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The AIH Transcript for February 12, 2020

Hosts: Carol Off and Chris Howden

Prologue

CAROL OFF: Hello, I'm Carol Off.

CHRIS HOWDEN: Good evening. I'm Chris Howden. This is As It Happens.

[Music: Theme]

CH: Tonight...

CO: Nowhere to run to. Thousands are fleeing violence in Syria's Idlib province, but Turkey has closed its border to them. And our guest, a doctor who's trying to help, says they're living out in the cold.

CH: Malign intervention. Federal prosecutors wanted to lock Roger Stone away for years, but the US Justice Department stepped in, instead proposing a lighter sentence for the US president's friend -- our guest says it's a dark day for justice.

CO: Unflinching. That's how Christie Blatchford's fans and even her detractors are remembering the award-winning Canadian columnist. A colleague and friend reflects on the straight shooting honesty of her crime reporting.

CH: Saving paper. When he hears California's oldest weekly newspaper was about to shut down, a retired tech worker steps in to restart the presses.

CO: A plain old birthday. To celebrate turning 100. A Calgary woman decided to leap out of an airplane in California.

CH: And a new study finds confusing jargon makes people lose interest in science stories and in science altogether. As It Happens. The Wednesday Edition. Radio that knows it's all too easy to become baffled by bafflegab.

[Music: Theme]

Part 1: 'No place to go': Syrian doctor says more than 700,000 Idlib residents stranded

Idlib: latest

Guest: Mohamad Abrash

CH: In the nine years since the Syrian war began, the United Nations says it's never seen a refugee exodus like this one. Since December, more than 700,000 civilians have fled the Syrian regime's offensive in the rebel-held province of Idlib. With the Turkish border closed and the temperature frigid, the UN is warning that the region is on the brink of a major humanitarian catastrophe. And it has not helped that the Turkish forces in the province are engaged in a fresh offensive against the Syrian army. Dr. Mohamad Abrash is a surgeon in Idlib City, which is surrounded by fighting. He was just in the city yesterday and is returning tomorrow. Today we reached him in Reyhanli, Turkey, at the Syrian border.

CO: Dr. Abrash, every time we speak with you, the situation in Idlib has been worse. And now we're told that it's the most desperate there that we have seen since the war began. Can you describe what you have seen in Italy?

MOHAMAD ABRASH: Yeah. It's really as you told. The situation, became worse and worse day by day. Regarding the medical side we only still have two hospital inside Idlib City. Also, the people are feeling fear because the regime is nearby maybe seven-kilometer or 10-kilometers far from Idlib City. And the regime, it is trying to make some function around Idlib city. And the people, they don't know what to do, where to go, where to stay, because all the people from Murak till Idlib or other areas where firstly displaced all those people.

CO: But what's clear to them is that they can't stay where they are. They can't stay home. They have to get out.

MA: Yeah. They have to leave their homes. The most thing that they can take -- the valuable thing they can take it with them. And they are facing difficulties in traveling also because they don't have enough money, there are not enough cars. And the road is only one main road. There is too much crowded -- there was too much crowded. Also, they have accidents during this displacement also. And the weather is very bad. It was snowing this morning also. No heating. No electricity. No food.

CO: A lot of these people, if not most of them, are women and children. So where are they sleeping at night?

MA: They are sleeping under the tent. If they find any building, they will stay more than 20-30 people inside one room. Actually, somebody is sleeping and somebody still awake, till he will finish his sleeping. The other one, he's sleeping. I have my relatives, more than 20 people, they are living in one house only. And they are facing difficulty in taking toilet. There is no enough water. Really, the situation is very very bad.

CO: We're talking now about 700,000 civilians who just since these past two months who have been on the move. Where are they trying to get to? Where can they possibly go at this point that's safe?

MA: Most of them, they are traveling to the Turkish border. And most of them, they are trying to cross the border. Turkish soldiers, they are protecting their border and they are shooting the people who's trying to jump over the wall.

CO: Turkey has closed its border and is not allowing any more of the refugees in.

MA: Yes, it's closed and no more refugees. There is some illegal ways. They are trying to go through mediators. Somebody is paying too much money.

CO: Can you describe the actual military offensive that is taking place right now in Idlib?

MA: Actually, it is very horrible. I was in Idlib. And we are hearing bombing. Our hospital is shaking -- we cannot give our best medical treatment to the injured civilian because each time we are feeling that we will be targeted.

CO: What effect does that have on the children?

MA: The children, they have psychological problems. When they are hearing this bombing or hearing the jet sound, they are urinating on themselves, really. And they start crying and they start escaping to their mothers and they stay with them. Help us. Help us. We are going to die. Really something horrible. You cannot imagine the situation for the children.

CO: I was reading one particular story about a mother who is alone. She has five children. The reporter found her putting mats down on the ground to sleep for the night. That's the only place she had to go. Are you seeing that where people are, as they move, they have no place to go?

MA: If you can go -- if you travel from Idlib to Bab al-Hawa, through this road you will see many tents on the right side and the left side of the road. Some families, they are staying under the trees and the temperature is -2 last day.

CO: The times we have spoken with you before, it's the same situation where the international community is needed. They need someone to come in and try and stop this, to have ceasefires, to bring peace, to end this war. Each time no one takes up that challenge or doesn't succeed. The United States says it doesn't even want to get involved anymore. What hope do you have that there are any players outside of the region who are going to try and bring this to an end, at least get a cease fire in the region so people can stop being on the move?

MA: I think United Nations, they don't need any documents because they know everything. They have their reporters inside Syria. And they know everything. I think they don't need this war to be end. This is our feeling inside Syria. They are just watching this film. Keeping the Syrians -- and Turkey to fight. I think they need to make Turkey un-involved in this war. And then they will start to tell now we will go inside and solve this problem and they will solve it according to their rules. Since long time, they are failing to protect us, solve this problem. The problem in the regime, if you stop the regime everything will be stopped. And nobody is listening to us.

CO: So you think that the international community has its own interests and they're allowing those interests to carry on with no concern for the civilians who are caught in between?

MA: Yes. Yes. They are not concerned about civilians at all.

CO: Just now, you are heading back to Idlib City tomorrow. What do you think you're going to encounter there and your travels back?

MA: Of course, we will face some difficulties. And I hope I can stay safe because nowadays we lost the future. We are leaving early day by day. So tomorrow, we'll see what will happen.

CO: Why do you have to go back? Why is it so necessary for you to do that?

MA: I have my duty there. I am the surgeon inside the hospital in Idlib. If any injured, civilian injured came to the hospital, nobody can deal with him.

CO: Dr. Abrash I wish you safe travels and I really appreciate speaking with you tonight. Thank you.

MA: Thank you very much. Thank you.

