This Saturday 26th September 8-9 PM on It’s A Question Of Balance with Ruth Copland we consider ‘Do Animals Have Rights?’ Do you think animals have an equal right to live on the earth or do you think humans take precedence? Why do you think people consider humans to be more important than animals? Why do you think there is frequently greater compassion for wild animals than farmed animals, which often live and die in very cruel situations? Do you think it is acceptable for animals to suffer to provide us with food? Are you willing to pay more for humanely raised meat? What rights, if any, do you think animals should have?
What do you think? Ruth Copland gets the views of people on the street for our Out and About feature. Join us on Saturday 8-9 PM! For more info on the show and to hear past shows visit www.itsaquestionofbalance.com
This Saturday November 8th 8-9 PM on It’s A Question Of Balance with Ruth Copland we consider ‘Can We Retain Empathy in the Face of Fear?’ America is known for its defense of freedom and civil liberties, yet at times it seems that fear-based hysteria can build, reducing empathy and compassion, and eroding defense of civil liberties. Responses to HIV/AIDS, terrorism and threatened health epidemics spring to mind, the recent Ebola scare in particular. Do you think that it is a choice whether we live in fear or not? Do you think the media has a responsibility not to incite fear? There doesn’t seem to be much compassion in the reporting of the Ebola epidemic compared with famine victims, for example. There has also been a bubbling witch-hunt mentality about travelers from foreign countries and exposed health-workers. There are hundreds of things more likely to kill us than Ebola, including our own choices about such things as not addressing clinical obesity, high usage of alcohol, drug-taking, extreme sports, smoking, as well as many diseases. Where does our fear of Ebola come from? Why have we so quickly jumped to concern for ourselves? And if we can’t help but be afraid, can we at least retain empathy in the face of fear and moderate our responses accordingly? What do you think? I get the views of people in the local area for our Out and About feature. Join us on Saturday 8-9 PM! For more info on the show and to hear past shows visit www.itsaquestionofbalance.com
This Saturday January 31st 8-9 PM on It’s A Question Of Balance with Ruth Copland we consider What do you want from the news? Do you get it? Print media can give much more detailed information on stories than TV - is this something you consider in how you get your news? A publication like The Economist has specific experts to report on different areas. Do you expect journalists to have specialist knowledge of the subjects on which they are reporting? What responsibility do you feel the media has to ensure the information they give is accurate? Do you think positive stories should feature in the news too?
What do you think? I get the views of people in the local area for our Out and About feature. Join us on Saturday 8-9 PM! For more info on the show and to hear past shows visit www.itsaquestionofbalance.com
Ruth Copland has been out and about covering the 2017 Cinequest Film Festival in Silicon Valley. This week she is featuring guests from What Happened In Vegas, a shocking and heartbreaking documentary about three murder cases where all the victims were shot by the police. The film had its world premiere at Cinequest and reveals a police department seemingly willing to go to any lengths to protect its image and hide its crimes. The film also features good cops trying to act with integrity within a broken system, and considers what has gone wrong and how it might be fixed. Listen here What Happened in Vegas? | It's A Question of Balance(broadcast 11 March).
Ramsey Denison, the director, producer and editor of the film decided to make the film after he witnessed police brutality, called 911 to report it and then was beaten up by police and arrested himself for doing so. He covers this story in the film as well as several cases including the police killing of West Point graduate Erik Scott. Ruth Copland interviews the father of this young man Bill Scott, the director Ramsey Denison, and editor Doug Blush, renowned for his work on Oscar-winning and Oscar-nominated documentaries, including The Invisible War and The Hunting Ground.
