need Chaos, by Derek Thompson, The Atlantic
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis. His forthcoming book, "Finding Your Third Place," will be published by Fulcrum Books.
Episode 131: Two popular columnists recently wrote about travel, and they had dramatically different views.
Agnes Collard wrote for The New Yorker that travel turns us into the worst version of ourselves, while Matt Yglesias wrote about the many benefits of tourism, especially on the economies of the places that are most-often visited.
Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss the benefits of travel, what behaviors good tourists exhibit and why it’s in fact good to live in a place where people like to visit.
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis. His forthcoming book, "Finding Your Third Place," will be published by Fulcrum Books.
Episode 130: Higher education has been in the news a lot lately, and the news isn’t the kind college administrators are hoping to see. Questions about what’s being taught in the classroom, and how that affects admissions and free speech, are all making headlines at campuses across this nation.
Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss how the role of universities has changed over the past few decades and how more specialized workplaces are requiring a more specialized approach in the classroom.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
Legislation doesn't address problems with higher education, by Richard Kyte
The General Education Act Renews Liberal Education in America, by Peter Berkowitz, The Tennessee Star
Teacher are limiting lessons on political, social issues, report finds, by Hannah Natanson, The Washington Post
College is all about curiosity. And that requires free speech. by Stephen L. Carter. The New York Times Magazine
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis. His forthcoming book, "Finding Your Third Place," will be published by Fulcrum Books.
Episode 129: There was a time, not all that long ago, when most Americans in their 20s did several things — often in quick succession. They got married, started a family, joined a church, bought a house and subscribed to the local newspaper. Once that checklist was complete, you were clearly an adult.
Today, however, things aren’t nearly so simple.
Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada talk about how the world is changing at an ever-quickening pace, but why one of the few things that seems to be slowing down is when young people consider themselves to be an adult.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
Technology slows the development of young people, by Richard Kyte
Why Americans are having fewer babies, by Janet Adamy, The Wall Street Journal
Americans can't decide what it means to grow up, by Faith Hill, The Atlantic
The gender war within Gen Z, by Derek Thompson, Plain English podcast
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis. His forthcoming book, "Finding Your Third Place," will be published by Fulcrum Books.
Episode 128: There are ongoing talks about what can be done to better secure the southern border. And although almost everyone thinks this is an important topic, few expect any federal legislation on this issue before the election. The hosts look at the ethics that help frame the debate and what responsibility the federal government has to its citizens and those who want to immigrate here.
Episode 127: We live in a country of laws, but it seems there are certain laws that aren’t enforced in consistent and substantial ways.
Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss three areas — chronic school absenteeism, traffic safety and shoplifting — where it seems that there isn't as much enforcement as there used to be.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
Skipping school: America’s hidden education crisis, by Alec MacGillis, ProPublica
America's roads are more dangerous, as police pull over fewer drivers, Martin Kaste, National Public Radio
Why are so many American pedestrians dying at night?, by By Emily Badger, Ben Blatt and Josh Katz, The New York Times Magazine
Is shoplifting really surging?, by German Lopez, The New York Times
The Slate Political Gabfest
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis. His forthcoming book, "Finding Your Third Place," will be published by Fulcrum Books.
Episode 126: Whether it’s issues about health, money or family, life can give us plenty to worry about. And like many things in life, it’s probably not a bad thing in moderation. But for many people, excessive worry and anxiety can be paralyzing.
Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss why this can be a bigger problem for certain people, and they share solutions that can help people overcome this persistent problem.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
How to worry less and be happier, by Arthur C. Brooks. The Atlantic
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis. His forthcoming book, "Finding Your Third Place," will be published by Fulcrum Books.
Episode 125: It’s impossible to go through life without feeling like someone has wronged us. Some of these offenses can be minor, while others are much more serious. Either way, we’re told, forgiving those who have harmed us has real physical and psychological benefits.
Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss about why forgiving others can be so important, and why empathy and sincerity play key roles in the process.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
5 tips to help you flex your forgiveness muscle, by Andrea Kane, CNN
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis. His forthcoming book, "Finding Your Third Place," will be published by Fulcrum Books.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 124: We live in a world where people have the ability to learn more about nearly any subject that piques their interest. Even if the topic you’re curious about is uncommon, it’s likely that you’ll uncover some information about it in a dusty corner of the internet.
Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada talk about why curiosity is an under-appreciated virtue and what we can to foster this behavior in others.
Curiosity is the most overlooked virtue, by Richard Kyte
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis. His forthcoming book, "Finding Your Third Place," will be published by Fulcrum Books.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 123: Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada are off this week, so we looked back though our show archives and are sharing four of our favorite ethical dilemmas from the past year.
Topics include whether to help a stranger in emotional distress and what to say if the table next to you at a restaurant has unruly children.
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis. His forthcoming book, "Finding Your Third Place," will be published by Fulcrum Books.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 122: Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada are joined by special guest Lawrence Eppard of the "Utterly Moderate Podcast" to make predictions for 2024. Topics include the conflict in the Middle East, the 2024 election and advances in technology. In addition, Kyte and Rada review their forecast for 2023 to see how many of their prognostications came true.
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis. His forthcoming book, "Finding Your Third Place," will be published by Fulcrum Books. Eppard is a researcher, university professor and director of the Connors Institute.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 121: Christmas is almost here, and this is the time of the year most people are nostalgic for the past. And if you need some convincing, simply listen to how often memories of past gatherings are referenced in popular Christmas songs.
As many of us get ready to gather with family this month, hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada talk about whether we should focus on making new memories or can we simply rely on the comforts of the past?
Nostalgia is closely tied to Christmas celebrations, by Richard Kyte
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis. His forthcoming book, "Finding Your Third Place," will be published by Fulcrum Books.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 120: At a time when there is little in common between the political parties, it seems most people agree that we need better candidates running for office.
Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss whether a more-knowledgeable electorate would encourage better-qualified people to run for office, and if paying our politicians more is part of the answer.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
Lawmakers are ditching Congress at a record pace, by Stef W. Kight, Hans Nichols and Andrew Solender, Axios
"I'm Just a Bill," Schoolhouse Rock
They’re spending thousands decorating homes No one will ever go inside, by Sarah E. Needleman, The Wall Street Journal
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis. His forthcoming book, "Finding Your Third Place," will be published by Fulcrum Books.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 119: As computers get smarter and learn more about us, they’re also being built to be funnier. And unlike your friends, who use humor to build stronger relationships, the motives of these digital devices are less clear.
Host Richard Kyte and Scott Rada talk about the health benefits of laughter, how what's funny has changed over the past several years and why a sense of humor can be an important part of being a leader.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
Laughter has the power to turn strangers into friends, by Richard Kyte
The joke’s on us – how big tech is replicating our laughter online, by Benjamin Nickl and Christopher John Muller, The Conversation
Laughing is good for your mind and your body – here’s what the research shows, by Janet Gibson, The Conversation
Should vintage comedy be judged by today's standards, by Joel Morris, The Spectator
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis. His forthcoming book, "Finding Your Third Place," will be published by Fulcrum Books.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 118: A recent article in The Atlantic by Hannah Seo says that our relationships to the Earth and our relationships with each other are deeply intertwined.
Host Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss why this might be true and what we can do to help strengthen our ties to the Earth and to each other.
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis. His forthcoming book, "Finding Your Third Place," will be published by Fulcrum Books.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 117: We are in the middle of Thanksgiving week, which means two things — platters of turkey followed by the start of the hectic holiday shopping season.
And although cellphones, televisions and computers are certain to be on many Christmas lists this year, most consumers seem resigned to the fact that these and other costly and complicated gadgets are nearly impossible to repair.
There have been a range of laws passed recently — both in the United States and Europe — that give the people who owns these products the right to repair them. Such legislation aims to reduce both e-waste and carbon emissions.
Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss whether consumers should have more control over the products they purchase.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
Right to repair: An ethical debate that technically concerns you, by Timothy Cook-Berry
The right-to-repair movement is just getting started, by Maddie Stone, The Verge
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis. His forthcoming book, "Finding Your Third Place," will be published by Fulcrum Books.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 116: It’s not very often that a book about philosophy has people talking, but the recent publication of “Determined: A Science of Life Without Free Will” by Robert M. Sapolsky is an exception.
The argument made by Sapolsky, a professor of biology of Stanford University, is remarkable simple: none of us are in control or responsible for the decisions we make.
This is not, as you might think, because of a higher power — the author considers himself to be an atheist. Instead, he writes that:
“The intent you form, the person you are, is the result of all the interactions between biology and environment that came before. All things out of your control.”
Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss whether this is radical idea is a useful way to look at our lives.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
Do you have free will? A new book by Robert Sapolsky argues that we’re not in control of or responsible for the decisions we make, by Kieran Setiya, The Atlantic
Robert Sapolsky doesn’t believe in free will. (But feel free to disagree.), by Hope Reese, The New York Times
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis. His forthcoming book, "Finding Your Third Place," will be published by Fulcrum Books.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 115: Last month, Marc Andreessen published a column he titled the “Techno-Optimist Manifesto.” Andreesen, who was the cofounder of Netscape in the 1990s and later became a wealthy investor in numerous tech companies, argues that civilization was built on technology, and that, "Technology is the glory of human ambition and achievement, the spearhead of progress, and the realization of our potential."
In part, this was written as a response to much of the hand-wringing going on over the quick introduction of artificial intelligence in many parts of our lives. Although some say a slow and steady approach to AI is the correct path, Andreessen says we should have few guard rails because history shows that the benefits of transformative technology far outweigh any possible worries.
Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss what we have learned from past scientific advancements and whether the AI revolution presents an entirely new challenge.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
The Techno-Optimist Manifesto, by Marc Andreessen
'Frictionless' experiences remove human touch, Richard Kyte
The techno-optimist's fallacy, by Matt Yglesias
The Pessimists Archive
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis. His forthcoming book, "Finding Your Third Place," will be published by Fulcrum Books.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 114: Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss why some people are naturally better at connecting with people and what we can learn from them. Later, they review tactics when we encounter rudeness in our everyday lives.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
How to be surprisingly likable, by Jason Feifer
5 stoic tips for handling rude people, by Daily Storic
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis. His forthcoming book, "Finding Your Third Place," will be published by Fulcrum Books.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 113: Health experts have said for years that excessive noise can lead to serious cardiovascular problems. But unlike other health risks, it’s not a topic that’s widely discussed. Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss what can be done to make people think of excessive noise as much more than simply a nuisance?
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
Finding a quiet place is tough in our noisy world, Richard Kyte
Noise could take years off your life. Here's how. By By Emily Baumgaertner, Jason Kao, Eleanor Lutz, Josephine Sedgwick, Rumsey Taylor, Noah Throop and Josh Williams, The New York Times
Can noise cameras reduce ‘potentially fatal’ sound pollution?, by Alaina Demopoulos, The Guardian
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis. His forthcoming book, "Finding Your Third Place," will be published by Fulcrum Books.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 112: If you’re not already familiar with the term surge pricing, it’s likely you’ll hear a lot more about it soon. Simply put, it’s when businesses identify times when there is a high demand for their products or services — whether an Uber ride or a pint of beer — and raise prices.
Anyone who has taken am introductory economics course learns that when supply of something is low and the demand is high, prices will go up. What’s new is that technology lets those changes happen quickly and with little warning to those affected.
Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss whether there are any ethical pitfalls around this new way of doing business.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
Uber, Lyft ripped for surging NYC prices during storm, flooding, by Emily Crane, New York Post
The rise of surge pricing: 'It will eventually be everywhere,' by Oliver Barnes, Philip Georgiadis and Laura Onita, Financial Times
Giuliani’s drinking, long a fraught subject, has Trump prosecutors’ attention, by Matt Flegenheimer and Maggie Haberman, The New York Times
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis. His forthcoming book, "Finding Your Third Place," will be published by Fulcrum Books.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 111: Not so long ago, many of our K-12 schools were hoping parents would pay more attention to what was going on in the classroom. Too often, it seemed, parent-teacher conferences were not well attended, PTA groups were struggling and school board elections were all but forgotten about.
Recently, however, there has been a major shift in our nation, as the parental-rights movement has caused many adults to become much more involved in what’s taught in our classrooms, has turned board meetings into long discussions about politics and culture, and has led to a record number of attempted book bans and restrictions at school and public libraries.
Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss how big of a role parents should have in making sure their children’s education meets their own personal standards and beliefs.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
What should we be teaching our kids in a polarized world?, by Richard Kyte
Book ban attempts hit record high in 2022, library org says, by Hillel Italie, The Associated Press
Parents differ sharply by party over what their K-12 children should learn in school, by Juliana Menasce Horowitz, Pew Research Center
Legislative tracker: 2023 parent-rights bills in the states, by Bella DiMarco, FutureEd
Book bans aren’t the only threat to literature in American classrooms, by Jonna Perrillo and Andrew Newman, Time magazine
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis. His forthcoming book, "Finding Your Third Place," will be published by Fulcrum Books.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 110: Countless studies have shown that there has been a steep drop in adult friendships over the past decade, and this decline is more serious that it might first sound. Research shows that being lonely can have negative effects on public health, and has been compared to smoking 15 cigarettes a day.
Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss what's behind this trend and what can be done to reverse it.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
How to find authentic connections in a digital world, by Richard Kyte
Americans more than ever have no friends. Here are 5 steps to make more friends, by Elizabeth Gilbert, Big Think
How having five friends boosts the adolescent brain — and educational performance, by Barbara Jacquelyn Sahakian and Christine Langley, The Conversation
Ditching a friend who is not like you can deepen social inequality, by Mark C. Paschucki and Anthony Palk, The Conversation
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis. His forthcoming book, "Finding Your Third Place," will be published by Fulcrum Books.
Episode transcript
Note: The following transcript was created by Headliner and may contain misspellings and other inaccuracies as it was generated automatically:
There has been a steep drop in adult friendships over the past decade
Scott Rada: Hello, and welcome to episode 110 of The Ethical Life, a place where each week we talk about the intersection of ethics and modern life. I'm Scott Rodda, social media manager for Lee Enterprises. And as always, I'm joined by Rick Kyte, who is the head of the Ethics Institute at the Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Hello, Rick.
Richard Kyte: Hi, Scott.
Scott Rada: Countless studies have shown that there has been a steep drop in adult friendships over the past decade, and this decline is more serious than it might first sound. Research shows that being lonely can have negative effects on public health, and one study even compared it to smoking 15 cigarettes a day. Rick, this trend has been going on for the past ten years or so, but it seems to have been made worse by the isolation required at, the start of the pandemic. How optimistic are you that we can find a way to fix and turn this around?
Richard Kyte: My optimism stems from hearing so many people talk now about the importance of social connection. We're finally paying real attention to something that's actually been kind of an ongoing problem. We've tracked a real decline in number of friendships over the last 30 years. We got pretty good data on this. And so you can use something called the Google Ngram viewer to look at word usage from 1800 to the present day. If you compare two words, friend and self, what you find is, like, in 1800, the word friend occurred roughly twice as often as the word self in print.
Scott Rada: I have a prediction, but go ahead.
Richard Kyte: Today, the word self appears about three times as much as the word friend.
Scott Rada: Yeah.
Richard Kyte: And they cross paths around 1900. This isn't a new thing, and it seems to be a result of industrialization. As we become more prosperous, we become more independent, but we're at a point now where we're starting to really see the effects of not just loneliness, but all the things that happen. When you have more social fragmentation, you have increased polarization, you have real lack of trust in kind of businesses and government, all kinds of institutions. you have more conspiracy theories. All these things that we're seeing that are kind of, like, at the root of our great social dissatisfaction seem to be due to our loss of friendship.
You say the start of the pandemic made people think about isolation more
Scott Rada: And I started off by saying that there was obviously a dip in a lot of connectedness at the start of the pandemic, and you also expressed some optimism, saying that people are talking about this more. I wonder if those can maybe be stitched together a little bit is at least for a lot of people. I think the isolation and the disconnectedness people felt, in the worst months of the pandemic really almost made them appreciate more when you could get back out and could reconnect with friends and go on a trip or just be out among people. And do you think that sort of in some ways made people think and talk about this more. The pandemic that is, I know for.
Richard Kyte: A fact it made people think and talked about, it more because people were talking about their isolation, they didn't like it, and they were talking about the effects. The problem is it also changed a lot of habits. Yeah, right. And it ended up closing a lot of businesses that were public gathering places.
Primary way in which people make friends today is in the workplace
Richard Kyte: What comes to our attention is really important, what we talk about, but also our daily habits and kind of what sociologists refer to as social infrastructure. Like, what are the patterns of life that we've developed that allow us to have connections and interaction? And in a way, the pandemic disrupted a lot of these usual patterns. For example, a primary way in which people make friends today is in the workplace.
Richard Kyte: We have a lot more people working from home. Yeah.
Scott Rada: When you say in the workplace, you mean like in the office or in the factory or in the retail environment where they work, not across zoom phone calls.
Richard Kyte: Yeah. People really don't establish meaningful relationships, in that way. Meaningful relationships kind of develop when you share information about yourself. And so, like on a zoom call for work, you're sticking to an agenda. You're not just visiting. Right. But usually find times in the workplace. There's times and places to do that. And so we've done things to our society not really intentionally, but just what has happened that make it harder for us to make social acquaintances. Here's the real problem. We have fewer daily interactions with strangers. Right. So if you think of your life as these circles, there's all these people you don't know, then there's a pretty big circle of acquaintances. People you know, you recognize, you recognize, they recognize you, you know their names, that sort of thing. They're in that acquaintance. Then you have this other area of friends, or kind of loose friends. You spend a little bit of time, you have some things in common, but they aren't really close. Then you have circle of close friends or good friends, and then your best friends. Right. So it's these concentric circles. Or we're changing all the things that allow us to have a lot of people in that acquaintanceship circle, like acquaintances or companions, that sort of thing. That outermost circle of friendship that is shrinking for just about everybody.
Scott Rada: And that's sort of the conversion funnel, in some ways, of getting those people from the outer rings into the center ring.
Richard Kyte: Right, absolutely. Because the only people that make it into that center ring are the people that you find a lot in common with. So you really want to because you have shared interests or something else. You spend a lot of time and then you kind of get past the shared interest inwards. You're really sharing really kind of intimate information about yourself. You're sharing stories and your history and everything else. We can talk about that later, like how really close friendships develop. But the key thing is you need a lot of people in those outer circles just to find, like, who of all those 100, 200, 300 people, do you really want to do some activities with and spend a little more time with?
Scott Rada: In most cases, and I think probably for both of us, when you're young and you're in school, that's really the time, because you're around a bunch of people about your age, and that's where it's really easy to make friends. It's also when friendship becomes maybe the most important thing in your life. Right. Because I don't know of many high school kids who would say their family or their schoolwork is more important than their friend group. I'm sure there's exceptions, but I bet if you surveyed and broke it up into those three chunks, most high schoolers would say their friend group is the most important. Yeah, and I'm not sure that's the right order at that time. And maybe it is and maybe it's not. But we certainly quickly reorder things over the next 510 years of our lives. And I just find that interesting and kind of too bad.
Richard Kyte: Like, this is one way in which you can describe friendship. Friendship. I think C. S. Lewis said this. Friends are people who go on a journey together. Like during that time, say, in, say, middle school, high school, and then into college, it's really up. And for most people, up until about age 25, when your life really kind of settles down into some kind of predictable patterns.
Scott Rada: Yeah, right.
Richard Kyte: You're pretty fluid. That means you're meeting a lot of different people, but you're also going through a transformative period of your life where you're becoming the person who you're going to be. Now, friends are people that go through that with you. That is, your very closest. Friends are people that go through something transformative with you so that you kind of become who you are going to be together. And that's why with old friends, you can pick up the phone with somebody you haven't talked to for a year. And if you've been through those transformative periods of your life with them, you don't have to go through the process of getting reacquainted. Whereas if it's like a high, school classmate that you really didn't spend much time with, and you kind of meet somebody out there, like you meet them at a bar or restaurant or something like that, you have no idea what's going on with their life. And it's like meeting a stranger. You know their name, but you have to get reacquainted. Right. We even have a word for it.
Scott Rada: Old friends.
Richard Kyte: You don't you know who they are because they're kind of part of you. This period up to about 25, so we find some really interesting things about it. So, like, young people who have a pretty large circle, that outer circle, that acquaintance, they're going to end up probably having more close friends later in life because they had kind of more raw material to drop.
Scott Rada: Yeah.
Richard Kyte: And also we find some evidence that people who go to college, especially people who go to college and stay in dorms, like that sort of thing, they tend to have more friends later in life because they have a longer period of time where they're in that transitional period of their life where they're making friends. And it's something that we often forget about. What is the purpose of college? It's not just job preparation. It's kind of this process of maturing in life. And so extending that period out building.
Scott Rada: Your social fitness in a way.
Richard Kyte: Right. that's why I love things that we sometimes talk about. Should we bring back the Civilian Conservation Corps, something like that, from the New Deal, M or what? Like things like, AmeriCorps different projects that you can serve in. These end up being really important, not for the work, only for the work they do, but also for the way in which they develop our relationships well.
Scott Rada: And I want to pause on that for a second. And I've never served in the military, but I know people who have. And it seems like that is one place where you can really form those strong bonds, especially when you're young. And it seems like and again, thank goodness we don't have this much at the moment, but people who have served in wartime even build those closer bonds. You hear stories about, Well, I serve. You'll hear 80 year old men talking about somebody they're still in touch with, who they served in Korea with, or wherever it might be. Because those clearly very dangerous and life altering experiences, when you share that with a person or two, that's a connection that really is strong, I would imagine.
Richard Kyte: So we call these formative experiences, and the word is a really good one because they form your personality, they form your character. And when you go through a formative experience with somebody else, they form your character together. So Augustine says, like a friend has been called, half my soul. There's something like you kind of share a soul. You share something that's quite deep together because you've been through an experience together.
12% of Americans report having no friends, according to a recent study
Scott Rada: And I think it's also worth pointing out, and we'll link to some of these stories on our website, but as we talk about sort of the problems as we see it, a recent study in 2021 said that 12% of Americans report having no friends. That's, compared to just 3%, back in the 1990s. But what stood out for me is that these numbers are even worse for men who tend to have more friends early in life but experience a steeper decline. Do you have a sense as to why that might be?
Richard Kyte: I think a lot of it has to do with less, social interaction for men, because I don't think that this is true in all cultures, but in American culture, certainly our history has been, that men are less likely to join social groups and spend, like, what we call sociable time or leisure time with others. They'll spend time especially, like, say, in high school, in organized sports. But there's not that many men who are doing the kind of sports activities, the way that they used to.
Scott Rada: Like a softball league, softball league, bowling.
Richard Kyte: Golf, those sorts of things. It turns out men are much more likely to make friends in those kinds of active social pursuits. Women are much more likely to form themselves into different kinds of social groups in which most of what they do is talk. Well, it's the talking in which we really get close, where we share things about ourselves and share stories. many men need some kind of like a sporting activity or some other pursuit in order to engage in the talk. Women, just for whatever reason, seem much more able to just get together and start talking right away.
Scott Rada: I heard somebody talk about this issue once, and I don't know what their source was. And maybe this was you that said this. I don't remember but saying that there was a study that the best way for women to again, we're generalizing here, but the best way for women to talk and get to know each other is when they're facing each other over coffee or just talking about whatever is going on in their lives, but they're facing each other. For men, it's often side by side activities, whether they're golfing or out for a walk or out for a more active thing. And I guess studies have shown that that is, a better way for men to communicate with other men. And I found that interesting.
Richard Kyte: So you certainly see that you see this with especially fathers and sons, have a hard time talking. That's a notoriously fraught relationship between fathers and sons, say, in high school, as the sons are getting more independence. But they can often have a talk when they're driving somewhere in a car where they're side by side. I think with men is face to face is too confrontational. It's competitive. Whereas when you're side by side, you're in a cooperative mode and take some of that competitiveness out of it. By the way, we're sitting face, to face right now.
Scott Rada: We are. Although, yeah, maybe we should do a podcast side to side. That would be interesting. Although I guess we've done a couple of zoom ones. And that is a different experience too, I suppose.
Richard Kyte: Yeah. But I think we want a little competitiveness here. There we go.
Over the years, adults have spent fewer time with their friends
Scott Rada: you mentioned the father son thing, and one thing that in some of the reading, I did for the show that really jumped out at me talking about these trends where over the years, adults spend fewer time with their friends. And there's lots of reasons, sometimes because of work demands, sometimes demands around the house. But what really jumped out at me is that adults parents spend much, much more time with their kids than they did just a few generations ago. And again, as I've talked on the show, I don't have children. But just from the people I know and just from observing out in the world, that just seems true to me, that you see kids with their parents so much more. Is that a good thing in that it makes those relationships stronger? And if it's at the cost of other friendships, then so be it. Or is that maybe not a great thing? Because you're sort of stifling your own growth because the kids won't be in the house forever, and also, you're not letting the kids sort of figure out who they are, away from the watchful gaze of a parent.
Richard Kyte: Yeah, I think it's not good for all those reasons. We know that there's been a real decline, especially for young kids, in unstructured playtime, and they really need that. That's really good for them. And we're not giving them enough of it in our culture because the parents are too involved in structuring their time and oftentimes being with them and supervising, and then it's not good for the adults. Because what happens is this is a pretty common phenomenon at the time when kids social life is increasing. They get old enough, they're going out and doing more things. The parents who are, like, spending a lot of time with those kids have to give up their own friend relationships. It turns out, like a lot of parents of middle school and high school kids, most of their adult social interaction is with parents of other kids the same age. At sporting events or clubs or wherever it happens to be, that's who they're hanging out with. Then their kids go off, they graduate, they go off somewhere, and they've got no friendship circle. They're alone with each other. Right. so that's a really common phenomenon. That wasn't such a common thing. Like, when I grew up, my parents, they had their own friends, and they might interact a little bit with the parents of my friends, but they weren't in their social circle. And now you were finding adults completely change their social circle after they have kids, and then when their kids are.
Scott Rada: Gone one other piece I read that said and obviously we kind of painted a little bit of a dire scenario here, but it's not at all true to say that people don't have friends. Most adults do have friends, and maybe not as many as they'd like.