CH: Dr. Mohamad Abrash is a surgeon in Idlib City. We reached him in Reyhanli, Turkey, at the Syrian border. And for more on this story, go to our website: cbc.ca/aih.

[Music]

Roger Stone sentencing

Guest: Jennifer Rodgers

CH: By this point, it's almost redundant to say Roger Stone is at the center of a controversy. But he is again. Last year, the former campaign advisor and friend of US President Donald Trump was convicted on charges, including lying to Congress and witness tampering. This week, prosecutors recommended he serve seven to nine years for those crimes. But now four prosecutors have quit the case after the Justice Department stepped in and recommended less time behind bars for Mr. Stone. Which has people questioning the Justice Department's independence from the White House. Jennifer Rodgers is a former federal prosecutor, a lecturer in law at Columbia University and a CNN legal analyst. We reached her near Jackson, Wyoming.

CO: Mr. Rodgers, what message do you think these four prosecutors are sending by quitting the case?

JENNIFER RODGERS: Well, I think they're trying to let everybody know that this is a really dangerous thing that's happening at the Department of Justice, and it's something that they don't want to be any part of.

CO: Have you seen this happen before? Have you seen where the Justice Department intervenes in sentencing like this in the past?

JR: We have never seen this happen before. You know, policy changes are one thing. I mean, presidents and attorney generals make policy all the time. You know, you change a policy that applies to everybody, right? That's what's done. That's normal. That's okay. It's the intervention in an individual case. And in this particular case, for the president and then Attorney General Barr to intervene in Roger Stone's case when his crime was actually about manipulating the election -- I mean, it's almost so bad that you couldn't even imagine that it could be done. And yet here we are.

CO: And his case was probably the most high profile of the prosecutions that came out of what was known as the Mueller investigation, the Mueller inquiry, where he was investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election. Is that right?

JR: Certainly one of them. The other two really highest profile ones were the Paul Manafort prosecution and the Michael Flynn prosecution. And, you know, notably, the president has also tried to intervene in both of those cases as well. Michael Flynn hasn't even been sentenced yet. And another unsettling thing we've seen is the Department of Justice seemingly changed gears with respect to his sentencing too. So, you know, in all of those cases we've seen for the president trying to influence what's happening, and we're not even yet at the point where he may be pardoning them. So, you know, all of these big prosecutions coming out of the Mueller investigation have been the subject of presidential interference unfortunately.

CO: The Justice Department says they did not discuss this with anyone at the White House before. The decision was made to demand a different sentence or to submit a different sentencing request. So what's the evidence that Donald Trump actually did -- we know he tweeted about it -- but what's the evidence actually that led to this change?

JR: Well, if I were doing this case, right, if I were prosecuting this case, what I would tell the jury is look at the timing. You have a set of career prosecutors who unquestionably made their sentencing recommendations in consultation with their supervisors. That brief goes in. President tweets. And immediately, less than a day later, the Department of Justice is shifting gears and saying, 'oh, okay, wait now -- no, we don't like that. We think that's too high. We're going to recommend something else.' I mean, that series of events screams out for the conclusion that it was the president's tweet that caused them to change gears there.

CO: And what was the initial tweet do you think?

JR: Well, he tweeted, you know, just that it's too unfair. You know, seven to nine years, how outrageous. Then I don't know if it is in that same tweet or later tweet, he starts talking about other people who should be prosecuted instead frankly, having absolutely nothing to do with that case or any pending criminal case.

CO: Is it possible that it is justified to describe the sentence or this recommended sentence of seven to nine years for Roger Stone, that it is unfair? That he is an older person. He lacks a criminal history. He has health issues. Isn't it a rather harsh sentence?

JR: It could be. I do think reasonable minds could differ on whether this is the right sentence or not. You know, sentencing guidelines are, of course, designed to make it fairer, right, so that you don't have sentences that are based on things like race and things that are improper. But they're advisory just so that judges can take into account individual circumstances. So it may be that the judge finds it too harsh. And listen if the process of the Department of Justice was that they looked at this, they thought that the guidelines range sentence of seven to nine years was too harsh, and they all decided together, including the career prosecutors, to recommend that judge go below that -- then that would be okay. You know, that's the normal process. That's how it works. The department rarely recommends below guideline sentences for defendants who don't cooperate. So that would have been unusual. But if the process were proper, it would be okay. So, yes, maybe. It's just that that's not what happened here. What everyone's concerned about is that that was not the judgment of the prosecutors who did the case and their immediate supervisors. And so that's where things have broken down here.

CO: Donald Trump tweeted today, 'Congratulations to Attorney General Bill Barr for taking charge of a case that was totally out of control and perhaps should not have been brought. Evidence now clearly shows that the Mueller scam was improperly brought and tainted. Even Bob Mueller lied to Congress.' What does that suggest to you as to where the president might be going next?

JR: Well, none of those things is true. The Mueller investigation was properly predicated and he didn't lie to Congress. The concern about the president starting to spread lies about the Mueller investigation and congratulating Attorney General Barr on interfering with individual cases is that he's going to go further with that. You know, the next thing might be that he's actually ordering the prosecution of people who have not committed crimes, but who are his political enemies. I mean, if Bill Barr were to open an investigation in to Bob Mueller or anyone associated with his investigation, that would mean our system is completely broken, even more so than it seems to be on a day like today after what happened yesterday. You can't have a Department of Justice going after political enemies for made up crimes. That is something that happens in other places. Not here. At least not historically. And that's what me and a lot of my former colleagues are concerned about today.

CO: We will leave it there. Ms. Rodgers, I appreciate speaking with you. Thank you.

JR: Thank you so much.

CH: That was former US federal prosecutor Jennifer Rodgers. We reached her near Jackson, Wyoming.

[Music]

Science jargon

Guest: Hillary Shulman

CH: I got my cans on, the pot is up, and I think the multi-brand compressor is really regulating my vocal frequencies when I speak into the old candy stick here. Oops. I lapsed into jargon. Those are all technical radio terms except for candy stick, which means microphone, which I just made up. It probably sounded like gibberish to you. And that is the problem with jargon. It sounds and reads like nonsense and scientists may be the worst offenders. According to a new study scientific jargon isn't just confusing -- it's hurting our understanding of science. Hillary Shulman is an assistant professor of communication at Ohio State University and the lead author of the study. We reached her in Columbus, Ohio.

CO: Professor Shulman, what's your reaction when you see a scientific paper that has a lot of jargon in it?

HILLARY SHULMAN: [Chuckles] My reaction in some ways is, of course it does. But then in other ways -- I'm not really responding to the jargon. It's just kind of an automatic -- I'm either in to the paper or it's not for me. And so I just don't read the article.

CO: So now you decided to study how people react to articles that do have a lot of inside-language in them. And so what did you want to discover?

