Conversation

Nearly 35 percent of students are abusing stimulants such as Adderall, Ritalin or Vyvanse. That's according to a study by the National Center for Biotechnology Information. The stimulants are often used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, but they're also being used by students attempting to focus.

Ross Reynolds interviews Dr. Cora Breuner, an adolescent medicine specialist at Seattle Children’s Hospital.

Yesterday, Mark Sanford was elected congressman from South Carolina’s 1st District. Last time Sanford was in the public spotlight, it was for an affair he had with a woman from Argentina. Sanford certainly is not the first public official to make a comeback following a scandal. Do you care about public officials’ private lives? Ross Reynolds takes your calls.

The death toll from last month's Bangladesh clothing factory collapse is now over 800 people. The scale of the disaster has prompted many people here in Washington to question our role as consumers.

Ross Reynolds talks with Morgan Currier, a senior at University of Washington and member of the coordinating committee of United Students Against Sweatshops, Paul Guppy, vice president for research at the Washington Policy Center, and Kristen Beifus, executive director of the Washington Fair Trade Coalition.

Seattle has seen record temperatures this week and more warm weather is forecasted this week. All the heat is making getting in the water very tempting, but The National Weather Service warns, low water temperatures and swift currents could make it difficult and dangerous to swim. In this segment Ross Reynolds interviews Brent Bower, senior service hydrologist at the National Weather Service,  about how to stay safe in the water.

Stephen Apkon says we live in a world of images but do not have the visual literacy to understand them.  His new book is "The Age of the Image: Redefining Literacy in a World of Screens." KUOW's Ross Reynolds chats with Stephen Apkon. 

State senate leaders plan to revive a bill in the upcoming special session that would allow school principals to veto teachers’ school assignments.  Education “reformers” support the change.  Teachers’ unions are opposed. Ross Reynolds interviews both sides.

Seattle City Councilmember Mike O’Brien wants Seattle carbon neutral by 2050. The plan to make Seattle carbon neutral is bound to be expensive, but O’Brien says carbon neutrality has benefits beyond just reducing greenhouse-gas emissions. Mike O’Brien joins Ross Reynolds today to talk about this proposal. 

The campaign for Seattle mayor is already underway. The new mayor will face a variety of obstacles from transportation and business to poverty and homelessness. What are the key issues you would like Seattle’s next mayor to address? Ross Reynolds takes your calls and is joined by special guests including Sharon Lee, the executive director of the Low Income Housing Institute and Evan Manvel director of policy, planning and government affairs at Cascade Bicycle Club to talk about their wish list for the next mayor. What is on yours?

A new report from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention shows that suicide deaths have surpassed car deaths in the United States. According to the same report, suicide rates rose 15% from 1999 to 2010, with an even more dramatic rise among the 35-64 age group. Washington state has seen similar increases. Ross Reynolds speaks with Dr. Thomas Simon, a researcher at the CDC’s Injury Center in Atlanta about why the suicide rate is growing.