Richard Kyte: But in 1990, the same survey you quoted, 33% of adults reported having ten or more friends, ten or more good friends in 1990. And today, I think the number is 13%.
Scott Rada: Yeah. So it's dropped significantly.
Richard Kyte: Significantly.
Scott Rada: But I guess the question, though, is that I read somewhere that said there is a benefit to when you have friends to make sure they're not all like you, that they may come from different backgrounds, may come from different socioeconomic parts of your community who may have a bunch of kids and you have no kids or whatever the case might be. And I think it is easy, just like you said, to sort of, find people around you who you have things in common with. And you even said earlier that you sort of have this when you were talking about the circles, a group, an outside group of people, and you sort of maybe identify folks you have something in common with, and you have some common, interests, and they sort of march their way toward the center of that circle.
Richard Kyte: Is.
Scott Rada: It good, though, sometimes to try to and maybe this is too intentional, but to try to identify people who are in that outer circle but you think might add a different or interesting perspective to your life than you may not have otherwise. And to try to, even though it might take a little more, build a, connection there.
Richard Kyte: If you joined some groups of, people that are involved in different kinds of activities, I'm talking, like, oftentimes churches, service organizations, like the Big Three, Rotary, Kiwanis and Lions, bowling leagues, right? any kind of groups in which you have large numbers of people participating, then spending time together, you are going to meet people very different from yourself and people with very different backgrounds, very different interests. This is the important thing about joining something, is that when you join, you spend repeated time, sometimes over a period of years, with people, and you get to know them beyond the superficiality, which makes you think, like, yeah, I don't really have much in common with this person. I'm not going to pursue that kind of relationship. But if you join a group where you're sitting down or you're engaged in activities with a group of people every week, for, say, a couple of years, two or three years, you're going to slowly realize that there are people that you really like, that you share some deeper connection with beyond kind of the superficial differences. And if you hadn't spent those years with them, you would have never discovered that. And this is, in some ways, the real key to friendship. It's not so much like what it brings to you. So I've been researching friendship quite a bit for this book that I'm writing on Third Places, because I think this is the main function of third places in communities is, they are where we meet people different from ourselves that we're introduced to them. So then we form deeper relationships. And when we form these different relationships with people quite different from different economic backgrounds, different cultural backgrounds, different political kind of, alliances or sympathies. We start to feel like actually, it seems like I'm living in a world with all these people, all these strangers, all these people are very different, but it's just that I haven't spent enough time with them. I could potentially become friends with anybody. And the 18th and 19th, century Scottish philosophers like Adam Smith, David Hume, Francis Hutchison, they talked a lot about sympathy as being the grounding of, ethics, also the grounding of politics like sympathy. The other word they used for it was fellow feeling, from which we get the word fellowship. Right. It's spending time with others, you find that you're able to take kind of imaginatively experience, what the other people do, what they experience, what they're going through, and that becomes really lively in your mind. And so that you are literally pained when something bad happens to a friend. Right. Even just hearing bad news about something that happened to a friend, you will feel pain as a result, or joy.
Scott Rada: If something good happens.
Richard Kyte: Joy if something good happens. You don't have to see them experiencing that emotion to have that emotion yourself, because you have what they called fellow feeling. When you have this within a whole community or within a nation that we share something like fellow feeling, that is the basis to be able to collaborate, to work together. And right now, our politics is just contaminated by the idea that we define ourself by our differences. And there's no way to move together to any sort of, agreement or compromise any understanding of working towards the common good. But if we have a sense that, yeah, not only do we have something in common, we actually feel what we have in common together, and that's deeper than our superficial, then then we're going to have a really healthy democracy.
Replika allows customers to custom design their own virtual companion
Scott Rada: Rick, I know this is an issue like you mentioned you're writing quite a bit about, and you were doing some research over the past few days, and it led you down kind of a strange path. Maybe you could tell folks about that a bit.
Richard Kyte: I came across a website called Replika, which, is a, site that uses AI or artificial intelligence to allow customers to custom design their own virtual companion, and give it all kinds of characteristics exactly what they would imagine a good companion would be. And so, inevitably, what people do, they design somebody who is happy and helpful and pleased to talk to them. Available 24 hours a day whenever they need somebody to listen, who is never disagreeable, never puts their own demands and their own interests upon the person. Right. I was amazed to find how many testimonials there are, in some ways, got a really moving testimonials of how great it's been to create this kind of virtual dream companion that people have. And I find it really kind of eerie.
Scott Rada: I think I know the answer, but I'll, of course, ask because so.
Richard Kyte: I think what's happening is we're using AI to create something that wasn't possible before without AI, because, like with Chat GPT, we can create these bots, these chat bots that simulate real people. So well, you can't really tell the difference, like when you're texting with one of these chat bots in real person. And so they're taking advantage of that technology to really fool us. So people develop these real, quite profound, deep, sincere emotional connections with these chat bots. Right. They name them. There's even a report that was in the Daily Mail of a woman who married the chat bot that she created after falling in love with it over a period of a couple of years. Right. And I don't think it's a joke. I think that was really sincere. And what she said in one of the interviews is, well, I love this person that she created. He doesn't come with any baggage. Right? Well, people come with baggage.
Scott Rada: Okay, well, but isn't that the problem in a way? Because you just got done saying it sounds like when you kind of create this character and I'm guessing again, I've not done this, but I'm guessing you can say, I want this person to be kind, or I want this person to be intelligent or witty or whatever these things is. I mean, unless you're just doing it as sort of a joke, you're not going to go and say, I want to create some dumb, racist idiot who, says inappropriate things all the time. I mean, nobody's going to do that. And not that we'd want to be friends with someone who is, but at the same time, none of our friends, no matter how close and good they are, are perfect people. And in some ways, dealing with those people's imperfections is part of what being like human is all about. And isn't that sort of also part of the problem here is that you're creating this idealized character that might even make it more difficult than to go into the real world and encounter people who are far, far from perfect because of how much time you've spent with someone who is just the way you'd like him or her to be.
Richard Kyte: yeah, that's it exactly. And when we're talking about the real world being full of these imperfect people that we wouldn't really choose to be friends with, well, we're one of them. Yeah. Right. And the real benefit of friendship is, I find, like, none of these websites talk about this in a way disturbingly. Very few of the articles that I've been reading that are in the popular press and that you can find on various websites that talk about the benefits of friends and all the, like, how to make friends. They never talk about. What I think is the most important part about it is that they make demands upon us. we become useful to somebody. We become meaningful to another person. And this is really the key to loneliness, is not just that we're alone. It's that we feel that nobody needs us, right? And so who needs us? Only imperfect people. Perfect people don't need us. The gods don't need us. It's like imperfect human beings that need a friend. And that's why I need friends, because I'm imperfect, too. And it's the mutuality of friendship that takes us out of a, very kind of narrow conception of the self. So if I could have said, like, at age 22, this is my ideal life, this is the kind of person I want to be and all of that, I would be a much more kind of shallow, superficial, impoverished person than I am today.
Scott Rada: Probably richer, maybe.
Richard Kyte: Yeah. Right. Yeah. But I wouldn't, because all the people I've met in my life have changed who I am. and they've kind of, in some ways, forced me to grow. And this is what, like George McDonald says, it's the love of neighbor that takes us out of the dungeon of the right, because the self is a dungeon. Websites like Replika and Project December and some of these others, what they do is create a really attractive dungeon, and then we pay them to be able to go into it and to furnish it their dungeon the way we want it. But we're still entering a dungeon. That virtual companion that doesn't help me grow, doesn't get me out of myself, out of the narrow self that I am, into something larger.
We end each show by tackling an ethical dilemma
Scott Rada: We end each show by tackling an ethical dilemma. And Rick, what is your question for me?
Richard Kyte: Well, Scott, let's say that you have your eye on a motorcycle. It's not a brand new one, but it's a late model motorcycle. It's going to cost you a little money. you know that your partner is not going to be very keen on this idea. For one thing, it's going to be kind of dangerous. The other thing is, it's a real big expense. And generally in the past, you and your partner have always talked over big expenses together. But you're worried if you bring up that you want to take out a loan to buy this motorcycle, which is something you really want to do, it's just going to cause an argument. but it's your money. You and your partner, you both have your own jobs. You keep separate checking accounts. And so what do you do in a case like this? Do you just go ahead and buy the motorcycle and then realize, okay, there might be some hurt feelings, but you'll get over it? And that's a lot easier than creating a big argument to begin with and then going ahead and buying the motorcycle anyway.
Scott Rada: So a couple of things. I'll try to answer this dilemma as best I'm able, but, I will admit and. I think this is probably because I spent a long time working in newspaper newsrooms and reading about motorcycle crashes so often. But I would never want to get a motorcycle because I personally view them as extremely dangerous. And, I think I have probably spent in my life 2 hours on a motorcycle, and that might be the last 2 hours I ever spent on a motorcycle is my guess. So it's hard for me to exactly fit into this scenario. And also, you bring up a point, too, is that buying a motorcycle is in this case, a financial decision. But it's also like the risky part of this too, right? Because you are it's more dangerous than going out and spending that same money and buying a piece of fine art that hangs on your wall, which has virtually no risk. But to, put myself in that position, I think there's two things from everything I've read, that couples argue about the most, and it's either kids or money. I'm lucky, and I guess Travis and I are lucky that, first of all, we don't have kids, so it's hard to argue about that. But we don't really argue about money. We were pretty good about that. And I think part of it is because we do obviously have some shared expenses, but we do, have some autonomy for each other to sort of spend money how we're able. And luckily, we're in a position where not every nickel we scrape together has to go to a bill or the house payment or something like that. So maybe here's the closest to a real life situation, as we've talked about on the show, that, I'm a big baseball fan. And, as we're recording this, we're just days away from the baseball playoffs starting. And I sort of made the decision and I had enough flexibility with work that I'm going to take much of a week off and go to Minneapolis and watch the Twins hopefully win a, playoff game, which they haven't done since I think, like 22,002 or something awful like that.
Richard Kyte: So you're planning to go to multiple games in the multiple games? Win one, yeah, hopefully they'll win one.
Scott Rada: And obviously there's an expense involved in that, not only for the tickets, which are more busier playoffs, but you have to get lodging and all that. And we talked it over and I said I told him how much it was. And it's like, hey. And he's like, yeah, that's your thing.
Richard Kyte: Unluckily.
Scott Rada: I don't have tons of expensive Hobies, so it's fine. And I'm actually to go to our conversation, or our topic earlier in the episode, I'm actually going to the game with a friend of mine from high school. And we went to dozens of games back when we were in high school. And we have reconnected and have gone to a handful of games since.
Richard Kyte: So let me interrupt. Would it be different if you were thinking, I'm going to go to Las Vegas and gamble for a week, would that be a different kind of, mean?
Scott Rada: I guess it know, unless you're going to spend the whole thing on the penny. Mean yeah, I think that probably so. But again, I think what your question is about is how much autonomy should financial autonomy should people have in their private relationships and how should you talk about it? How should you talk about it? Yeah, I think you talk about it in advance. And I think if I were to suddenly decide that a motorcycle, was the best thing for me, that I would try to make my case. But I think we'd make that decision together not only for the money part, but also for the other part. So I think yeah, but I guess I come at this with sort of a, bias, because I don't necessarily have a problem talking about these sort of things. So, to me, this would be an easy conversation to have, because maybe this is going to sound ridiculous, but I've really never come across something like this where it has been a, huge, significant purchase that I want to make that I know is going to be, unpopular. But if that were to come up, obviously, I think what's the old saw is easier to ask for forgiveness than permission. In this case, probably is not a good way to go.
Richard Kyte: Yeah, I think that's probably right. When my wife and I were much younger and money was much tighter, even small purchases, sometimes we had to really talk them over because, we had to pool everything just to make ends meet, those conversations. We had to make sure that we had every conversation right to maintain our relationship really well. Now, as we're older and the kids are gone and so forth, I find that we have a little more autonomy. But the big purchases, still need to be discussed.
Scott Rada: Yeah, there's been studies on every single thing in this world. So I'm sure there's been a study on this, but I would be curious to know. My guess, it probably tracks a little bit by age and generation, but in married couples, how many of them have separate bank accounts? And it's like, I remember I'm thinking of my grandparents. Not only did they have just but one bank account, my grandmother signed her checks, Mrs. And then my grandfather's name. I mean, that was just that generation. And I think certainly there's not many 25 year old women signing their checks mrs and then their husband's name, that's sort of gone out of favor. And that's probably a good thing. But I think there is more autonomy when it comes to finances. Again, assuming that, again, not every nickel has to go to meet your basic needs. And I don't know, I sense that that's generally probably a good thing. But yeah, you don't want to show unless you're just ridiculously wealthy, showing up and saying, oh, I bought a new car, I hope that's okay. Or I bought a new motorcycle or a boat or whatever it might be. That seems to not show a lot of respect.
Richard Kyte: You mentioned boats. this was a running joke. In our house, we at one point had lots of boats, like most of old junkie boats. Right. Small like that became an issue one time when a friend gave me an old canoe and then I show up with yet another boat and put it inside the house.
Scott Rada: But that's a storage issue at some point.
Richard Kyte: Actually, it was much more of a storage issue than an expense issue because.