HS: Well, I think my whole program of research is really interested in how we could get people to engage with complex topics. And as somebody who studies communication, I'm particularly interested in what we can do from a communication perspective to bring people into, you know, topics, environments or contexts where they might not normally be predisposed to engage with.

CO: Okay. So you decided to test that and see how people reacted. Some things are predictable, but others are kind of surprising in your study.

HS: Yeah, I think so. When we showed people in this particular study, we showed people a short like four sentence paragraph about self-driving cars, 3D bio printing and robotic surgeons. And we basically thought that people would read these articles. Some had jargon in it. Some didn't. And would kind of respond to the jargon with a little bit more uncertainty and a little less clarity about the topics. But what we found was that when people were exposed to the jargon, not only did they respond poorly to the topics, but they reported that they weren't interested in science in general and didn't feel particularly confident about their abilities to understand science in general. So I was a little surprised by that.

CO: So they blame themselves to some extent.

HS: In some ways. And I think "blame" is a little strong. In some ways they just kind of explained their lack of knowledge about the material is like, oh, I guess this is not my thing.

CO: Can you give us some examples of the sentences you gave people?

HS: Sure. So like in the self-driving cars, that's a colloquial way of labeling this new technology. But autonomous vehicles is actually something you see quite a bit in how popular press articles talk about it. So we pulled that from Wired. Same with vigilance decrement, [chuckles] which I think means making it hard to see or something of the like. And laparoscopic surgery, if I'm pronouncing that correctly. We actually pulled that term from an article about robotic surgery on AARP.com, which is the American Association of Retired Persons. So, you know, these words are everywhere.

CO: One sentence in your new study, this system works because of A.I. integration through motion scaling and tremor reduction.

HS: Mm hmm.

CO: And so do you know what that means?

HS: [Chuckles] Well, I do, because I wrote the sentence that made it easier, but it just basically means computer programing to make things more steady.

CO: Okay. So you had the jargon versions of it. And then you had the plain spoken English versions. And so people read both. How did they feel when they read the article or the information that had the plain spoken English in it?

HS: See, that's the thing that was so exciting. You'd expect people to just respond to the subject matter in ways that reflected they understood, you know, the material. But actually, because of the ease with which they processed this information, they had an easy time reading the articles. They were actually like, yeah, well, I enjoyed reading about this because I'm a science person.

CO: Now, this idea is that you don't belong here, this is not for you when you're reading -- that's what people said. But isn't also the purpose of this language, is that it is a kind of secret handshake. It is within a profession and understanding that this is for you and we're talking to each other. I mean, isn't there a role for that within a profession or a field of study?

HS: Oh, 100 percent. Right. And I don't mean to advocate against jargon. I think there's a precision and an efficiency with these terms that people in the know understand. But when you're engaging with subjects like maybe politics or health or technology, you do need the public to understand or buy into some of these innovations. And when you kind of automatically or when scientists automatically use these terms, they may be alienating their audience more than they realize. So this is more of a little best practice for public communication.

CO: Is there any particular word or phrase that really gets you go when it comes to jargon?

HS: Yes. And from this whole experience, I could say easily that it is the word "jargon." [Chuckles] I think it ironically drives me crazy because you say jargon to some people and they like roll their eyes and they are like, it's the worse. And then you say jargon to other people and it's like in defensive jargon. You know, we don't want to dumb down science. This is important. This is precise. And so I've noticed that that in and of itself seems like a very heavy term as I've talked about this research.

CO: We will put this challenge out to our listeners and we'll ask them if there's jargon that bothers them or the whole idea of demonizing jargon is the problem.

HS: Oh boy. Can't wait. [Chuckles]

CO: Okay. We'll let you know. Professor Shulman thank you.

HS: Thank you so much. Take care.

CH: Hillary Shulman is an assistant professor of communication at Ohio State University. We reached her in Columbus. You can find more about that on our webpage: cbc.ca/aih. And we do want to hear about your jargon grievances. You can reach us through Twitter or Facebook @CBCAsItHappens. Our talkback line is 416-205-5687. And our email is aih@cbc.ca

[Music]

Cats Special Effects

CH: They didn't even have to say anything. They just stood there. And people laughed at them. And when Rebel Wilson and James Corden, wearing cat costumes, finally did speak at Sunday's Oscar ceremony, everyone laughed at someone else: the people who made the cats in the movie "Cats" look too little or too much like cats.

SOUNDCLIP

REBEL WILSON: As cast members of the motion picture Cats [crowd laughs].

JAMES CORDEN: Nobody more than us understands the importance of:

BOTH: Good visual effects.

[Crowd laughs and cheers]

CH: And that was the whole joke. That the visual effects in Cats were not effective. That they alone wrecked Andrew Lloyd Webber's classic tale of Jellicle cats having a talent show to see which will be chosen to be reborn up in the Heaviside Layer. Admittedly, that synopsis sounds ridiculous. Whereas the movie of the musical also looked ridiculous, ultimately because of director Tom Hooper, whose vision was so horribly misconceived. Not because of the people who tried to bring that bizarre vision to life. That's why on Monday, Hollywood's Visual Effects Society issued a statement which reads in part "Last night, the producers chose to make visual effects the punch line and suggested that bad VFX were to blame for the poor performance of the movie Cats. The best visual effects in the world will not compensate for a story told badly." Excuse me for saying so, but meow. Still, it is absolutely fair. The effects artists aren't to blame for the dog's breakfast that is Cats. But now they'll hold a grudge because it's too late to hope for no hard felines.

[Music]

Part 2: Christie Blatchford obit

Christie Blatchford obit

Guest: Sam Pazzano

CH: If you're familiar with Christie Blatchford, chances are you had strong feelings about her work. Over the past five decades, Ms. Blatchford worked at all of Canada's biggest dailies. And she worked -- covering sports, the courts, the war in Afghanistan and domestic politics. As well as writing opinion columns that made her own strong feelings clear. Christie Blatchford died today of lung cancer. She was 68 years old. Back in 2001, she was a guest on our show and spoke with Mary Lou Finlay about a wave of layoffs at the National Post where she was working at the time.

SOUNDCLIP

CHRISTIE BLATCHFORD: I think it made other newspapers better. I think it was fun to read. You know, it was quirky and irritating and all the things that a great newspaper should be. And I hope -- I mean, part of me wants that to continue and I want to be part of it. But the other part of me is afraid that it won't happen. So. And then the overwhelming part of me right now is sorry for my friends.

MARY LOU FINLAY: But the writing was on the wall surely as soon as Conrad Black lost control of the paper and then finally sold the rest of it.

CHRISTIE BLATCHFORD: I'm sure it was.

MARY LOU FINLAY: The new owners were going to be focused on profit and cost cutting.

