Topics 2015

January 5 – The future of marriage in America.

January 12 – For-profit colleges: Market nice or scam?

January 19 – Are we an over-medicated nation?

January 26 – re Americans too deferential to their military?

February 2 – What is Wahhabism and how does it affect Islam?

Feb 9 –  Who Runs the Republican Party?

Feb 16: What can science tell us about good and evil?

Mar 2: Will Pope Francis Transform Catholicism?

March 9: The Changing Definition of Whiteness

March 16: What Causes San Diego’s High Utility Rates?

March 23:   Is there a Universal Human Nature?

March 30:  How Should We Talk to the “Other Side” About Politics?

April 6:  Why did the West “beat the rest?”  Was it cultural superiority?

April 13:  Why Are So Many rhetorically-Valued Jobs So Low-Paying?

April 20:  How Did the Founding Fathers Envision Government’s powers?

April 27:  What Did/Does the Sermon On the Mount Mean?

May 4: What is intelligence?

May 11: Assessing Bill Clinton’s presidency.

May 18:  How will technology change the nature of work?

May 25: The causes and sociology of modern wars.

June 1: Big Agriculture in the United States.

June 8:  Has the Executive Branch Grown Too Powerful?

June 15: Are Free Trade Pacts Like the Trans-Pacific Partnership In Our Interests?

June 22: Is God a Human Invention?

June 29: Who’s To Blame for Iraq and Syria?

July 6: Is there a looming retirement crisis?

July 13:  Can science explain the mind?

July 20: Negotiating over Iran’s nuclear program.

July 27: Inequality: Its Causes and the Harm  It Does.

Aug 3: Cyber-Security Threats and Responses.

Aug 10: The Politics of Immigration Reform.

Aug 17: Anti-Science Views of the Right and Left.

Aug 24: How Common Are Wrongful Criminal Convictions?

Aug 31:  Is the U.S. Financial Sector Finally Tamed?

Sept 28: Americans’ Ignorance About Public Affairs: How Big a Problem?

Oct 5: Climate Change – Are Nations Starting to Cooperate?

Oct 12: Will the U.S. Government Torture Again?

Oct 19:   1st Democratic Presidential Debate Wrap-Up.

Oct 26: The Transgendered in America

Nov 2: Why are so many Americans on government disability programs?

Nov 9: Does America need more or less government regulation of business?

Nov 16: Trumpism:  What Is It?  How Enduring?

Nov 23: Will We Ever Colonize Space?

Nov 30:  Is the UN Worth Having?

Dec 7: Who broke Congress? What if it stays broken?

Dec 14: Do we have a constitutional right to privacy?

Dec 21:  The Cold War: What was it about and what did we win?

Dec 28: How is a religion different from a cult?

[For more recent and upcoming meetings,  See “Full Mtg Schedule” page.]