Scott Rada: I think I've been in your garage. You don't have a lot of high end boats.
Richard Kyte: None. Yeah, so this only came up because I was at a yard sale recently and this guy had this motorcycle for sale. it was about a 20 year old bike, but it had really low miles. It was in great shape. I was thinking, oh, that'd be really cool. I really have no serious interest in buying motorcycle. And for one is the accident rate is just too high. And I think that would put a strain on a relationship, like starting a hobby. That was really it just, it went through my head, like, what would that conversation be like saying, hey, Cindy, here's what I'm thinking. And I was thinking like, that would be a tough.
Scott Rada: So I'm just curious. I think I can probably count the number of times I've been on a motorcycle on one hand. And it probably is like a total of 2 hours. How about for you?
Richard Kyte: Yeah, probably. So when I was in high school, dirt bikes. That's not like street bikes. Very only twice that I can remember. And they were like, once on our friends and once on our relatives. and a long time ago. I ridden a motorcycle for decades.
Scott Rada: Yeah, sort of the same here. and I think at least for me, it's going to be, like I said, a long time till I rhyme. What? Again?
Richard Kyte: I'm pretty sure I'm going to die of something else.
Scott Rada: Well, hopefully that's a long time from now. And assuming it is a long time from now, we have a whole lot more podcasts to record.
Richard Kyte: How many more do we have to record?
Scott Rada: Oh gosh, I would feel really awkward starting the show.
Scott Rada: Welcome to episode 4367 of The Ethical Life. That would be a lot to say, so we'll stop before that.
Richard Kyte: Okay.
Scott Rada: Somewhere between 111 and 4367.
Richard Kyte: Yeah. Okay.
Scott Rada: So there's a lot more to come. So make sure, good listener, that you subscribe to The Ethical Life on Apple podcasts, Google podcasts, or Spotify. And be sure to check out Rick's column about ethics. And that can be found on all Lee newspaper websites. For Rick Kite. I am Scott Rata. Thank you for joining us.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 109: A competitive race for a seat in the Virginia House of Delegates has been in the spotlight since it was revealed that the Democratic candidate, Susanna Gibson, had streamed sex acts with her husband.
As first reported by The Washington Post, the couple appeared on the website Chaturbate, on which they urged viewers to give the couple “tips” to perform certain crowd-sourced requests.
Gibson, whose full-time job is working as a nurse practitioner, said the exposure of the content is “an illegal invasion of my privacy and designed to humiliate me and my family.”
Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss whether this was a legitimate news story, whether the issue should matter to voters and how whether it showed poor judgment by the candidate.
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis. His forthcoming book, "Finding Your Third Place," will be published by Fulcrum Books.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 108: Earlier this month, ESPN reported that 11,000 runners were disqualified after they were found to have cut at least part of the 26.2-mile course at a marathon in Mexico City. They weren’t running for big cash prizes, but that didn’t stop about a third of runners from cheating.
Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada examine what motivates people to be dishonest, whether in sports, in the classroom or when paying their taxes.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
11,000 runners DQ'd from Mexico City Marathon, per report, by ESPN
Going the distance (and beyond) to catch marathon cheaters, by Gordy Megroz, Wired Magazine
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis. His forthcoming book, "Finding Your Third Place," will be published by Fulcrum Books.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 107: A recent study looked at what the best places to live in America have in common. It found that people seem to thrive when inequality is low; when landownership is widespread; when social connection is high; and when corruption and violence are rare.
Host Richard Kyte and Scott Rada talk about which steps can be taken to boost the social connectivity of our cities and towns, and why rural areas often face the biggest challenges.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
What the best places in America have in common, by Kathryn J. Edin, H. Luke Shaefer, and Timothy J. Nelson, The Atlantic
Disinvestment in rural Kentucky leaves ‘nothing to do’ but drugs, by Liv Mann, University of Michigan
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis. His forthcoming book, "Finding Your Third Place," will be published by Fulcrum Books.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 106: Across our nation, millions of students are heading back to colleges and universities, but there is plenty of disagreement about whether those degrees will help prepare young people for the work force.
Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss how different generations view the workplace and what responsibilities schools have in preparing students for the future.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
No wonder work ethic is waning. Colleges leave students unprepared. by Mitch Daniels, The Washington Post
3 in 4 managers find it difficult to work with GenZ, Resume Builder
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 105: We talk a lot about diversity in this country, and while many Americans seem to like the idea of having a country that is welcoming, most of us still choose to spend most our time with people who are a lot like ourselves.
And this is especially apparent when it comes to class.
Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss why far too many people are comfortable in discriminating against people who have fewer economic advantages.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
Where do socioeconomic classes mix? Not church, but Chili’s, by Catherine Rampell, The Washington Post
Barbara Kingsolver thinks urban liberals have it all wrong on Appalachia, The Ezra Klein Show podcast
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 104: In a country that today seems to put less of a value on reverence and tradition, hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada debate whether the Pledge of Allegiance remains an effective way to express the best values of being an American.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
Here's why we should say the Pledge of Allegiance, by Richard Kyte
Is the Pledge of Allegiance just an empty, performative ritual? by Nicholas Goldberg, Los Angeles Times
Here is a breakdown of laws in 47 states that require reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, by Brad Dress, The Hill
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 103: You don’t have to look far to see the ravages of climate change. In recent weeks, one of the deadliest wildfires in U.S. history killed scores of people in Hawaii, and July was the hottest month ever recorded.
Host Richard Kyte and Scott Rada talk about how we must do two things at once — try to somehow slow the warming while also being better prepared for the effects still to come.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
The clean energy future is arriving faster than you think, by David Gelles, Brad Plumer, Jim Tankersley and Jack Ewing, The New York Times
Young environmental activists prevail in first-of-its-kind climate change trial in Montana, by Matthew Brown and Amy Beth Hanson, The Associated Press
How climate change could cause a home insurance meltdown, by Michael Copley, Rebecca Hersher and Nathan Rott, National Public Radio
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 102: Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada are off this week, so we looked back though our show archives and are sharing four of our favorite ethical dilemmas from the past year.
Topics include in-flight etiquette, youth sports and when is the right time to call the police?
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Artificial intelligence and how we deploy it is likely the top ethical dilemma the world is facing, and recent actor and writers strikes in Hollywood have put the issue in a bright spotlight.
Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss how worried we should be about computers taking over more of what we watch and read, and whether live performances and sports will benefit.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
The Robot Did It: The biggest twist in the new mystery story “written” by artificial intelligence? It’s pretty good!, by Laura Miller, Slate
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 100: There are debates happening in all parts of our country about homelessness, and according to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, things have been getting worse.
Since 2017, homelessness has risen by 6 percent nationwide, and although nearly everyone wants to reverse this trend, there is little agreement about how to accomplish that.
Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss the causes that got us to this point, along with the policies that might help us reduce this trend.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
The root cause of the homelessness crisis, by Jerusalem Demsas, The Atlantic
The ethical dilemmas behind plans for involuntary treatment to target homelessness, mental illness and addiction, by Katherine Drabiak, The Conversation
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 99: We often hear people talk about the past in glowing ways. The people of the past, many think, behaved better, were more trustworthy and had a better set of ethical standards.
But you don’t have to look too closely at our history to see that past generations were much less welcoming of people who were different than them — often in pretty horrific ways.
Host Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss this disconnect between what we think about the past and what the past was really like.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
Your brain has tricked you Into thinking everything is worse, by Adam Mastroianni, The New York Times
Why it's harder for families to 'thrive,' by Matthew Yglesias, Slow Boring
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 98: There has been more talk recently about the importance of third places.
For those who are unfamiliar, the term was coined by author Ray Oldenburg in his book “The Great Good Place.”
First places, he writes, are where we live, and second places are where we work. The third place is somewhere where we want to be — and it’s often a place where we connect with others in the community.
Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada talk about why such places are so important and what can be done to make them more common.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
A record share of Americans is living alone, by Daniel de Visé, The Hill
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 97: Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada are off this week, so we looked back though our show archives and are sharing four of our favorite ethical dilemmas from the past year. Topics include local politics, DNA tests and gender identity.
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 96: If you follow local government, whether in big cities or small towns, you’ll undoubtably hear debates about parking. There is often little agreement about how to pay for parking, how much to require and where to put it.
The recent book by Henry Graber, “Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World,” is taking a critical look at our country’s obsession with parking.
The hosts discuss why such policies can hurt cities and often cause a lack of affordable housing.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
America has eight parking spaces for every car. Here’s how cities are rethinking that land, by Daniel Baldwin Hess and Jeffrey Rehler, Fast Company
Why the U.S. builds more three-car garages than one-bedroom apartments, by Connor Donevan, Christopher Intagliata and Juana Summers, National Public Radio
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 95: As we prepare to celebrate our nation’s 245th birthday, many Americans seem to have a distorted view of what it means to be patriotic or don’t consider themselves to be patriotic at all.
When asked, many people — of all political persuasions — say we’re doing so many things wrong in this country, we don’t have a reason to celebrate.
Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada talk about why patriotism is important and what steps we can take to bring back this important virtue.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
The necessity of patriotism (even in times like these), by David Brooks, The New York Times
How Americans view the American flag, and other symbolic flags, in 2022, Linley Sanders, YouGov
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omny.fm/listener for privacy information.
Episode 94: Diversity, equity and inclusion efforts have exploded on the scene in the past few years.
After the 2020 killing of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers, many companies and organizations decided it was time — perhaps past time — to confront racism and inequality head on.
This led to the creation of an entire industry, which critics have called the DEI Industrial Complex.
A recent article in The Atlantic by Conor Friedersdorf titled “The DEI industry needs to check its privilege,” examines the time and expense many organizations have devoted to this topic, which some say are at best useless and at worst counterproductive.
Host Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss the opportunities and pitfalls with DEI training in public and private workplaces.
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Someone in the world develops dementia every 3 seconds. There are over 55 million people worldwide living with dementia in 2020. This number will almost double every 20 years, reaching 78 million in 2030 and 139 million in 2050.
These statistics from Alzheimer’s Disease International are sobering, but few of us think much about how we can reduce our risk. A recent study shows that being socially active in mid to late life can cut the risk of dementia by as much as 30 to 50 percent.
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 92: The performers we see on stage, in film and on television are much more diverse than they were just a few decades ago. But this welcome change doesn’t mean there aren’t still many questions about casting choices.
Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss the ethics behind casting choices and whether color-blind casting makes sense when staging a performance.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
Our theater is fighting about diversity. Who is right?, by Kwame Anthony Appiah, The New York Times Magazine
Is color-blind casting In Regency-Era romances really progressive? Or just delusional?, by Nylah Burton, Refinery29
Suranne Jones shares her verdict on straight actors playing gay characters, by Tom Murray, The Independent
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 91: Nearly everyone, it seems, has a smartphone with them at all times.
It’s hard to overstate how truly incredible it is that we can carry around nearly all of the world’s knowledge in our pockets, but we shouldn’t be surprised that such devices can lead to distraction and sometimes addiction.
Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss whether our lives are actually better today because of the invention and pervasiveness of smartphones?
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
Cellphones are creating a generation of disengaged youth, by Richard Kyte
Surgeon general warns against social media use for children, calls for 'immediate action to protect kids now', by Barbara Ortutay, The Associated Press
Garth Brooks has a no-phone policy at his new Vegas show, by Scripps News
Young Dillon Reeves stepped in to save the day when his school bus driver became incapacitated following a medical emergency, Steve Hartman, CBS News
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 90: If you aren’t sure that nearly everything has become political, let’s talk for a moment about our yards. It used to be that some homeowners paid great attention to having a perfectly manicured lawn, while others took a much more casual approach.
But — pardon the pun — a growing trend across many cities is No Mow May, an initiative that encourages people to leave their lawns untouched so pollinators and other small critters can flourish. And those homeowners who have perfectly green and weed-free lawns now get the side-eye from many people who are worried about the environmental impact of perfectly manicured grass.
Host Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss whether this new trend is helpful or simply another thing to pull people apart.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
Lawn wars consume America's neighborhoods, by Jennifer A. Kingson, Axios
Gas-powered lawn care meets sharp blade of state, local laws, Ramsey Touchberry, The Washington Times
What is the anti-lawn movement? Expert opinions and how you can join in with the change, Chiana Dickson, Home & Gardens
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 89: It’s summertime, and for many families, that means it’s time to plan a vacation. But there are two important variables — where to go and how much to spend.
From budget roadtrips across Montana to costly trips to Walt Disney World, Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss why some getaways are worth the money. They also share some of their all-time favorite destinations.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
Family vacations can help build generational virtue, by Richard Kyte
21 best family vacations in the USA, by Nicola Wood, U.S. News and World Report
Down the Rabbit Hole: 18% of Disney Goers Have Racked Up Debt, But Most Have No Regrets, by Maggie Davis, Lending Tree
Parents choose vacations over saving for kid's college, by Elaheh Zozari, LearnVest
Frazee Turkey Days event page
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 85: A recent column by Charles Fain Lehman says our criminal justice system should do more to make us safe. He says we should increase spending for more police officers, a more efficient court system and better prisons would make us safer.
Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss which tactics prevent crimes from happening in the first place and whether the punishments we use properly deter criminals.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
Controversy in California: Should Crime be Punished, by Josh Barro
Stalled justice: Yearslong delays in Cook County murder cases break rules, gouge taxpayers, Chicago Tribune
Mayor Muriel Bowser budget proposal calls for repurposing camera ticket money, new task force to look at equity in fines, by Jordan Pascale, WAMU
What broken windows theory can teach us now, Henry Grabar, Slate
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 87: Americans have a distinct set of values that differs from citizens of most if not all other countries. But for those of us who have lived here all of our lives, we probably don’t think enough about those differences.
The University of Portland put together a list it calls American Values and Assumptions. The information for the list was adapted from Gary Althen's book “American Ways: A Guide for Foreigners in the United States.”
For today’s show, we’re going to take the list of seven values and see how they contribute — in both positive and negative ways — to the American experience.
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 86: In both sports and politics, we have winners and we have losers. What we don’t always have are gracious winners and losers.
There were two recent examples. There was much debate about the interaction between star basketball players Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark during the NCAA women’s championship. And after he lost by 11 points in the most expensive state supreme court race in U.S. history, Dan Kelley called his opponent a "serial liar" and her campaign "beneath contempt.”
Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss the importance of good sportsmanship and why, unlike in politics, sports almost always rewards the people with the most skill.
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Last week, ProPublica reported that Justice Clarence Thomas has for more than two decades accepted luxury trips from Republican mega donor Harlan Crow.
The day after the report, Thomas described Crow and his wife, Kathy, as "among our dearest friends," and said in a statement that he was advised by colleagues that "this sort of personal hospitality from close personal friends, who did not have business before the Court, was not reportable."
Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss how this news further erodes the trust many Americans have with the highest levels of government and what steps can be taken to help solve this crisis of confidence.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
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About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 84: What first looked like a pandemic blip for our nation’s colleges has turned into a crisis.
According to a recent story by Collin Binkley of The Associated Press, undergraduate college enrollment dropped 8% from 2019 to 2022, with declines even after returning to in-person classes. In fact, the enrollment drop rate since 2018 is the steepest on record.
Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss why college is the right fit for some students but also why higher education isn't the proper path for an increasing number of high school students.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
Valparaiso intends to sell Georgia O’Keeffe painting to fix dorms, by Kalia Richardson, The New York Times
Is college worth it? Voters are split, by Monica Pots, FiveThirtyEight
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 83: At its core, "woke" is a term that refers to being aware of social injustices and inequalities, particularly related to gender, race and ethnicity.
The word originated in African American Vernacular English in the 1940s, but it gained renewed popularity in the 2010s as a term used to describe a heightened awareness and understanding of systemic racism and social justice issues.
However, the term has also become a source of controversy and debate, with some criticizing it for being overused and losing its original meaning, while others embrace it as a powerful tool for promoting social change.
Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss how this movement has affected society and how our focus on the culture wars often drowns out more important issues facing Americans.
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 82: It was at this time three years ago when all of us learned a lot more about pandemics. As the coronavirus surged across the world, many felt overwhelmed with the avalanche of information about the virus. Each day, news reports showed an escalation of cases and more deaths.
We know a lot more about COVID today. And because of vaccines and previous infections, most people are much better protected. Although it can still be a deadly disease, it’s no longer affecting how most of us live our lives.
Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss the effectiveness of the messaging in the early days of the pandemic, why COVID further divided people and how leadership matters in times of a crisis.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
Pandemic 3 years later: Has the COVID-19 virus won?, by Carla K. Johnson, The Associated Press
A quarter of Americans distrust CDC recommendations, survey finds, Alexander Tin, CBS News
Coronavirus origins still a mystery 3 years into pandemic, by Laura Ungar and Mary Clare Jalonick, The Associated Press
Study: Parents admit to lying about child’s COVID status, by Angie Leventis, The Chicago Tribune
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 81: If, as some people believe, there has never been a better time to be living in America, why do so many people — especially young people — feel so depressed about their lives and their futures.
Hosts Rick Kyte and Scott Rada discuss this dichotomy and how catastrophizing plays a role in the lack of optimism many people feel about their lives.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
Why are young liberals so depressed?, by Matt Yglesias, Slow Boring
We’re missing a key driver of teen anxiety, by Derek Thompson, The Atlantic
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 80: America is aging, and that is putting the spotlight again on how much we spend on Medicare and Social Security, two popular programs that are not in great fiscal shape.
Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss possible fixes, along with what actually seems to be stopping us from addressing this problem.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
7 changes Americans are willing to make to fix Social Security — including one with "overwhelming bipartisan support," by Lorie Konish, CNBC
5 fixes that could help save Medicare, by Jackie Stewart, Kiplinger
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 79: Artificial intelligence has been one of the most talked about topics so far this year — and with good reason. In just the past two months, there has been a flood of news stories talking about the amazing possibilities of this new technology, along with plenty of worries about what this all could mean.
ChatGPT is at the center of this debate. This software, which was launched in November, is a natural language processing tool that can answer questions, write essays or even construct computer code.
AI has raised plenty of questions about ethics, and it seemed like an overwhelming topic for this podcast. So we deiced to ask ChatGPT this question:
"I am looking for topics for an upcoming podcast about ethics and AI. What topics should I cover?"
In seconds it provided a list of topics.
Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada take a critical look at the many ethical questions raised by AI, and whether the world is ready for this huge technological shift.
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 78: About 1 in 5 U.S. adults say they have personally bet money on sports in the past 12 months, and the changes in many states to loosen marijuana regulations have proved popular.
Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss these changes and how the four classical virtues —prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance — seem to be at risk.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
America has gone too far in legalizing vice, by Matthew Loftus, The Atlantic
As more states legalize the practice, 19% of U.S. adults say they have bet money on sports in the past year, by John Gramlich, Pew Research
Weed legalization supported by most U.S. voters, Morgan Paxhia, Kiplinger
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 77: Law enforcement officers and teachers are at the center of some of our country’s biggest political and policy debates.
Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss whether how the political polarization around these two professions is harmful and makes recruitment and retention of people in these fields difficult.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
Nurses retain top ethics rating in U.S., but below 2020 high, by Megan Brenan, Gallup
Poll finds confidence in police practices drops to a new low, Gary Langer, ABC News
Record-high 56% in U.S. perceive local crime has increased, by Megan Brenan, Gallup
‘A recipe for disaster.’ Deadly encounter in Memphis comes at a critical time in American policing, by Ray Sanchez, CNN
Education issues vault to top of the GOP's presidential race, Trip Gabriel, The New York Times
Organs in exchange for freedom? Bill raises ethical concerns, by Steve LeBlanc, The Associated Prss
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 76: Host Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss why rural voters have become more more Republican over the past 25 years and whether there's anything Democrats can do to reverse that trend.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
Can anything be done to assuage rural rage? by Paul Krugman, The New York Times
The politics of resentment: Rural consciousness in Wisconsin and the rise of Scott Walker, by Katherine J. Kramer
A boring and obvious way to get more rural votes, by Matt Yglesias, Slow Boring
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 75: Host Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss a recent study about happiness and whether the philosophy of the stoics can help us in our everyday lives.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
Key to happiness is learning to accept things as they are, by Richard Kyte
What the longest human happiness study found is the key to a good life, by Robert Waldinger and Marc Schulz, The Atlantic
The happiest, least stressful, most meaningful jobs in America, by Andrew Van Dam, The Washington Post
What is stoicism? A definition and nine stoic exercises to get you started, Daily Stoic
A 2,300-year-old philosophy stoicism has enjoyed a revival of late, especially in Silicon Valley, by John Metcalfe, The Washington Post
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 74: A recent column in the New York Times, in which a grandmother said she was losing sleep about her 9-year-old granddaughter walking home alone from school, caused quite an uproar on social media.
Host Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss how parents often wrongly evaluate risk and how a Japanese TV show builds up confidence in youngsters.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
Why "Old Enough" is the show you should be watching right now, by Cady Lang, Time
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 73: Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada talk about the reactions from fans and the media after the on-field cardiac arrest of Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
What makes Americans so crazy about football?, by Randall Balmer, Dartmouth College
The 10 most dangerous jobs in America, by OSHA
NFL culture shift on full display after Hamlin collapse, by Jeff Tracy, Axios
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 72: Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss a recent study by the IRS that finds 88 percent of Americans say it's not at all acceptable to cheat on their taxes, but yet only 44 percent think it is their personal responsibility to report anyone who refuses to pay what they owe.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
Don’t worry, the IRS isn’t hiring an ‘army’ of auditors — here’s what’s really happening, by Ryan Ermey, CNBC
Trump's returns shed light on tax offsets, foreign accounts, by Michael R. Sisak, Jill Colvin and Chris Rugaber, The Associated Press
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 71: This is the time of the year when many of us make resolutions, and becoming better organized and cutting down on clutter is on many people's lists.
Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada talk about why some people value tidiness, while others say a home filled with cherished items shows a life filled with meaning and memories.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
Clutter is good for you, by Rob Walker, The New York Times
In praise of unfinished basements, by Brady Brickner-Wood, The New York Times
The relationship between mental health and cleaning, by Sherri Gordon, Very Well Mind
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 70: Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada are joined by Chris Lay to — perhaps foolishly – make their prognostications for the new year.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
Movie theater stocks plummet after modest ‘Avatar 2’ opening weekend, by Brian Welk, Indie Wire
How unions are winning again, by Rani Molla, Vox
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, Chris Lay is Lee's podcast operations manager, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 69: Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada are joined this week by Chris Lay to review their prognostications about topics including vaccines, the Oscars and Donald Trump.
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, Chris Lay is the podcast operations manager for Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 68: Christmas is almost here, and many people are scurrying to find last-minute gifts. Hosts Rick Kyte and Scott Rada discuss whether money makes a good gift and if it's OK to try to instill your own values in what you choose to put under the tree.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
How to be the best damn gift giver you can be, by Graham Techler, Fatherly
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 67: The philosophical and social movement called effective altruism has received lots of attention over the past month after the collapse of the user-friendly crypto exchange FTX.
The founder of the failed company is Sam Bankman-Fried. He seems likely to face civil and/or criminal penalties for what appears to be at best mismanagement and at worst blatant corruption that caused the sudden failure of the exchange, along with the disappearance of billions of dollars.
But other than running FTX, Bankman-Fried was an evangelist for effective altruism, and many wonder whether his well-documented business failure puts the principals of this movement at risk, and whether the principles of the movement a benefit to society.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
The reluctant prophet of effective altruism, by Gideon Lewis-Kraus, The New Yorker
How Sam Bankman-Fried's fall exposes the failures of effective altruism, by Zeeshan Aleem, MSNBC
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 66: Each year, federal, state and local governments have to make important budget decisions. With so many people struggling to meet even their basic needs — such as food, shelter and health care — is it OK for public dollars to fund things that feel more optional, such as the arts, sports stadiums and even space travel?
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, Wikipedia
California voters approve Proposition 28 for music and arts education funding, by Mackenzie Mays, Los Angeles Times
Kansas City Royals confirm new stadium plans, by Makenzie Koch, Brian Dulle and Russell Colburn, WDAF-TV
SLS and Artemis warrant continued robust support, by U.S. Rep. Robert Aderholt, R-Alabama
NASA is returning to the Moon this week. Why do we feel so conflicted?, by Shannon Stirone, Leroy Chiao, Lori Garver and David Grinspoon, New York Times
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 65: Cancel culture has roared onto the scene in the past few years, much to the delight of some and to the dismay of many others. Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada talk about the importance of holding people accountable for their actions but also what can happen when we take that too far.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
Cancel culture comes from loss of trust, by Richard Kyte
NHL team yanks contract of a player who bullied a Black classmate with disabilities, by Bill Chappell, National Public Radio
A growing share of Americans are familiar with ‘cancel culture,’ by Emily A. Vogels, Pew Research Center
Why cancel culture is so toxic and how to effectively hold folks accountable, according to social media experts, by Alesandra Dubin, Insider
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 64: Each year at this time, there are lots of stories written about how to avoid having political fights around the Thanksgiving dinner table. But what if the debate is about what’s on the table instead?
Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss why the choices we make at supermarkets and restaurants send a strong ethical message.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
Inside the fantastical, pragmatic quest to make “hybrid” meat, by Kenny Torrella, Vox
Here’s exactly how your diet affects the planet, a landmark study finds, by Scott Dance, The Washington Post
We badly need better alternatives to conventional meat, Matthew Ygelsias, Slow Boring
Thanksgiving dinner will cost 20% more this year because of inflation. Here's what to expect, By Vanessa Yurkevic, CNN
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 63: A recent change means that Amy Dickinson’s advice column is appearing each day in all Lee Newspapers. Hosts Rick Kyte and Scott Rada discuss the history of advice columnists in newspapers, talk about how best to give advice when asked, and later they review some of Amy's columns and whether she gave the best possible answer.
Links to columns by Amy Dickinson discussed during the show:
- New nitpicking boss brings on new problems
- Science guy horrified when friends use found mushrooms in evening meal; later Amy wrote that she has second thoughts about that advice.