CHRISTIE BLATCHFORD: Sure. Profit is not a dirty word to me. I don't think that that's a bad thing. I mean, I think that these were not decisions that people like me make. I mean, writers know bugger all about money, as you know, and can't manage their own usually. But on the editorial side of the paper, we did our job.

CH: Christie Blatchford talking to Mary Lou Finlay in 2001 about layoffs at the National Post. According to many of the tributes pouring in today, Ms. Blatchford shared the qualities she just attributed to that paper. She was quirky and irritating, but also supportive and the kind of writer who made other writers better. Sam Pazzano is a court reporter at the Toronto Sun. He worked with Christie Blatchford there for more than a decade. We reached him in Toronto.

CO: Sam, when you hear that little clip with Christie Blatchford, what does that tell you about your friend?

SAM PAZZANO: Well, she was passionate about journalism's country and driven. And she was also plain speaking honest. I think that she understood that newspapers had to make profits and that in hard times there had to be layoffs. But she was a staunch guardian of high quality journalism.

CO: It's interesting in the midst of that, this one little phrase that I just wrote down --"Most of all, above all, I feel sorry for my friends." Is that Christie?

SP: That's absolutely Christie. Christie is the staunchest friend you could ever have. And as Rosie DiManno, her best friend, said you know she never did anything halfway in whatever endeavor she tried.

CO: She didn't just stick up for her friends. She's stuck up for strangers, people she didn't even know. She would do gestures. And even give them money. I mean, people would show up at her door needing money and she'd give it to them. People she'd covered in stories.

SP: Her generosity was bottomless. I mean, she gave up herself, she gave up money. I mean, she wrote the book "Fifteen Days" in Afghanistan and gave all the proceeds of a bestseller to the soldiers.

CO: How would you describe her as a reporter? I mean in the commentaries, people are calling her 'unflinching.' That while she was emotional, she was controversial. She was edgy. Well, how would you describe her?

SP: She was the James Brown of newspapers. The hardest working man in show business. She's the hardest working woman in journalism. She would get up at 3:00 in the morning in -10 degrees Celsius to line up for a courthouse to be first in line to get the best seat. She would devour banker boxes full of documents to get to the bottom of the story. She was such a fierce competitor. Whenever you beat her on a story, she'd be the first person to compliment you.

CO: So she had banker's boxes of documents. I understand boxes of Kleenex as well. Is that true that she was always with the box at the Kleenex in court?

SP: She wept in court. I was one of the people who handed her the Kleenex. She was so empathetic that when she heard some of this heartbreaking testimony of children like Randal Dooley being abused, she'd weep for them. She was there one time -- and, you know, Randal was called one of the worst child abuse cases in history -- it was a murder trial in 2002 in Toronto. And a teacher was on the stand -- well the teacher wept and so did Christie. And that's the way she was. She brought that emotion, that passion, that honesty to her writing. And that's what drew people to her.

CO: So many contradictions I'm thinking because I'm remembering that Marie Henein, the lawyer, wrote of her "While lawyers and judges may rail against what Christie Blatchford writes, here's a secret: They all get nervous when she walks into court." Is that true?

SP: That's absolutely true. She was given an award for -- kind of a freedom award -- last fall. And Marie Henein introduced Christie. And she came up and she said, I'm often asked how do you control a Christie Blatchford? And she said, short answer: you don't. You can't control what she writes. She's absolutely honest and...

CO: And brutally frank in her columns. Was she like that in person as well?

SP: Yes. She could be like that in person as well. She was very honest. You knew where you stood with Christie. And there was a very sensitive side to her that she really cared for children -- especially dogs. There was a colleague of mine in a snowstorm, was walking her dog in downtown Toronto and her face was all covered up. But Christie got down to rub this old dog's belly. And Liz Braun, my colleague, she says Christie it's me. [Laughs] She didn’t even know who it was. But she didn't care. She just would reach out to that animal, rub his belly, and put her face into that dog's face because she loved it.

CO: As you well know, lots of people disagreed with what Christie wrote. Well, she didn't pull any punches, did she? She said in one example, she said, of Indigenous culture that smudging drumming and the like do not a nation make. And there were a lot of even comments today from Indigenous community being angry with her. How did she feel about that?

SP: Those were honestly held views. I don't know if she would take it back or I mean...I don't know what to say about that.

CO: I guess the point is that she would want these questions asked. I was thinking earlier about...

SP: She raised difficult questions and she was fearless in that way. There was no topic that was taboo to her.

CO: And she would not want anyone to have a taboo topic talking about her right now, would they?

SP: No, she wouldn't like that.

CO: How did she feel when she was actually stopped from speaking in University of Waterloo when they said that she was a racist? How did she respond to that?

SP: She was very upset with that. She thought that was an infringement on freedom of expression -- especially in institutions of higher learning, where we're trying encourage people to challenge issues and challenge views that you would actually prohibit someone from speaking.

CO: And that was her view.

SP: That was her view. Exactly.

CO: How do you think she would like to be remembered if she were writing the story of herself right now?

SP: I think she'd want people to remember her work. She took her work extremely seriously, but not herself extremely seriously. She was very playful person. Humble. None of her fame and none of her success went to her head. She was a humblest person and willing to challenge views. That's what she wanted people to be, to be hardworking, dedicated journalists and to expect the best from the media.

CO: Sam, I'm sorry for the loss of your friend.

SP: Well, I'm a very very sad man today.

CO: Well, thank you. I appreciate you sharing your time with us.

SP: You're welcome.

CH: Sam Pazzano was long-time friend and colleague of Christie Blatchford. We reached him in Toronto. Ms. Blatchford died earlier today. She was 68 years old.

[Music]

Lyra McKee

CH: In her unpublished book, The Lost Boys, Irish journalist Lyra McKee writes, "When you lost someone in the Troubles, you had a story you could tell. There was a beginning, a middle, and an end. He lived. She died. Because he was Catholic, Protestant, in the IRA, in the police, in a Loyalist gang. And we miss her everyday. Beginning, middle, and end." Ms. McKee's own life came to a tragic end last year. She was gunned down in April during rioting in Londonderry, also known as Derry. The New IRA claimed responsibility for her death. And now police in Belfast have charged one man with her murder after they arrested four yesterday. Lyra McKee had distinguished herself as an eminent investigative reporter. She'd made Forbes magazine's 30 under 30 in media list, and had signed a two book deal. Shortly after she was killed, her colleague and friend Matt Hughes spoke with As It Happens. Here's some of what he told Carol.