This Saturday November 8th 8-9 PM on It’s A Question Of Balance with Ruth Copland we consider ‘Are religion and violence inextricably linked?’ Religious scholar Karen Armstrong states that many people “believe instinctively that there is a violent essence inherent in religion, which inevitably radicalises any conflict - because once combatants are convinced that God is on their side, compromise becomes impossible and cruelty knows no bounds.” But is violence in the name of, or in defence of, religion a cover for other agendas? Does religious violence actually have more to do with politics and social order? Or is some level of violence inevitable in the defence of faith? What do you think? I get the views of people in the local area for our Out and About feature. Join us on Saturday 8-9 PM! For more info on the show and to hear past shows visit www.itsaquestionofbalance.com
This Saturday 22nd August 8-9 PM on It’s A Question Of Balance with Ruth Copland we consider ‘Are We Medicalising Normal?’ Drapetomania was a supposed mental illness described by American physician Samuel A. Cartwright in 1851 that caused black slaves to flee captivity. His feeling was that with "proper medical advice, strictly followed, this troublesome practice that many Negroes have of running away can be almost entirely prevented." Whilst this sounds preposterous to us now psychotherapist Gary Greenberg feels that the disorder might well have made it into the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) had it existed at the time, noting that homosexuality was listed in the DSM as a sociopathic personality disorder until 1973. Greenberg says that by trying to use a pseudoscientific model to understand and treat our “hopelessly complex” inner world, we are creating a “charade” of non-existent disorders. Obviously there is a need to help people with serious mental issues that are impeding their life and/or causing harm to others. But excluding these cases, there are a whole range of “disorders” that have sprung up that represent behaviour that used to be absorbed into normal life. In his book The Book of Woe: The DSM and the unmaking of Psychiatry, psychotherapist of 30 years Gary Greenberg states “When the DSM was [first] published there were 14 mental disorders and now there are 250 – it needs to scale back.” Do you have any sense of the medicalisation of everyday human experience? Are you aware of more children being diagnosed with mental conditions? Are we medicalising normal?
What do you think? Ruth Copland gets the views of people on the street for our Out and About feature. Join us on Saturday 8-9 PM! For more info on the show and to hear past shows visit www.itsaquestionofbalance.com
This Saturday 20th June 8-9 PM on It’s A Question Of Balance with Ruth Copland we consider ‘Can Forgiveness Combat Hate?’ Media outlets around the world have been featuring the tragic events in Charleston, South Carolina, where nine black people have been killed in a shooting in a church where the suspect, a young white man, opened fire during a bible meeting. On the one side we have a senseless, racially motivated act of killing and on the other side we have extraordinary acts of love and forgiveness on the part of some of the victims’ family members, rising above the killer’s seeming intent to foment racial hatred. Can forgiveness combat hate? Some people feel it’s naive to respond in this fashion. Do you see forgiveness as an act of strength or weakness? Whilst in no way being an act of condoning such a terrible atrocity or a simplification of the reasons behind it, can forgiveness be an act of of healing that stops hate spreading?
What do you think? Ruth Copland gets the views of people on the street for our Out and About feature. Join us on Saturday 8-9 PM! For more info on the show and to hear past shows visit www.itsaquestionofbalance.com
This Saturday November 8th 8-9 PM on It’s A Question Of Balance with Ruth Copland we consider ‘Can God and Science Co-exist?’ Atheists and creationists would have us believe that we have to choose between God and Science - but do we? Amir Aczel in his new book Why Science Does Not Disprove God makes a distinction between two Gods - ‘the Gods of organised religions and the Gods of Einstein’. Einstein himself said ‘Science without religion is lame: religion without science is blind.’ The God Aczel is defending is a power behind the universe, not the God of religions. So is it possible to adhere to specific religious tenets whilst also appreciating the greater understanding of our world that science offers? Science has shown that we are made from the same cosmic dust as stars, quantum physics shows that particles once connected remain so over any distance, even millions of light years; increasingly science shows that we come from one source - and for many this source is God. Pope John Paul II stated “Science can purify religion from error and superstition; religion can purify science from idolatry and false absolutes. Each can draw the other into a wider world, a world in which both can flourish”. Do you see the possibility of religions and science working more closely to share their different perspectives? Can God and science co-exist?