- Alcoholic nanny drinking on the job poses risks
- Parent pressures gay son to change
Richard Kyte: Good advice requires listening first
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
True crime is one Hollywood’s most successful genres. Most recently, Netflix aired a 10-part series about Jeffery Dahmer, the Milwaukee serial killer, and it was a huge hit. But many of those who were affected by that crime were upset they were consulted about the show and aren’t interested in watching it. The sister of one of Dahmer’s victim’s said it’s sad that the producers are making money off of the tragic events that happened more than three decades ago.
Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss why true crime is so popular and why such disturbing stories has such a strong appeal.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
A steady diet of horror is bad for society, by Richard Kyte, The Ethical Life
The ethics of true-crime TV: What Ron Goldman's sister wants "Dahmer" viewers to know, by Kristen Baldwin, Entertainment Weekly
eBay is removing Jeffrey Dahmer Halloween costumes, by Zoe Sottile, CNN
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Scott and Richard will be back next week with a fresh episode, but this week we're sharing an all treats, no tricks, holiday-themed dispatch that originally ran on October 13 last year:
Episode 23: Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss the lessons we can all learn from Halloween, why Thanksgiving is more than the just the day before Black Friday, and how families can strike a balance between the secular and religious traditions of Christmas.
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 60: After years of steady declines, crime rates have been trending upward over the past few years. And as the midterms approach, this topic is getting lots of attention, with many Republicans focusing on public safety as a prime appeal to voters. Rick Kyte and Scott Rada discuss several high-tech tactics designed to reduce crime and how to balance privacy concerns with public safety.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
The governor of New York says the installation of two cameras on each New York City subway car is supposed to giver commuters the sense that “Big Brother” is watching over them and to offer people “peace of mind.”
Stoplight cameras are not new, but some states are looking to expand them, while others are looking to ban them.
Congress is considering a bill limiting the use of facial-recognition to apprehend criminals.
Cities across Texas are deploying drones to fight crime.
In an article titled “The best way to end mass incarceration is to catch more criminals,” Matt Yglesias says mandatory collection of DNA for those who have been convicted of a felony is a great deterrent.
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 59: The new book by Richard Reeves, “Of Boys and Men: Why the Modern Male Is Struggling, Why It Matters, and What to Do about It” is getting a lot of attention. In it, the author, who is the father of three sons, writes:
“Boys and men are struggling. Profound economic and social changes of recent decades have many losing ground in the classroom, the workplace and in the family. While the lives of women have changed, the lives of many men have remained the same or even worsened.”
The hosts discuss how changes to education and other parts of society could help reverse this recent trend.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
We can no longer ignore struggling men and boys, by Richard Kyte
What’s behind the growing gap between men and women in college completion?, Kim Parker, Pew Research Center
The crisis of men and boys, by David Brooks, The New York Times
Men’s social circles are shrinking, by Daniel A. Cox, Survey Center of American Life
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 58: Last month, a task force recommended anxiety screenings for all adults, even those without symptoms. The hosts look at what's behind the spike in cases and why it seems to be affecting young adults most of all.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
With anxiety levels spiking, it's time to look at the cause, by Richard Kyte
Historical language records reveal a surge of cognitive distortions in recent decades, by Johan Bollen
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 57: As Republican governors ramp up their high-profile transports of migrants to Democratic-run jurisdictions, The Associated Press reports that the practice is getting a mixed reaction from Christian faith leaders — many of whom, especially evangelicals, have supported GOP candidates by large numbers in recent elections.
Hosts Rick Kyte and Scott Rada debate the causes of the crisis at the border and what can be done to help fix this long-term problem.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast
The Martha’s Vineyard migrant stunt Is making one truth about this country clear, by Farah Stockman, The New York Times
The border crisis could still be Biden’s opportunity, by Bret Stephens, The New York Times
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 56: Last month Abigail Weinberg interviewed Jessie Singer for Mother Jones magazine. They talked about a book Singer wrote earlier this year titled “There Are No Accidents: The Deadly Rise of Injury and Disaster — Who Profits and Who Pays the Price.
Hosts Rick Kyte and Scott Rada discuss how harm reduction can make the world a safer place.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
Unintentional injury in the U.S. statistics and facts, by Statista
A surge in vehicle crashes is disproportionately harming lower-income families and Black Americans, by David Leonhardt of the New York Times
Newsom vetoes bill proposing safe drug injection sites in California, by Cheri Mossburg, CNN
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 55: We are weeks away from elections that could affect control of Congress, along with the political futures of states across this nation. Some issues — such as differences on tax policy or school budgets — are relatively easy to discuss, but when the topic turns to the health of one of the candidates, things quickly get tricky.
Rick Kyte and Scott Rada discuss how much voters should know about the health of the candidates who appear on the ballot, and what’s the ethical way for a challenger to bring up the medical challenges facing an opponent?
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
John Fetterman has lingering speech issues after his stroke. What's the impact on his Senate run?, by Julia Terruso, The Philadelphia Inquirer
A worrying phone call adds to concerns about Sen. Dianne Feinstein's cognitive health, by Amina Kilpatrick, National Public Radio
Most Americans want maximum age limit for elected officials, WDAF-TV
A politician’s mental health is as crucial as a pilot’s. Why don’t we tend to it?, Ashley Weinberg, The Washington Post
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 54:Last month David Brooks of The New York Times wrote a column headlined “Why your social life is not what it should be.” Hosts Rick Kyte and Scott Rada discuss how technology, which is designed to bring people together, often keeps us apart.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
The Big Sort, by Bill Bishop
Seven key takeaways from Raj Chetty’s new research on friendship and economic mobility, by Richard V. Reeves and Coura Fall, The Brookings Institute
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 53: President Joe Biden said his administration plans to forgive up to $10,000 in federal student loan debt for anyone who earns less than $125,000 a year. People who went to college on Pell grants can have up to $20,000 forgiven. Hosts Rick Kyte and Scott Rada debate this significant and expensive policy, and what it means about fairness and the structural funding problems in higher education.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
The moral failure of student debt relief, by Richard Kyte, The Ethical Life
Analysis: Biden's student loan forgiveness may erase savings of climate, drugs law, by David Lawder, Reuters
Student loan cancellation: Congress proposes 0% interest rates for student loans, Zack Friedman, Forbes
Who owes the most in student loans: New data from the Fed, Sandy Baum and Adam Looney, Brookings Institute
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 52:Although the worst of the pandemic seems to be behind us, most people agree that remote work — at least for some employees — is here to stay. Rick Kyte and Scott Rada discuss the benefits and challenges associated with this fundamental change in how we do our jobs, along with some of the long-term consequences.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
Statistics on remote workers that will surprise you, by Apollo Technical
Study finds productivity not deterred by shift to remote work, by Roy Maurer, SHRM
The rise of the worker productivity score, by Jodi Kantor and Arya Sundaram, New York Times
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 51: Thousands of Americans die each year because the demand for organs far exceeds the supply. And we’ve all heard stories about hospitals in our communities struggling to get enough people to voluntarily donate blood. Hosts Scott Rada and Rick Kyte discuss what can and should be done to increase donations and save lives.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
Assessing global organ donation policies: Opt-in vs. opt-out, by the National Center for Biotechnology Information
Paid organ donation: The case against, by the National Center for Biotechnology Information
Ethical issues of transplanting organs from transgenic animals into human beings, by the National Center for Biotechnology Information
Why you get paid to donate plasma but not blood, by Elizabeth Preston, Stat
The United States surrogacy law map, by Creative Family Connections
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 50: To mark our 50th episode, hosts Rick Kyte and Scott Rada wanted to tackle a big and important topic, and few are bigger – and more polarizing – than religion.
The hosts – who have clearly different points of view – discuss the Bible, the existence of an afterlife and the effectiveness of prayer.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
Here’s why we shouldn’t give up on churches, by Rick Kyte
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 49: A recent poll found that small businesses are the most-respected institution in America today. And, according to the Better Business Bureau, if consumers spend $100 at a local business, roughly $68 stays within their local economy.
However, a column last year by Matthew Yglesias, points out that, unlike small businesses, larger companies look for more qualified candidates for leadership jobs instead of often relying on family members when hiring for top jobs.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
Pittsburgh Steelers legend Terry Bradshaw complains about Walmart in Illinois, by Zach Roth, State Journal-Register
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 48: Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss the recent protests aimed at Supreme Court justices and whether confronting them or other public officials in private spaces is appropriate.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
Tweet from ShutDownDC asking service workers to report sightings of Supreme Court justices
Pete Buttigieg shuts down Fox News on Kavanaugh protesters
Here's what we know about Wisconsin judge John Roemer and the Juneau County shooting, by the Wisconsin State Journal
Legislation to protect the home addresses of judges and other court officials, by the National Center for State Courts
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 47: Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss whether we have the right social structures in place to allow us to develop humility as a virtue and why we need to have our beliefs and behaviors routinely challenged by others.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
Humility is required for living a good life, by Richard Kyte
How do you know if you’re actually humble?, by Tyrone Sgambati, Greater Good Magazine
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 46: Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss a recent story by Derek Thompson of The Atlantic in which he outlines the four forces that are propelling the rising rates of depression among young people.
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 45: A few weeks ago, a Google engineer was placed on administrative leave after he said a chatbot created by his employer had achieved sentience. The company said its systems imitated conversational exchanges but did not have consciousness. It also said the employee violated its confidentiality policy.
The question about whether computers have a soul is still open to debate, but what’s clear is that they’re getting better each year and processing large amounts of data. Rick Kyte and Scott Rada discus how worried should we be about the future of artificial intelligence.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
A.I. is mastering language. Should we trust what it says?, by Steven Johnson, New York Times Magazine
Stephen Hawking warns artificial intelligence could end mankind, by Rory Cellan-Jones, BBC
AI could defeat all of us combined, by Holden Karnofsky
Are we living in a computer simulation? I don’t know. Probably., by Sean Illing, Vox
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 44: With recent polls showing most Americans aren’t happy with the direction of the country, Richard Kyte and Scott Rada debate how much of that is because of the the negative thrust of many of the news reports people see and share on social media.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
Why is all COVID news bad news?, by the National Bureau of Economic Research
The media is biased, but not in a way you think, by Eric Weiner
Is the economy actually bad, or does everyone just feel like it is?, by Emily Stuart, Vox
John Malone says WarnerMedia-Discovery getting rid of CNN would be the ‘coward’s way out’, by Matthew J. Belvedere, CNBC
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 43: Over the past few years, trans issues have gotten much more attention, especially with more children talking about and sometimes questioning their own gender.
In the episode, Richard Kyte and Scott Rada talk about why this topic is so polarizing for many Americans and ideas about how to think about acceptance and treatment.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
We need to do better at talking about gender identity, by Richard Kyte
The Battle Over Gender Therapy: More teenagers than ever are seeking transitions, but the medical community that treats them is deeply divided about why — and what to do to help them, by Emily Bazelon of The New York Times
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 42: In 2020, more than 45,000 people in the United States died from gun-related injuries, but the number of people who die each year from alcohol-related causes is more than twice that. Yet social media and cable news is not filled with debates about how to solve this problem.