SOUNDCLIP

MH: What made Lyra remarkable was her tenacity. She was cocky enough to think she could solve cases that had gone cold before she was born. When our friendship started, she was working on a project uncovering the circumstances of the death of a gentleman called Reverend Robert Bradford, who was a British MP who was assassinated in the early 80s. And she was determined to get to the bottom of it. People paid monthly recurring sums just so she could look into this case because people believed in lyra. And she also covered the Northern Irish conflict and the repercussions in a way that I don't think anyone else could do. And certainly in the way that anyone else has. One of the best pieces she ever wrote was for Mosaic, and it was called “The Suicide of the Ceasefire Babies”. And it was about why are men in Northern Ireland killing themselves after the peace process? And she was able to tell stories of mental illness and fractured societies in a way that was human. It was compassionate. And that's because Lyra was a compassionate person.

CO: What was she like as a person?

MH: She was one of my best mates. I first met her when I was 23. I'd been doing journalism for a year, and she had already accomplished these amazing bio lines and profiles and features. And I kind of saw her as almost like a rock star. And I looked up to her. And she was a mentor, and I kind of felt like I was a little kid learning to play guitar from Mick Jagger, you know? And so as our friendship grew, she started to look upon me as almost like a younger brother. She counselled me through heartbreak. She helped me with my career. When I got married last year, I insisted she was one of my groomspeople. And she held my hand over the morning. She'd had a whisky with me to calm my nerves. She tied my tie. You know she was just this bright personality.

CH: From our archives, that was journalist Matt Hughes speaking with Carol last April about his late colleague and friend, Lyra McKee. Police in Belfast have charged a 52 year old man with her murder after making four arrests yesterday.

[Music]

Newspaper owner

Guest: Carl Butz

CH: The Mountain Messenger is California's oldest weekly newspaper. It was founded in 1853 in the now tiny community of Downieville. And over the past 167 years, it's told local stories of gold miners, wildfires, power outages, and economic booms and busts. But that historic institution was set to become history this year. The newspaper was ready to close its doors and stop the presses. Carl Butz decided he wouldn't let that happen. Last month, the 71 year old retired software consultant became the new owner of The Mountain Messenger. And ever since, he's been settling into a new career as a journalist and learning on the job about how to put out a paper each week. We reached Carl Butz in Downieville, California.

CO: Carl, I know that tomorrow is your pub day and you are very busy and on tight deadlines. But thank you for agreeing to speak with us.

CARL BUTZ: Well, you know, I feel honored to be on As It Happens.

CO: So how are you settling into your new job as the owner and the editor also of The Mountain Messenger?

CB: Well, I sort of lost my personal life in this business. You know, I'm here all day and then I get home late and then I cook myself a meal and then I get to bed and then I get up. [Laughs] Being an editor is quite a chore. And, you know, the fact that I was told that I was a fool to even try it, you know, is maybe true. But I'm really enjoying it. I'm having a lot of fun.

CO: Is this how you expecting to spend your 70s?

CB: No. This was not on the agenda.

CO: You weren't even in journalism. What has inspired you to become the owner and operator of a newspaper?

CB: I've been helping out here at the paper for, you know, on and off for several years. And, you know, when I was a kid, I thought maybe I'd be a sportswriter. You know, I'd like to write. And I just hated to see the paper go away. You know, it's something I've always enjoyed it, mostly because of the history that we get printed in the paper. We've got a long history here. And I hope to be able to expand that as we cope down the road, you know. But we've lost the bank here in town. We don't have a gas station that's operating anymore. You know, and the paper really does serve a community function. I mean, you know, it's something that communities need.

CO: If you hadn't done this, if you hadn't bought the paper for -- what? How much money did you pay for it?

CB: Very little. Very little.

CO: Something in the four figures, right?

CB: Low four figures. [Laughter] I made sure that they weren't in debt. You know, they got out of debt. And that was all they really needed. I mean, Don has been doing this for 30 years. And doing it every week. You know, it's hard.

CO: Don Russell, the man you bought it from, what did he say to you when you told him that you were going to buy this paper from him and keep it running?

CB: He told me that I was a crazy fool [laughter] and I should never even consider it. You know?

CO: The quote is -- he called you "a romantic idealist and a nutcase."

CB: Yes, that's right. He did. [Laughs] That's what he said. And I told him that was not news. I've been called that before.

CO: [Laughs] One of the things you wrote, which is really lovely and interesting, you said that the horrible thought of this venerable institution folding up and vanishing after 166 years of continuous operation was simply more than I could bear.

CB: Yeah, I had this vision of me taking a train across, you know, China, you know, going to Kyrgyzstan and saying oh this is wrong. I'm in the wrong place. [Laughs] You know, I mean, it'd be nice for me, but it wouldn't have felt right. You know, it would had been a violation of my own principles somehow.

CO: So The Mountain Messenger will live on big thanks to you.

CB: Well, let's hope so. I mean, you know, we're going to try and change the business model a little bit. Make it a non-profit. And also try to spread out the burden. So it's not just a single person who's responsible. And I've been able to already assemble a team from locals here. And the publicity got me some guy from Silicon Valley who's coming up. And we are going to actually have a website soon, I think. But the paper issue is what I really care about most. But, you know, I was typing up the old hundred years ago and 50 years ago column. And it was just wonderful to read this history. I mean, you know, it's like a diary of what life was like. A lot of the old papers are just filled with items of interest. You know, so-and-so came to town. Somebody who left town. But everybody's name got in the paper.

CO: Somebody was born. Someone died. Someone visited. Someone had dinner.

CB: Exactly. You know, there was a fire. Somebody fell off a cliff, whatever. You know, just a lot of really mundane stuff.

CO: I understand Mark Twain once wrote for The Mountain Messenger.

CB: Briefly when he was on the lam from a libel case over in Virginia City. Yeah.

CO: Anything inspiring there?

CB: No. Terrible. [Laughter] From what I understand, it was just really, really run of the mill journalism. No no great stories. But he did write here. And he went on from here to an illustrious career.

CO: One of the other legends is that you apparently got inspired to take over this paper after watching Citizen Kane.

CB: Well, you know, I did. That was part of [laughs] how I got to this point was seeing that line. You know, there's that scene where he's told he's going to lose a million dollars a year. And he says, okay, well, in six years, I guess I'll have to stop publishing, you know?

CO: Okay. So it's hardly a comparison between you and Charles Foster Kane. [Laughter]

CB: I don't have any million. But I figured, you know, how much was it going to cost me to go on that trip around the world. Well, I can at least contribute that much to this, you know? [Phone rings] And sorry about that. I got this other phone call ringing.

CO: That might be your lead story tomorrow.

CB: [Laughs] Never can tell.

CO: You always have to answer the phone in a newsroom. First rule there Carl.

CB: Well, you know, the problem is that I don't have a hold button on this damn phone. I have got to buy a new phone.

CO: You got old phones. I understand you got like your softwares of the 1990s.

CB: Yeah. QuarkXPress Copyright, 1995.

CO: Okay. That phone is bothering me. I know you have to answer it. So I'm going to let you go, Carl.

CB: All right.

CO: Good luck with that.

CB: Okay. I'll take it.