What do you think? I get the views of people in the local area for our Out and About feature. Join us on Saturday 8-9 PM! For more info on the show and to hear past shows visit www.itsaquestionofbalance.com
This Saturday 8-9 PM on It’s A Question Of Balance with Ruth Copland we consider ‘Can Restraint Be As Courageous As Action?’ A few years back a British soldier Maj. Gen. Nick Carter, who at the time was in charge of the international forces in southern Afghanistan, suggested that soldiers could someday be awarded medals for restraint that prevents civilian casualties in combat. This followed a strategic protocol put in place by the British army called Courageous Restraint, where there were a strict set of criteria that had to be met to fire on targets so that civilian deaths were limited. The absolute opposite of ‘shoot first ask questions later’. Both the protocol and the medal suggestion valued the concept that to hold fire and more fully assess a situation may increase the danger for the soldier and thus require courage. Does this kind of restraint seem courageous to you? If so, do you think a medal is an appropriate way to honour this kind of courage? Would it perhaps help change the mindset of how a conflict can be won if acts of restraint were equally honoured with action? Why does action seem to be valued so much more highly than restraint? Do you think this idea of courageous restraint would also be of benefit within American society, for example in our police force?
What do you think? Ruth Copland gets the views of people on the street for our Out and About feature. Join us on Saturday 8-9 PM! For more info on the show and to hear past shows visit www.itsaquestionofbalance.com
This Saturday 24th October 8-9 PM on It’s A Question Of Balance with Ruth Copland we consider ‘Can We Be National and Global Citizens?’ The first use of the term world citizen is ascribed to Diogenes of Sinope living two and half thousand years ago. When he was asked where he came from he responded ‘I am a citizen of the world.’ This was a radical claim at a time when a man’s identity and often security was tied to his citizenship of a particular city state. Today even though we have the ability to travel virtually anywhere in the world we are still very conscious of our national roots. In addition, with the amount of conflict and poverty in the world the number of refugees and would-be immigrants seeking a safe haven is increasing which is challenging people to consider what national identity means and how it should be protected or expanded. Bearing this in mind, I’m wondering do you think of yourself as a national citizen and a global citizen? What does being a global citizen mean to you? Do you think of global citizenship as requiring one world system or as being more about one planet where there are diverse cultures and ways of doing things but we are interconnected? What responsibility do you think we have to be part of a global solution to help the challenges facing people in other areas of the world? Are we all in this together or is it each country for itself?
What do you think? Ruth Copland gets the views of people on the street for our Out and About feature. Join us on Saturday 8-9 PM! For more info on the show and to hear past shows visit www.itsaquestionofbalance.com
This Saturday 21st March 8-9 PM on It’s A Question Of Balance with Ruth Copland we consider ‘Do we still need physical community?’ With the rise of technology we are increasingly becoming more individualized and physically isolated. Do we still need physical community or can internet community suffice? Community can be defined as a feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals. One participant in a survey described community as 'about belonging. It is a place that supports me in many ways - friends, neighbors, jobs, resources, play time. It is home’. Can virtual community provide these things? Our online friendships can be relatively shallow with quantity trumping quality. How real/genuine is virtual support? When it is so easy to ‘like’ something or enter a quick comment is the support’s worth diluted? Are virtual and physical community just different but equally valuable? What does community mean to you and where do you look for it?