Richard Kyte and Scott Rada talk about what can be done to address this problem that is underpinning much of the violence in America today.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
Alcohol facts and statistics, from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
Drunk driving fatality statistics, from responsibility,org
Alcohol consumption among adults in Europe, Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 41: Richard Kyte and Scott Rada talk about why so many gun owners feel like their voices are being drowned out by the extreme positions so many people take on this polarizing issue.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
What hunters say about guns might surprise you, by Richard Kyte
Poll finds parents are scared about gun violence in schools, and so are their school-aged children, by Fred Backus, Anthony Salvanto and Jennifer De Pinto, CBS News
The presidential candidate who shot and killed a girl when he was 12, by Justin Peters, Slate
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 40: According to a story in Fast Company, when the history of the COVID-19 pandemic is written, the disease’s economic and cultural impact will surely include the Great Resignation. Rick Kyte and Scott Rada look at the pros and cons of this recent trend, and they discuss why so many of those people changing jobs seem to have second thoughts.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
Mentors are important at every stage of life, by Rick Kyte
Why do so many Americans regret changing jobs, by Rick Kyte
Meet the typical Gen Z worker, who is quitting their job for a better one but probably regretting it later, by Hillary Hoffower, Insider
Quarter of US doctors in survey say they'll quit over COVID stress, by Madeleine List, McClatchy Washington Bureau
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 39: A recent poll found that, unsurprisingly, Americans say inflation is their No. 1 concern. Next on the list are worries about political extremism, crime and immigration. In this episode, Scott Rada and Rick Kyte discus why most voters seem to focus more on social issues rather than on policies that might fix the problems they care about the most.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
Why Dems ought to take a cue from the GOP and get angry, by Will Stancil, Politico
Explainer: White ‘replacement theory’ fuels racist attacks, by David Bauder, The Associated Press
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 38: Richard Kyte and Scott Rada debate whether we should be worried about the unprecedented breach of trust inside the nation’s highest court, or if this simply is ending the charade that our nation’s justices need to be cloaked in secrecy. Later, they discuss the similarities between Florida's so-called Don't-Say-Gay law and a high school football coach who wants to pray with his players. And in the third segment they talk about whether we should build a national COVID memorial.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
It’s about time someone punctured the Supreme Court’s veil of secrecy, by Jack Shafer, Politico
Slate Political Gabfest, with David Plotz, Emily Bazelon and John Dickerson
Why New York needs a COVID memorial, by the New York Times editorial board
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 37: Richard Kyte and Scott Rada talk about recent calls by former President Barack Obama for technology companies to better protect the public from polarizing falsehoods online and whether billionaire Elon Musk's plans for Twitter are helpful. Next, they discuss whether it's ethical to cancel all things Russian in the wake of that country's brutal attack on Ukraine. And in the third segment, they look at a recent study that shows why a company's culture is critical to keep its best employees.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
Obama says tech companies have made democracy more vulnerable, by Elizabeth Dwoskin and Eugene Scott of The Washington Post
Obama’s plans to fight disinformation are better than most, Casey Newton, Platformer
Reasonableness must be cultivated, not legislated, by Richard Kyte
'2020 changed everything': How misinformation of 2020 is shaping 2022 elections, by Amanda Seitz, The Associated Press
The profound irony of canceling everything Russian, by Kevin M.F. Platt, The New York Times
La Crosse City Council issues support for Ukraine, removes Russian flags from city facilities, by Olivia Herken, La Crosse Tribune
Here’s why the best workers leave companies, while the worst ones stay, by Jason Feifer
Office frustrations more likely to cause proactive employees to leave; less proactive employees will take it, by Tom Snee, the University of Iowa
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 36: Richard Kyte and Scott Rada talk about the recent case where a former nurse in Tennessee was convicted of two felonies and now faces eight years in prison for a fatal medication mistake. Next, they discuss how fear of others can seep into our consciousness, and how that can change the way we act. And in the third segment, they look at the ethical considerations that go into designing our infrastructure.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
Nurse convicted of neglect and negligent homicide for fatal drug error, by The Kaiser Family Foundation
Nurses nationwide quit nursing careers after RaDonda Vaught verdict, by Marissa Sulek of WSMV-TV
RaDonda Vaught verdict showed jurors didn't fully understand role of nurses, by Dr. Michael Brisman
By wary of everything, by Douglas Kane
To make safer streets, design them for drunk drivers, by Jessie Singer
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 35: Richard Kyte and Scott Rada talk about whether the behavior of close family members should affect how we think about our leaders. Next, they discuss potential changes to daylight saving time and why this issue is so important to so many people. And in the third segment, they look at why some sports fans don’t actually seem to like their favorite teams.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
Report: Justice Thomas' wife urged overturning 2020 election in texts to Trump chief of staff, by The Associated Press
Ethics experts see Ginni Thomas’s texts as a problem for Supreme Court, by The Washington Post
Hunter Biden, the protected third rail of journalism, Joe Concha, The Hill
U.S. Senate backs bill that would make daylight saving time permanent, by The Associated Press
I think I just solved daylight saving time, by Peter Coy of The New York Times
8 reasons to make daylight saving time permanent, by Jason Feifer
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 34: Richard Kyte and Scott Rada talk about why certain people seem to be able to be at their best in the worst of situations. Next they look at whether the liberal talking point that there’s no such thing as an ethical billionaire is true. And as the pandemic seems to be waning across America, they discuss how to balance forgetting the worst parts of the past two years while not ignoring the lessons we should all learn.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
An unlikely hero. We look at Volodymyr Zelenskyy's rise, by David Leonhardt of The New York Times
Ukraine's heroic Zelenskyy unites divided Americans against Putin, by Ewan Palmer, Newsweek
COVID has made global inequality much worse, by Joseph E. Stiglitz, Scientific American
Thorstein Veblen’s theory of the leisure class, by Rob Henderson, Quillette
We Will Forget Much of the Pandemic. That’s a Good Thing, by Dr. Scott Small, The New York Times
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 33: Richard Kyte and Scott Rada talk about why it matters how Ukrainians react to the violent incursion by Russia.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
How Much Will the West Sacrifice for Ukraine?, by Tom McTague, The Atlantic
On the theological ethics of assassinating Vladimir Putin, by Jeff Hood, Progressive Christian
Drain Putin’s brains, by Robert Zubrin, National Review
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 32: Richard Kyte and Scott Rada talk about the recent protests by tuckers in Canada and when and whether it’s OK to disrupt people’s everyday lives to get your voice heard. In the second segment they discuss the vacancy on the Supreme Court and whether President Joe Biden was right to narrow the list of potential nominees to just black women. And in the third segment, they look at recent efforts across the nation to ban certain books and who should decide what’s appropriate.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
The Ottawa trucker protests are a test of democracy, by The New York Times Editorial Board
Americans are divided on the Supreme Court and Biden’s handling of a new justice, by Ipsos
Senators spar over Biden’s pledge to pick Black woman for SCOTUS seat, by Politico
Biden quest for judicial diversity goes beyond race, gender, by The Associated Press
Book Ban Efforts Spread Across the U.S., by The New York Times
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 31: Richard Kyte and Scott Rada talk about Gallup's annual rankings of the honesty and ethics of various professions. In the second segment they discuss a recent column that says we should stop worrying about "the way things used to be.” And in the third segment, they look at what Americans like about their health care.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
Gallup: Military Brass, Judges Among Professions at New Image Lows, by Lydia Saad
Why you should stop worrying about 'the way things used to be,' by Jason Feifer
What Americans like about their health care, by Timothy Taylor
Do I Really Need a Toilet? And other questions you can’t believe you ask yourself when you’re looking for an apartment in New York, by Stephen Ruddy, The New York Times
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 30: Richard Kyte and Scott Rada talk about U.S. immigration policy and why this is one of the most polarizing issues in America today. Next they discuss whether automated traffic enforcement is a better way to keep people safe. And in the third segment, they look at why some people choose to be ignorant about what’s happening in their lives.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
US Chamber of Commerce CEO calls for doubling immigration into US, 'permanent solution' for DACA recipients, by Adam Shaw of Fox Business
Automate as much traffic enforcement as possible, by Matthew Yglesias
What we don't want to know, by Shayla Love of Vice
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 29: Richard Kyte and Scott Rada talk about the “Let’s Go Brandon” chant and what it says about us as a nation. Next they discuss UFOs and so why many people are obsessed with the question about whether we’re alone in the universe. And in our third segment, they look at a recent study that shows vaccine mandates might not be working as intended.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
"Three cheers for 'Let's Go Brandon," by Marc Thiessen, The Washington Post
"What we believe about UFOs," by Harry Reid, The New York Times
"See where 12 million U.S. employees are affected by government vaccine mandates," The New York Times
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 28: Richard Kyte and Scott Rada are joined by special guest Chris Lay to forecast what will happen in the near year. Topics include the future of vaccines, which film will win the Best Picture Oscar and the political future of Liz Cheney.
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis. Chris Lay is the podcast operations manager for Lee Enterprises and host of an entertainment podcast.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 27: Richard Kyte and Scott Rada talk about the pros and cons of the consumer society in which we live and what’s the right ethical way to proceed as we quickly approach Christmas. Next they discuss the fallout from the terrible tragedy that left six people dead and many more injured in a holiday parade in Wisconsin. And in the third segment, they look at the recent firing of Chris Cuomo from CNN and whether he was right to put his family before his job.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
Why Americans buy so much stuff: A short history, by NPR
Wisconsin Republicans urge removal of DA over parade deaths, by The Associated Press
Suspect in Waukesha parade carnage says he feels "demonized," by The Associated Press
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 26: Richard Kyte and Scott Rada talk about the unpredictable nature of the pandemic and whether our lives will return to normal anytime soon. Next they discuss the Kyle Rittenhouse verdict and how moral outrage often ignores the law. And in the third segment, they look at a recent survey that asked young people in 21 countries about their futures.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
The Lionization of Kyle Rittenhouse by the right, by Meredith McGraw of Politico
Where Are Young People Most Optimistic? In Poorer Nations. by Claire Cain Miller and Alicia Parlapiano of the New York Times
The Changing Childhood Project survey by UNICEF
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 25: Richard Kyte and Scott Rada talk about the reaction to a high school football game where the 106-0 score ignited a debate about sportsmanship. Companies are buying up single-family houses in cities across the country, and in the second segment they look at how this might put home ownership further out of reach. And in the third segment, they discuss campaign yard signs and how or whether they contribute to our political discourse.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
High school apologizes after California football team won game 106-0, by Lauren M. Johnson of CNN
Inglewood High players defend their 106-0 win over Morningside amid criticism, by Luca Evans of the Los Angeles Times
How corporations are buying up houses — robbing families of the American Dream, by Larry Getlen of the New York Post
Ciattarelli Dominated in New Jersey. When It Came to Lawn Signs, by Peter Coy of The New York Times
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 24: Richard Kyte and Scott Rada debate what responsibility Facebook has to control the content we see in our news feeds. In the second segment, they look at the continued struggles companies face in trying to fill open positions and whether this is a true turning point in how Americans view work. And in the third segment, they talk about whether parents should be able to exert genetic control over their offspring.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
Facebook should stop pretending it has such high standards, by Matthew Yglesias
Where are the workers? Cutoff of jobless aid spurs no influx, by Christopher Rugaber and Casey Smith, The Associated Press and Report for America
Polygenic screening of embryos is here, but is it ethical?, by Phillip Ball of The Guardian
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 23: Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss the lessons we can all learn from Halloween, why Thanksgiving is more than the just the day before Black Friday, and how families can strike a balance between the secular and religious traditions of Christmas.
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 22: Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss what's behind the huge spike in the murder rate last year. In the second segment, they debate what’s getting in the way of building more affordable housing. And in the third segment, they talk about what if anything can still be done to change the minds of those who refuse to get vaccinated.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Will Bunch thinks Americans have a problem with unchecked rage.
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle reports that a major housing development in Brooklyn was derailed because a nearby community garden would not get enough sunlight.
Tech writer David Pogue asked in a recent tweet whether a website that collects the names and photos of vocal anti-vaxxers who then died of COVID is unnecessarily cruel, or a useful reminder to anyone on the fence?
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 21: Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss what's behind the anger and mayhem at many local governmental meetings in response to mask mandates. Next they talk about the troubling trend of more young men choosing not to attend college. And in the third segment, they debate whether students should be allowed to decide whether they need a mental health day away from school.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
New York Times columnist Michelle Cottle writes about how many school board meetings are out of control.
The Wall Street Journal reports that many young men are abandoning higher education.
The New York Times says some states are now allowing K-12 students to declare a mental health day.
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 20: Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss the moral responsibility we have to the people of Afghanistan after 20 years of war in their county. Next they talk about whether it’s appropriate to treat those who have been vaccinated from COVID differently than those who have chosen to get the shot. And in the third segment, they debate the ethics of gambling, which continues to see a rapid expansion across the country.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
According to Axios, the Afghan refugee crisis is about to get much worse.
A story by The Dispatch says many of the people who live near Fort McCoy, one of the resettlement sites for Afghan refugees, have a message of obligation and compassion.
Adam Rogers writes in Wired Magazine about a discussion among some Texas health care workers about whether it’s ethical to treat those who have been vaccinated first.
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 19: Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss the recent report about the climate and what actions we can take to possibly avoid a catastrophe. Next, they talk about the compassion fatigue many health care providers are feeling as COVID cases spike yet again. And in the third segment, they debate whether homeowners hold opinions that are hurting the availability of affordable housing.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
An analysis of the 3,500-page climate report by CNN.
A column by Matt Yglesias about how ending poverty for millions is the biggest driver of climate change.
A BBC report about radical solutions to climate change.
An Atlantic story about compassion fatigue by health care providers.
A story by Vox that says homeownership can bring out the worst in people.
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 18: Richard Kyte and Scott Rada talk about the recent spike in COVID cases and what more can be done to increase the number of people getting the vaccine. Also discussed is how the pandemic has contributed to job burnout among so many workers.
The third segment looks at the unexpected withdrawal last week of Olympic gymnast Simone Biles and why this – like so many things in our lives – quickly turned into such a polarizing debate.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast: A recent Vox article says we should mandate vaccines, not masks. Does this go too far? Are such mandates better handled by private companies? Why is the FDA seemingly slow to fully approve the vaccine, and how much of a difference would full approval actually make? According to a recent report by ABC News, burnout in the American workforce, which surveys indicate was a widespread problem even before the pandemic, is an issue that employers and managers can no longer afford to ignore. A column by James Boyd, who covers University of Illinois athletics for Lee Enterprises, says Biles is not a 'quitter,' and she doesn't owe her fans or her country anything.
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 17: Richard Kyte and Scott Rada talk about the recent trips to space by Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos. Are those expensive excursions an exciting way to show the promise of space tourism or are they simply vanity projects that ignore the more pressing needs back on Earth?
The hosts also debate whether teens should be able to get vaccinated without their parents’ consent, and they discuss a recent study that shows how Americans have lost confidence in big institutions.
John Thoe: Climate crisis: Ethics of space tourism
Dr. Larissa Morgan:COVID-19 Vaccination of Minors Without Parental Consent
Axios:Massive trust gap splits America
Gallup:Americans' confidence in major U.S. institutions dips
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 16: Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss how advances in technology during the past 25 years have benefited us, the often unintended costs of these efficiencies and what the next 25 years might look like.