CO: Do you want to take the call? You want find out who is on the...

CB: They should go to the message machine. Hold on a second. [Phone tone sound]

CH: [Chuckles] As you can tell, Carl Butz is very busy meeting a deadline as the new owner and editor of The Mountain Messenger in Downievillie, California, which is northeast of Sacramento.

[Music]

Patricia Mackenzie

CH: Her family tried to talk her out of it. But it was her birthday and she was going to do what she wanted. And what Patricia Mackenzie wanted was to celebrate her 100th year on this earth by hurtling towards it at 200 kilometers an hour. The Calgary centenarian celebrated her big day by traveling to sunny California and parachuting out of a plane. Here's Ms. Mackenzie on "The Calgary Eyeopener" this morning talking about that experience.

SOUNDCLIP

PATRICIA MACKENZIE: Actually I would have done it on my 90th birthday list. Except my children didn't think it was a good idea. So I put it off till the 100th. Never thinking I would be 100 anyway. It was a wonderful experience. And it was of no strain to me at all. I had no fear.

DAVID GRAY: No strain at all. In that moment when he jumped out of the plane and you found yourself flying through time and space, what did that feel like?

PATRICIA MACKENZIE: Well, it was a bit of a shock, obviously. I mean, I knew he was going to do it. But it was extraordinary. And I didn't really think of anything much. [Laughs]

DAVID GRAY: Did you keep your eyes open the whole time?

PATRICIA MACKENZIE: I did. I did.

DAVID GRAY: I imagine you wouldn't want to miss something like that.

PATRICIA MACKENZIE: No, no. There wasn't much to see when we were eighteen thousand feet up actually.

DAVID GRAY: Patricia, you have 99 other birthdays to compare this to. Where does this compare in terms of your favorite birthdays?

PATRICIA MACKENZIE: Oh, this is totally unique, obviously. I mean I never dreamt I would reach a hundred years. Of course not. And they made it -- the children made quite a thing of it. And a lot of my kids and my grandchildren came from various parts of the world to watch it.

DAVID GRAY: Any advice for the other centenarians out there listening?

PATRICIA MACKENZIE: I would advise them to just do it.

DAVID GRAY: Do it. Just do it.

PATRICIA MACKENZIE: Oh yes, definitely.

CH: That was Patricia Mackenzie talking to Calgary Eyeopener host David Gray about jumping out of a plane on her 100th birthday.

[Music]

Wood Bison

CH: It's been more than a century since people in Woodland Cree First Nation in Alberta saw a wood bison on their land. Now they're about to see 14. Parks Canada is relocating the bison from a national park near Edmonton to the Indigenous community in the province's north. The community hopes to build up the herd and eventually harvested. With the moose population in serious decline, the wood bison could be a food source for the community in the future. Lawrence Lamouche is the traditional lands manager for Woodland Cree First Nation. He told CBC reporter Min Dhariwal there are cultural reasons why the move is important.

SOUNDCLIP

LAWRENCE LAMOUCHE: Well the bison -- what they mean to us is going to be very significant meaning, you know. I believe that the Woodland Bison -- the Sakaw Mostos in our language -- we will be able to revitalize the language within our community on certain aspects of the animal. You know, we haven't seen the sakaw mostos in our in our territory for about 100 plus years. And we know some of that language has decreased. But when you integrate certain animals back, it revitalizes the culture, the language and the practices.

MIN DHARIWAL: To be able to see them, what was that like?

LAWRENCE LAMOUCHE: It was very awesome and interesting. At the same time, you know, we went up there, we've seen some of the separation there of the two lots. You know, one was a younger Wood bison and the other one where maybe a few years older and you could see the kind of differences. And, you know, he's letting us know that these are the two lots that you're bisons are going to be coming from. And I was like, wow, you know. And then the elder was saying, aren't those kind of small? But then when I turn around, I see that the older guys know on the side there, I was like, wow, those are going to be our guys soon. [Chuckles] And, you know, we've got to make our fence like sturdy. So I don't know if we're going to use wood maybe for some of it. But I do hope we use some metal [laughs] at some point because you don't want these you know, coming out of the fencing area -- what we make in our community.

CH: That was Lawrence Lamouche from Woodland Cree First Nation, speaking with CBC reporter Min Dhariwal. The community is set to receive 14 wood bison more than 100 years after the animals were last seen in that community.

[Music]

Part 3: Stressed at work? New study suggests staring at a plant can help

Amazon carbon

Guest: Carlos Nobre

CH: The Amazon rainforest has long been one of the world's great absorbers of carbon. But Carlos Nobre is warning that parts of the region have become sources of climate changing CO2 themselves. Professor Nobre is a climate scientist at the University of Sao Paulo. He and his colleagues are preparing a study for publication that's based on long term monitoring of the air above the Amazon. We reached Professor Carlos Nobre in Rome.

CO: Professor Nobre how does the Amazon rainforest go from being the place where carbon gas gets stored to the place that produces carbon gas?

CARLOS NOBRE: That flip is starting to happen in the Amazon because the dry season in southern Amazon is becoming lengthier. And also during the dry season, the temperatures are much hotter, 1.5 degrees hotter. So the combination is turning south eastern Amazon into a carbon source. I'm talking about only the forest. I'm not talking about carbon emissions by deforestation and by fires.

CO: And when you add that, what is happening with deforestation and fires?

CN: Yes. When we have a year with high deforestation and high fires, the Amazon as a whole is very close to becoming a carbon source. Although still most of the Amazon undisturbed is a carbon sink. But we have deforestation, we have biomass burning off the forest areas and also we have more and more parts of the forest becoming vulnerable to fires.

CO: When we talk about this -- are we talking about just a fraction or are we talking about a great deal of difference between what the Amazon was say in the 80s and 90s absorbing as a carbon sink and what you see is happening now?

CN: We are seeing a decline in the strength of the carbon sink. The forest is removing less and less carbon dioxide from the atmosphere year after year. So that is really worrying because it may be indicating the Amazon forest is very close to a tipping point.

CO: What do you mean by that?

CN: I mean, large portions of the forest, perhaps 50-60 percent of the Amazon forest will turn into a dry savannah. Just keep in mind that north of the Amazon forest and south of the Amazon forest, we have tropical dry savannas. So that's a natural vegetation type, away from the Amazon forest, because the dry savannahs exist in tropical climates with long, very long, dry season -- six months of the dry season. So we are really seeing the evolution of some conditions, climate conditions, in southern Amazon that are showing that area may turn into a dry savannah.

CO: The world depends on this area to absorb a lot of greenhouse gases. What happens when the Amazon basin loses that capacity to such a degree?