What do you think? I get the views of people in the local area for our Out and About feature. Join us on Saturday 8-9 PM! For more info on the show and to hear past shows visit www.itsaquestionofbalance.com
This Saturday October 25th 8-9 PM on It’s A Question Of Balance with Ruth Copland we consider ‘Do we still need public libraries? In this age of the internet and e-books what is the role of the public library in society today? Thomas Jefferson in 1809 wrote “I have often thought that nothing would do more extensive good at small expense than the establishment of a small circulating library in every county”. Funding of libraries is constantly under attack in budget cuts and has seriously declined in recent years even though 90% of Americans say the closing of their local public library would impact their community*. Publishers are ambivalent or even hostile about libraries fearing reduced book sales. With their core mission of promoting reading, however, do libraries create new readers (and thus new purchasers)? 82% of Americans believe libraries should provide free literacy programs to young children*, which may include traditional reading, writing and comprehension as well as technology and new media literacies. Is this a good use of public money or should parents be responsible for providing these skills? Many people have home access to the internet for research and e-books but does this replace the cultural and intellectual experience of the library and its role as a vibrant community center? Is the library more than a repository of books? Libraries now provide free access to the internet and computers – is this as fundamental a right to information as the original intent of libraries providing access to books (and thus knowledge) for all people regardless of socio-economic standing? What do you think? I get the views of people in the local area for our Out and About feature. Join us on Saturday 8-9 PM! For more info on the show and to hear past shows visit www.itsaquestionofbalance.com
This Saturday 11th April 8-9 PM on It’s A Question Of Balance with Ruth Copland we consider ‘Does vast wealth create a moral obligation to give back?’ Some billionaires such as Bill and Melinda Gates, Warren Buffet and John Caudwell feel that it does. They are all signatories to the Giving Pledge which commits the pledgee to give more than half of their wealth to philanthropy or charitable causes either during their lifetime or in their will. Plenty of other billionaires are keeping their wealth to themselves. Do you think the world’s billionaires owe anything to the societies in which they made their fortune? Or do you think it’s their money, and they shouldn’t feel guilty about having it or that they have to give some away?
What do you think? Ruth Copland gets the views of people on the street for our Out and About feature. Join us on Saturday 8-9 PM! For more info on the show and to hear past shows visit www.itsaquestionofbalance.com
This Saturday 2nd May 8-9 PM on It’s A Question Of Balance with Ruth Copland we consider ‘Has social media changed how much we live versus perform our lives?’ Shakespeare said “All the world's a stage,/ And all the men and women merely players”. The analogy of life as a performance is not a new thing; it has been considered for centuries by such people as Pythagoras and Petronius amongst others. In the past, however, musings focused more on who might be controlling the ‘play’ rather than on people acting out their lives. With social media, though, there is a sense of increasing self-consciousness as we consider what effect our posts are creating. Are we documenting our lives through social media or are we manufacturing our lives to fit an image that we want to project? Are we simply sharing our experiences or are we creating them with an audience in mind? Are we authentic online or are we playing a part? Even if we are not trying to control our image necessarily, are we able to live life in the moment without considering whether it’s a good photo opportunity or something to post about?
What do you think? Ruth Copland gets the views of people on the street for our Out and About feature. Join us on Saturday 8-9 PM! For more info on the show and to hear past shows visit www.itsaquestionofbalance.com
This Saturday 31st October 8-9 PM on It’s A Question Of Balance with Ruth Copland we consider ‘How Should We Teach Children About Sex?’
ThinkProgress.org comments “in the U.S….researchers have warned that kids aren’t receiving accurate sexual health instruction at an early enough age. According to a recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), most American teens don’t receive formal sexual health instruction until after they’ve already become sexually active. That’s largely because the United States hasn’t implemented any national standards for comprehensive sex ed classes in public schools. For instance, just 18 states and the District of Columbia require sexual health courses to cover information about birth control”. Do you think children should be taught about sex and if so how? In school? At home? At what age? What do you think should be covered? Just the biological mechanics? The emotional/relationship side of sex and what that means? Contraception? Consent? Respect for our bodies and for our own individual wishes and experience? Abstinence? How did you find about sex? How do you feel your sex education could have been improved?
What do you think? Ruth Copland gets the views of people on the street for our Out and About feature. Join us on Saturday 8-9 PM! For more info on the show and to hear past shows visit www.itsaquestionofbalance.com
This Saturday 24th January 8-9 PM on It’s A Question Of Balance with Ruth Copland we consider ‘Is Flexible Morality Acceptable in the Name of Security?’