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 15: Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss a widely shared meme on social media titled "7 Rules of Life." Is this list useful, and does the advice offer a path to living an ethical life.
Here are the rules:
Rule 1: Make peace with your past so it won’t screw up the present.
Rule 2: What others think of you is none of your business.
Rule 3: Time heals almost everything. Give it time.
Rule 4: Don’t compare your life to others and don’t judge them. You have no idea what their journey is about.
Rule 5: Stop thinking too much, it’s alright to not know the answers. They will come to you when you least expect it.
Rule 6: No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
Rule 7: Smile. You don’t own all the problems in the world.
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 14: First Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss why so many employers are having such a tough time filling their job openings and whether the extra federal jobless benefits are part of the reason. Next, they take a closer look at where we’re at with loosening COVID restrictions and whether vaccines are being used where the need is the greatest. And in the third segment, they try to determine whether the internet has made us meaner.
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Scott Rada and Richard Kyte predict what people 50 years from now will think of our society today. Later, they talk about the role luck plays in our lives. And, because this is our 13th episode, they'll look at the belief in superstitions, and why people often rely on the supernatural rather than logic.
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
In the wake of the conviction this week of Derek Chauvin, Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss what work still needs to be done to make interactions with police safer. Later, we'll look at the debate – both ethical and medical – about the FDA’s decision to pause the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. And with graduation season nearly here, we’ll talk about what advice we should be giving young adults as they head out into the world.
Here are links to material mentioned in the podcast: 99 Percent Invisible had a story about how emergency medical transport was once a role filled by police officers, and how we learned to hand off that responsibility to people who were better equipped to handle those situations. A story by NPR quotes author and law professor Paul Butler. He says he has his students do a ride-a-long with a police officer who invites the students to play a game the officer calls “Pick That Car.” Last year, an episode of the podcast Hi-Phi Nation looked at the history of traffic enforcement in America. A column from 2016 by Dick Meyer that says we're giving graduates the wrong advice.
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
With America's attention yet again on gun violence, Scott Rada and Richard Kyte talk how their different life experiences frame how they each look at the issue of firearm safety and why guns are such a cultural symbol for so many people. Also discussed is a column Richard wrote in 2011 about how rural and urban people view this issue so differently.
Later in the episode, Scott and Richard discuss a poll released just before Easter that shows that for the first time a majority of Americans say they no longer belong to a particular church.
Finally, we tackle two ethical dilemmas, one about whether politics belong in professional sports and the other about how to deal with a lousy boss.
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Topics include whether you should teach children that police officers are their friends, how much to reveal when selling a used car and if telling people with Alzheimer's disease the whole truth is always appropriate.
What we’ve been reading
Rick:Boeing 737 Max cleared to fly again 'too early,’ by Theo Leggett of BBC News
Scott:How ‘Owning the Libs’ Became the GOP’s Core Belief, by Derek Robertson of Politico
About the hosts
Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
On the ninth episode of “The Ethical Life," Richard Kyte and Scott Rada focus on the risks people face -- some real and some overblown -- and why people react the way they do.
First we’ll discuss how to understand the changing guidelines around COVID-19 and how people can hear the same advice but react so differently.
Then we’ll discuss the major threats we often hear about – from national disasters, to terrorism to climate change – and how we can try to not feel overwhelmed by worry and actually lessen their future impacts.
And, in the third segment, we’ll bring the talk about risk much closer to home and look at how parents have become much more protective of their children and what drove those changes over the past few generations.
Stories mentioned in the podcast
Zero COVID risk is the wrong standard, by Jonathan Chait, New York magazine
Protecting America against catastrophe, by Felix Salmon, Axios
Idaho introduces ‘free-range parenting’ bill, by Katherine Martinko, Tree Hugger
What we’ve been reading
Rick: Results of the Campus Expression Survey
Scott: America Is Not Made for People Who Pee, by Nicholas Kristof, an opinion writer with the New York Times
About the hosts
Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
On the eighth episode of “The Ethical Life," Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss the proposal to forgive student loan debt and whether that’s an equitable idea, if boycotts are in effective tactic to get companies to change their policies and why we should consider increasing the pay of our politicians to get a better slate of candidates.
What we’ve been reading
Rick: El Paso Heeded the Warnings and Avoided a Winter Catastrophe, by Sierra Juarez of Texas monthly
Scott: The Boredom Economy, by Sydney Ember of the New York Times
About the hosts
Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
On the seventh episode of “The Ethical Life," Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss the push in many states to legalize marijuana, whether news stories about relatively minor crimes should stay online forever, and which tactics work best when dealing with unreasonable people.
Here are some of the stories referenced in today’s show:
At the Boston Globe, the “Fresh Start” initiative is part of a broader effort to rethink the Globe’s criminal justice coverage and how it affects communities of color, amid a national reckoning over racial inequity.
Adam Grant, an organizational psychologist, had a column in The New York Times last week titled “The Science of Reasoning With Unreasonable People,” and in it he says to not try to change someone else’s mind. Instead, help them find their own motivation to change.
What we’ve been reading:
Richard: 'This is not justice.' Tenant activists upend U.S. eviction courts, by Michelle Conlin of Reuters
Scott: Hygiene Theater Is Still a Huge Waste of Time, by Darren Thompson at The Atlantic
About the hosts
Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
On the sixth episode of “The Ethical Life,” Richard Kyte and Scott Rada are joined by Dr. Jim Bailey to talk about the coronavirus vaccines.
Topics discussed include:
With more than 400,000 Americans having died from the disease and millions more infected, could public health officials been even more aggressive in vaccine development? The Moderna vaccine, for example, existed in its current form in February, but we refused to use challenge trials – that’s the process where we intentionally expose people to the virus – to see how well vaccines work.
Have we struck the proper ethical balance between freedom and public health?
Will this pandemic result in more respect – and more funding – for our public health infrastructure?
Why does COVID-19 put certain communities – especially those with lower incomes -- more at risk than others? And should we target those groups with vaccines first?
When will the vaccine supply in the United States outstrip demand?
Should venues be able to require proof of vaccination before people enter? Should there be a national vaccine registry?
What have we learned during this pandemic that will help be better prepared for the next one?
What we’ve been reading.
Richard's pick: Mega-rich recoup COVID-losses in record-time yet billions will live in poverty for at least a decade
Scott’s pick: Trump Wants Back on Facebook. This Star-Studded Jury Might Let Him.
About the guest:
Dr. Jim Bailey serves as the Robert S. Pearce endowed chair in internal medicine, professor of medicine and preventive medicine, and director for the Center for Health Systems Improvement at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. He is also part of a study funded by the National Institute for Health to look at how COVID-19 is disproportionately affecting disadvantaged communities.
About the hosts:
Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
On the fifth episode of “The Ethical Life,” Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss the fallout one week after the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
Topics discussed include:
False information and conspiracy theories were to blame, but what can be done – in both the short and long term – to reduce the chances of violent uprisings like this from happening again?
Would the Republican Party be in a stronger place today had Hillary Clinton defeated Donald Trump in 2016, and is the GOP now at risk of splitting in two?
Many of our elected leaders say this mayhem is not who we are as a country – but is that necessarily true?
Social media was filled with people comparing the violence at the Capitol with the protests around racial justice earlier this summer. Are there any similarities between the two?
Has isolation because of COVID-19 pushed us into an even more polarized society, and can prosperity be dangerous because we don’t have a common enemy to bring us together?
Was it right for CEOs of big companies – often in the tech world – to fill the vacuum of leadership at this key moment? And how do we moderate free speech when provocative speech often gets the most attention.
What we’ve been reading.
Richard's pick: American Airlines is grounding emotional-support animals
Scott's pick: Gene Weingarten: Your call is unimportant to us
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
On the fourth episode of “The Ethical Life,” Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss why trust is lacking in our society, both with our elected leaders and with each other, and why kindness might be the most important political virtue.
We explore why the citizens of Flint, Mich., still are wary of drinking the water, even though officials says it’s finally safe, how needlessly regulating things such as frozen cherry pies make people skeptical of the role of government in our lives, and why journalism is important to keep people informed and to shine a light on corruption.
In addition, we talk about whether the right people are getting the COVID-19 vaccines first, and if politicians should be at the front of the line?
We also discuss a recent study that found adding context to controversial monuments does little to change people’s minds and the role confirmation bias plays in how we understand our past.
A recent article demonstrates the importance of ethics in hospitals, when the number of people needing care exceeds the amount of care that can be provided.
On a lighter note, we talk about the recent push by Florida officials to promote the eating of python meat as a way to control this invasive species.
And stealing a page from another podcast, we discuss three conundrums of modern life.
Here are links to the articles mentioned in the podcast.
Flint Has Clean Water Now. Why Won’t People Drink It?, by Derek Roberts of Politico >> https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/12/23/flint-water-crisis-2020-post-coronavirus-america-445459
The Trump administration’s latest deregulation target: Frozen cherry pie, by Emily Heil of The Washington Post >> https://www.washingtonpost.com/food/2020/12/18/deregulate-frozen-cherry-pie/
Only Seven of Stanford’s First 5,000 Vaccines Were Designated for Medical Residents, by Caroline Chen of ProPublica >> https://www.propublica.org/article/only-seven-of-stanfords-first-5-000-vaccines-were-designated-for-medical-residents
Why Just ‘Adding Context’ to Controversial Monuments May Not Change Minds, by Erin Thompson of Smithsonian Magazine >> https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/why-just-adding-context-controversial-monument-may-not-change-minds-180976583/
Snake and eggs for breakfast? Florida may soon encourage you to eat invasive pythons, by Chris Jenkins of the South Florida Sun Sentinel >> https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/florida/fl-ne-florida-encourages-eating-pythons-20201209-tvykcdh35bgtvfuv7vvxm4iy6q-story.html
Slate Political Gabfest >> https://slate.com/podcasts/political-gabfest
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
On the third episode of “The Ethical Life,” Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss the rollout of the coronavirus vaccine and ask whether the scientific process could have been sped up even faster.
We also discuss who should get the vaccine first, and whether prisoners should be at the front of the line.
In addition, we look at the tactics used to discourage smoking decades ago and wonder whether a similarly graphic and shocking message should have been used to show the horrors of COVID-19.
There’s also a quick detour about whether holidays are in the proper place on our calendars.
We get an update on monarch butterflies and the endangered species list.
And finally we discuss a recent study that shows how the people we spend our time with changes as we age.
Here’s a the links to the stories we discussed on today’s episode.
We had the vaccine the whole time >> https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/12/moderna-covid-19-vaccine-design.html
Here's why inmates should get vaccinated against COVID-19 before the rest of us >> https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/policing/2020/12/11/heres-why-inmates-should-get-covid-19-vaccine-before-rest-us-column/3871449001/
It's time to scare people about COVID >>https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/07/opinion/covid-public-health-messaging.html
Feds to delay seeking legal protection for monarch butterfly >>https://www.stltoday.com/news/science/feds-to-delay-seeking-legal-protection-for-monarch-butterfly/article_11ebf4a7-0901-5968-9428-abf9f864bcd4.html
Who do we spend time with across our lifetime? >> https://ourworldindata.org/time-with-others-lifetime
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
On the second episode of “The Ethical Life” podcast, Scott Rada and Richard Kyte discuss a wide range of issues, including: Are people expressing relief now that the presidential election is over? What can we learn from a feuding family in a hospital waiting room? Can shaming someone for not wearing a mask inside a busy supermarket be a useful tactic? Will vaccines be the next big political fight? What does the story of Santa Claus say about us?
Here are the links to some of the stories referenced in this episode:
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson: Don't worry kids, COVID won't stop Father Christmas, by Reuters >> https://www.reuters.com/article/britain-politics-johnson/uk-pm-johnson-dont-worry-kids-covid-wont-stop-father-christmas-idUSKBN2851HP
Staff at Jordan Peterson's publisher protest new book plans, by Allison Flood at The Guardian >> https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/nov/25/staff-at-jordan-petersons-publisher-protest-new-book-plans
‘Time For My Flag to Go Up’: How Anti-Trumpers Are Reclaiming the American Flag, by Joanna Weiss for Politico >> https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/11/29/politics-capture-the-us-flag-trump-maga-symbol-440374
Richard Kyte's 2018 column about Colin Kaepernick >> https://lacrossetribune.com/opinion/columnists/richard-kyte-are-we-teaching-citizenship/article_08b1382b-130e-55d0-9ed5-2ae19d4308d1.html
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
In the premiere episode of "The Ethical Life," Scott Rada and Richard Kyte discuss why ethics are important, especially in such a polarized country. Topics discussed include confirmation bias, the role social media plays in how we consume information and the important questions we need to ask each other to hopefully get at the truth.
Also discussed are many people's mistrust of long-standing institutions, how the people in the "messy middle" of the political spectrum can wield more power and the perils of dalmatian racing.
Here are links to stories mentioned in the show:
In 2018, Floridians voted overwhelmingly to end greyhound racing, a sport they were told was archaic and inhumane. What if they were wrong?:https://longreads.com/2020/10/29/shades-of-grey/
Scientists find and destroy giant murder hornet nest in Washington State:https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2020/11/12/murder-hornets-queens-washington
When falling behind on rent leads to jail time:https://www.propublica.org/article/when-falling-behind-on-rent-leads-to-jail-time
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.