CN: We will have to completely change our goals towards the Paris agreement targets because we take for granted that globally forests are removing something like 30 percent of all carbon dioxide human activities emit. We are emitting globally 40 billion tons of carbon dioxide a year and globally the forests remove something like ten to twelve billion. If 56 percent of the Amazon is turned into a dry savannah --dry savannah - it stores much less store, one third as much carbon as the tropical forest. So all that carbon will end up in the atmosphere. Therefore, all the addition of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will have to be compensated by reducing emissions even much more rapidly. Emissions from fossil fuel.

CO: So what does Brazil have to do? I mean, this is the responsibility of the government of President Bolsonaro. What would he have to do in order to prevent that trend that you're now seeing?

CN: Not only Brazilian government, but all Amazonian governments -- particularly Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia. They have really to drive deforestation to zero. I mean, they have to drive deforestation to zero. Very, very rapidly. And this is possible because cattle ranching, which really occupies over 60 percent of the deforest area, is very very very low productivity. So there is room for improving productivity and keeping the forest there standing. And on top of that, we need to restore forests. Forest restoration, globally speaking, is the natural solution for climate change mitigation. So in the Amazon, there is about 1 million square kilometers deforested. So we should really have large scale forest restoration programs in the Amazon forests. And if we do that, not only the regrowing forests would be removing a large fraction of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, but also it will reduce the risk of these so-called savannah-ization of large portion of the forest turn into a dry savannah.

CO: President Bolsonaro is saying the Amazon is open for business. There is a resource that he wants to see exploited for the wealth of Brazil. So how likely is it that he would actually implement that?

CN: The political discourse of Brazilian president, also former Bolivian President Evo Morales, and the current Bolivian government -- they are discourse which sees no value in the standing forest. And this is completely wrong. There are many many studies showing that the standing forests, the biodiversity, the products arising from forests have a much much higher economic potential. So they have to learn. They have to pay more attention to science. What science is saying, because economically speaking, a standing forest economy is much more vibrant than replacing the forest with low low productivity cattle ranch or mining or hydropower.

CO: Professor Nobre it's a very worrisome report that you are presenting, but I appreciate speaking with you tonight. Thank you.

CN: Thank you very much.

CH: Carlos Nobre is a professor of meteorology and climate science at the University of Sao Paolo. We reached him in Rome.

[Music]

Sound of the day: Ice falling

CH: Scientists in Antarctica were wondering scientifically what it would sound like if they dropped a hunk of ice, about the size of a dinner plate, down a 137 metre hole. That's 450 feet. Their working hypothesis was that it would probably sound totally cool. And their experiment conclusively proved their hypothesis correct.

SOUNDCLIP

[Object falling sound]

CH: That was our Sound of the Day -- the sound of a nine inch ice core, a sample from a glacier bouncing around while falling down a 450 foot deep hole. That's taken from a video taken by researcher Austin Carter, who filmed his colleague dropping the ice core in Allan Hills, Antarctica.

[Music]

Breanna Gray

CH: Breanna Gray has a star turn in this year's Oscar winner for Best Picture. But the Ottawa woman isn't letting that go to her head. The film is Bong Joon Ho's "Parasite." Ms. Gray is in the opening sequence. It shows the protagonist family gathered around a smartphone screen to watch a viral video. The video shows someone folding pizza boxes at surprising speed. That fleet-fingered someone is Breanna Gray, which would be kind of a big deal for most people. So you can imagine why CBC Ottawa's Robyn Bresnahan wanted to check the following fact when she reached Ms. Gray this morning.

SOUNDCLIP

ROBYN BRESNAHAN: Is it true you haven't seen the film yet?

BREANNA GRAY: I know I was supposed to watch it last night. But as any new parent, I fell asleep before I could get five minutes in. [Laughter]

ROBYN BRESNAHAN: I hear ya. I hear ya. Tell us about the phone call you got from the producers of Parasite when they first called before all of this in the Oscar, what did they say in that phone call to you?

BREANNA GRAY: Well, they just reached out and basically said, you know, we'd like to use your video in our movie. And at the time, like, I didn't even realize that it was going to make its way over to North America. I thought it was a South Korean film. I didn't know who the director was. They gave me a very basic idea of how it would be used in the film. And I said sure no problem -- let's license it out. And that was pretty much it. And I didn't hear anything. And then it premiered. And I was like, oh, wow, this is a big film. [Chuckles]

ROBYN BRESNAHAN: So who was the first person to give you a call and say, Breanna, just so you know, you're now featured in an Oscar award-winning film?

BREANNA GRAY: Well, I happened to see it myself, actually. I was up with my son in the middle of the night. And I saw it on Reddit. And I was like, oh, my goodness, this film won -- this is a big deal. And I saw a bunch of traffic going to my video. This is crazy! How cool is that? [Laughs]

ROBYN BRESNAHAN: Well, you know, you could put that pizza folding box speed into like folding diapers. This could be your next. [Laughs] This could be your next viral video.

BREANNA GRAY: Exactly. [Laughs]

CH: There was Breanna Gray speaking with Robyn Bresnahan. And if you want to see Ms. Gray's video, just type "pro pizza boxer" into YouTube. Or better yet, go see Parasite. It's still in theaters.

[Music]

Office plants study

Guest: Marni Barnes

CH: You're probably looking for something to relieve stress at work. The stress ball didn't really help and it's pretty much useless since you took a bite out of it. Well, researchers at Hyogo university in Japan say you might want to pay a little more attention to that plant on your desk. Actually pay a lot of attention to it -- as in stare at it for minutes at a time. Their study showed paying that kind of close attention to the greenery at work can reduce stress and anxiety. It was just published in the American Journal for Horticultural Science. Marni Barnes is a researcher on the study and an international lecturer at the University of Hyogo. We reached Ms. Barnes in Palo Alto, California.

CO: Marni, why did you think that it might be possible plants for more than just decorations on our desks?

MARNI BARNES: Oh, wow. I guess it started with my own feelings and reactions to being in nature and being surrounded by plants. And then little bit by little bit, research has been coming in specifically about how nature can help people to heal in medical settings. And I was a psychiatric social worker in medical settings for a number of years, that certainly seemed to be the case.

CO: Well, we know that if someone brings you some flowers, it can cheer you up. But you've actually gone a bit further in this study to show that you can actually relieve some anxiety. How did you go about setting that up, that study?

MB: Well, there have been previous studies and then we looked at what has been researched in the work setting and not very much. And those studies that had been done were confusing and conflicting. The plants were too big. And so we wanted to set up this study to be very clear and see if we could get some good results.

CO: Why did you do it in Japan? You're in California -- I'm sure there's a lot of people who have the stress levels that are pretty similar. Why there?

MB: Well, the simple answer is, is our lead person is there. Dr. Toyoda. The other, though, partial answer to that is that Japan has extremely high workplace stress. So it's a big big issue there.

CO: How did you set up the tests? Run us through what you did.