What do you think? I get the views of people in the local area for our Out and About feature. Join us on Saturday 8-9 PM! For more info on the show and to hear past shows visit www.itsaquestionofbalance.com
This Saturday November 29th 8-9 PM on It’s A Question Of Balance with Ruth Copland we consider ‘Is money the best motivator?’ There is a common belief that the best way to motivate ourselves and others is through external rewards like money. However, an overview of 120 years of research to synthesize the findings from 92 quantitative studies involving 15,000 people reveals that the correlation between job satisfaction and pay is extremely weak, less than 2%. Does this surprise you? Would you expect people’s happiness with their job to be largely about how much they are paid? There is research to show that money can actually demotivate because it crowds out other intrinsic goals such as enjoyment, sheer curiosity, learning or personal challenge. Daniel H Pink who has written on this subject states that the three true motivators in life are the need to direct our own life, to learn and create new things, and to do better by ourselves and the world. What do you think? Is money the best motivator? What motivates you?
I get the views of people in the local area for our Out and About feature. Join us on Saturday 8-9 PM! For more info on the show and to hear past shows visit www.itsaquestionofbalance.com
This Saturday 7th February 8-9 PM on It’s A Question Of Balance with Ruth Copland we consider ‘Is the truth necessary to a successful society?’ What place does the truth have in our society today? There’s politicians who it seems a lot of people doubt are telling the truth a lot of the time, there’s excessive advertising everywhere stretching the truth to its limits and at times breaking the limits, and there’s the tabloid magazines which never seem to let the truth get in the way of a salacious story. Evidence from religious texts dating from antiquity shows that lying and deception have been of concern to humans for millennia but is the truth still important? Do we link truth with honour in our dealings? What would a world be like where no one expected the truth? Is the truth necessary to a successful society?
What do you think? I get the views of people in the local area for our Out and About feature. Join us on Saturday 8-9 PM! For more info on the show and to hear past shows visit www.itsaquestionofbalance.com
This Saturday 19th September 8-9 PM on It’s A Question Of Balance with Ruth Copland we consider ‘Is Tipping A Good Thing?’ Jon Mooallem in Wired states ‘Tipping…arrived here from continental hotels and restaurants just before the turn of the century. Gunton’s magazine called it “offensively un-American and positively uneconomic”’. It was felt that tipping undermined the quid pro quo, the capitalist work ethic, and the whole idea of income. Tipping turned wages, which were supposed to be dependable, into something flexible. Tipping was also seen as patronising and demeaning, and still is today in China and Japan. Obviously tipping continued in America, largely as the tippers wouldn’t stop tipping - whether through compassion or bourgeois guilt - and today tipping is accepted, some may even say, expected. Have you ever thought of tipping as being patronising? Or do you always see it as a positive thing? Do you feel comfortable not leaving a tip if the service is bad or do you feel you have to leave something regardless? Should tipping be used to supplement peoples wages? Why do we tip for things like massage when we don't tip doctors or chiropractors or other therapists? Is tipping a good thing?
What do you think? Ruth Copland gets the views of people on the street for our Out and About feature. Join us on Saturday 8-9 PM! For more info on the show and to hear past shows visit www.itsaquestionofbalance.com
This Saturday 29th August 8-9 PM on It’s A Question Of Balance with Ruth Copland we consider ‘Must Women Be Like Men To Be Equal?’ Women want to be treated equally to men, to have equal opportunities, and to have freedom to choose what occupations they can pursue. However, there seems to have grown up around the idea of equality the premise that to be equal to men, women have to enter the men’s world, to demonstrate they can be as tough as men and match other masculine traits rather than feminine qualities and skills coming to be valued equally. For instance, the act of caring for and rearing children and home-making (always undervalued compared with traditional male pursuits) seems to have fallen even lower in value when compared with other more traditionally masculine occupations. Must women be like men to be equal? Or is a situation possible where caring and nurturing and other more traditionally feminine skills are valued equally? Does your view of equality allow for men and women to be different but equal?
What do you think? Ruth Copland gets the views of people on the street for our Out and About feature. Join us on Saturday 8-9 PM! For more info on the show and to hear past shows visit www.itsaquestionofbalance.com