MB: Well, we decided that we needed to use small plants to avoid some of the previous pitfalls and place them on the desk so that people would see them and be near them. And having, first, a control period with no plants. And then a period when the plants were on the desks and people volunteered for the study and we had them gaze at the plants for three minutes and then take their pulse rate. And then also at the beginning and the end of the trial period, we gave them an anxiety index test. Then we also did an anecdotal questionnaire to see if we could verify what we were finding in the data. So we had those three different methodologies that we used.

CO: How exactly did they interact with the plant?

MB: They were to stop when they felt stressed and look at the plant for three minutes. So it was simply a soft gazing situation. What they also did was to take care of the plant. And then that ended up being pretty critical because in the anecdotal questionnaire information, we learned that that was important to them and that they started to bond with the plant and to care about it and to think about it. So you don't have to have conscious interaction for nature to influence how you're feeling. That's the wonderful thing about nature.

CO: But is it possible that it's taking three minutes, stopping what you're doing, staring into space or looking at a work of art or interacting with something else would lower your stress level. I mean, why specifically with a plant?

MB: Well, it is definitely possible and probable that just taking a three minute break would help. But as with the control period, when there wasn't a plant there, it did not help very much. But we know that plants are highly effective. The question is, is it worth it to have a plant? Would a picture of a flower do just as well? That's all coming down the pike. But there is enough other research outside of the workplace that's been done that really reinforces that having a living growing green thing in plant is very helpful.

CO: You mentioned that some of the studies were not as useful because there was a reaction to large plants. Why small plants? Why would that be that? Why did you choose those plants for this?

MB: Well, some of the previous studies were saying that plants were too far away if they were on a windowsill or down the aisle way, that they didn't have a result. So we wanted to have the plant be in close proximity but not be too big. It was really essential to have a very small plant right on their desk.

CO: So what would you recommend then? I mean, just a little slice of of nature sitting on your desk could make such a difference. What would you tell employers about how they might reduce the stress of their people?

MB: Some places don't allow plants. So that's the first thing to stop saying that.

CO: What happens to people who don't water the plants and they die? Because that's happened [laughter]...

MB: We did have some issues, not necessarily through neglect, but that some plants did start withering. And I mean, it was a four week period, so it was pretty long. And you know number one, we did replace the plants so they would get a new one. And when the data came in, there was not a correlation between people who lost their plants, did not seem to influence whether or not they found benefit.

CO: All right. Let's get the plants in. I mean, let's start giving gifts of plants to people, and improve their lives. [Laughter] Marni it's great to talk to you. Thank you.

MB: Thank you.

CH: Marni Barnes is a researcher on a new study about the stress relieving qualities of plants in the workplace. We reached her in Palo Alto, California.

[Music]

Christina Koch

CH: She didn't just go to infinity and beyond. Christina Koch also stayed there for a really long time. The NASA astronaut returned to Earth last week after a 328-day mission aboard the International Space Station. In the process, she made history, completing the longest spaceflight ever by a woman. Today Ms. Koch spoke to reporters for the first time since her return. Here's part of what she had to say, beginning with her advice to others heading to space for the long haul.

SOUNDCLIP

CHRISTINA KOCH: I thought a lot about what I would tell future space explorers in general, but the long duration aspects of the mission, I was fortunate I had some people that mentored me and they got in touch with me. Scott Kelly. Peggy Whitson. And a lot of their advice was: Pace yourself, do the things that you love, make sure that you're in it for the long haul. We have a saying here that we say it's a marathon, not a sprint. And we used to say it's an ultra-marathon, not a marathon. For my time up there. And that is really true. Taking it one day at a time, making sure that you recognize your time up there is special. One thing that I learned during both deployments in Antarctica and on the space station was to constantly focus on the things you have that you will never have again rather than the things you don't have. And I think that's a lesson in life that can be helpful and it definitely helps up there for a long duration.

REPORTER: This is a significant moment in history, in all seriousness. What do you say to this next generation of female space explorers?

CHRISTINA KOCH: Well, it is a great honor to know that that may be the case. And I've always said about any record that you set that my biggest hope is that it's exceeded as soon as possible. That means we're pushing the boundaries. More people are living up to their dreams and their potential. So do what scares you. Do the things that might feel like they're just out of your reach. They're intriguing you. They're drawing you in. But you don't know for sure if you can do it. Go after that thing. Not only will you maximally impact the world, but you'll get the most personal fulfillment out of it and use that as a springboard to just keep doing the same thing.

REPORTER: All right. We'll wrap up here with one question from social media, from Billy. How did you feel when you first looked back at our planet?

CHRISTINA KOCH: Well, I'll never forget that moment. I hadn't even reached the International Space Station yet. I was still on the Soyuz spacecraft. And we have a little covers over our windows. And of course, we also go in and out of daylight and night, depending on what side of the earth we're on. So we're on our way up to the space station. It is about a six hour rendezvous. And it first occurs to me that I should look out my window and I opened it up. And wouldn't you know, there was Earth. And it just looked exactly like you might see in the pictures, except way more brighter, way more real. And I literally exclaimed, I just said, Oh, my goodness. And of course, that's not the right thing to say in a spacecraft when, you know, you could be noticing anything not going well. So the very next thing out of my mouth was, everything's okay. It's just earth. [Laughter] But it was phenomenal. It was that moment where I realized that, you know, this was real and that I had left our planet.

CH: That's Christina Koch speaking to reporters today in Houston. It's been just under a week since Ms. Koch returned from a 328-day mission aboard the International Space Station. The longest spaceflight ever for a woman.

[Music]

Wok Life Balance

CH: In the 80s and 90s, Stephen Yan had a popular cooking show called "Wok with Yan." Every episode his apron had a different "wok" pun on it. Things like "Wokkey Night in Canada" "Superior Wokmanship" and the none more 80s classic "Wok Me Amadeus." It seemed like he was having fun. But that running Wok gag may have been concealing wok-related pain. According to a new study, tossing of the heavy wok at high speed may be one contributor to shoulder pain, which is reported by sixty four point five percent of Chinese restaurant chefs. It's not a health study. It's called the Physics of Tossing Fried Rice. And it sets out to describe the ideal way of making fried rice delicious while also helping chefs improve their wok tossing methodology. To do so, researchers studied videos of five professional chefs in Taiwan and China. Specifically how they flipped the wok to stir fry rice. The researchers then created a mathematical model for optimal wok tossing. It takes into account the proportion of rice that is tossed, its flight height, and the angle the rice flies through the air. And when applied, this model suggests chefs could decrease shoulder injuries by increasing their frequency of motion. As a study of flipping, it is flipping hard to understand. But it does emphasize that making fried rice professionally over and over again takes a toll and stresses the importance of figuring out some kind of wok life balance.

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February 12, 2020 Episode Transcript

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