Top of Mind with Julie Rose

We all like to think we’d help someone in danger, but too often people stand by because they’re afraid to intervene or assume someone else will do it. Should it be a crime to be a bystander? What if you don’t witness the harm, but you suspect it’s happening, and you’re in a position to intervene? Does failing to stop the abuse make you an enabler? In this week’s podcast episode, we explore the imp...

Our “Stick With It” conversation series on the Top of Mind podcast continues with diversity advocate Susan Madsen’s story about being invited to attend an event and realizing she was the only white person in a room of several hundred people. Sticking with the discomfort she felt at the event gave her a window into how people of color must feel often in Madsen’s majority white community. That new m...

Our “Stick With It” conversation series on the Top of Mind podcast continues with Corey Nathan, host of “Talkin’ Politics and Religion Without Killin’ Each Other.” He tackles tough topics on his podcast all the time, but talking with his Jewish father about his decision to become a Christian seemed doomed to failure. It would have been easier to not talk about it, says Corey. But he and his dad ma...

A decade ago, there was not a single state where it was legal to use recreational marijuana. Today, nearly half of Americans live in states where pot is now legal. And many more are in states where medical marijuana has been legalized. But the federal government maintains that the drug has no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse. How do we make sense of that? Our nation’s...

People all around the world look to the United States as a land of opportunity and safety. Every month, tens of thousands of people arrive at US border checkpoints and ask to be granted asylum. Over the last decade, the number of people showing up at the southern U.S. border seeking protection has increased five-fold to more than 200,000 every month. That huge increase has so overwhelmed the syste...

When we drink the water, breathe the air and dig in the soil in our communities, we expect it to be safe. In the United States, we have regulatory agencies meant to protect us, but they sometimes fall short. Places populated by people of color or those in poverty are more likely to suffer the consequences. Who is responsible for combating pollution? How can we, as individuals, contribute to a clea...

Our “Stick With It” conversation series on the Top of Mind podcast continues with sex therapist Tammy Hill’s story of feeling inspired to write a book that featured her own sexual experiences. She was so terrified at the thought – what would her parents think?! – that she put it off for seven years. Podcast Guest: Tammy Hill, LMFT, author of “Replenish: Creating Sexual Fulfillment in Marriage” (A...

Our “Stick With It” conversation series on the Top of Mind podcast continues with life coach Jody Moore’s story about receiving some upsetting feedback from someone she respected. Rather than dismiss the criticism as misguided, Moore decided to explore it with an open heart and says she’s a better life coach because of it. Podcast Guest: Jody Moore, certified life coach, author of “Better Than Hap...

About 45,000 Americans died from gun violence in 2022. A similar number died the year before. About half of those deaths are gun suicides. The other half are gun homicides. Mass shootings tend to capture the most attention and outrage, but they’re just a small fraction of the total number of gun deaths each year. How can we reduce gun violence in America? Reducing the number of firearms in the cou...

Who deserves good health? It’s what we all want and shapes many of our decisions, but it’s not entirely within our control. The water we drink, air we breathe, and communities we live in all influence our health. How do we determine justice in healthcare? Some people have worse health because of factors beyond their control; is that fair? In this podcast episode, we’ll speak with a doctor who beli...

When someone commits a crime in this country, we lock them up—and we do it a lot. If you look at just the people who are incarcerated globally, a disproportionate number – 20 percent – are in American prisons. The U.S. criminal justice system was created to enforce laws, punish offenders, deter crime, and protect society. How well do prisons help accomplish those things? Current incarceration and...

We're hard at work on a new season of Top of Mind and won't have a new episode on the podcast feed for a few weeks. So, it's a great time to listen back to episodes you may have missed. And keep your Stick With It stories coming to topofmind@byu.edu.

The debate over how race – and America’s history with racism – should be taught in schools has come to feel black and white: you’re either for it or against it. But race isn’t black and white, and neither is the issue of how to teach kids about race in schools. In this episode of the podcast, we’ll hear from two mothers and a teacher with especially complicated views on when it’s helpful to talk a...

Our “Stick With It” series on the Top of Mind podcast continues with an all too familiar story of a social media post provoking an unexpected, angry reaction. For Allie, posting about her Christian faith on Instagram felt innocuous and empowering. But a dear friend was hurt by the post. Allie was hurt too, but chose to validate her friend’s perspective and be vulnerable about her own. Sticking wit...

Our “Stick With It” series on the Top of Mind podcast continues with a story about a children’s librarian feeling upset and attacked by the nationwide debate over book banning. But instead of dismissing her concerns about book censorship, she chose to try listening more closely to what parents and citizens were saying. After watching countless videos of confrontational school board meetings from a...

Most Americans identify as sports fans – more than identify as church-goers, in fact. Is it good for sports fandom to play such a prominent role in society? After all, we know how tribal, obsessive and competitive we can get about our favorite sports teams. But there’s evidence that sports fandom offers benefits to American society, as a whole. For example, it fuels networks of relationships and c...

Abortion is such a controversial issue, most of us avoid discussing it for fear of ending up in an angry debate. Plus, few of us are open to changing our minds about abortion access, so what’s the point of talking about it with people who disagree? In this episode of the podcast, we’ll learn how to talk about abortion and why it’s crucial that we do, even if there’s no chance of finding common gro...

Top of Mind launched its weekly format early in 2022 and we’re so gratified by your response. One listener wrote “I feel like I am becoming a better, more educated person every time I listen.” In this bonus podcast drop, Julie talks about some of the episodes from 2022 that affected her personally and several others perfect for helping you deal with challenges the holidays present (like grief and...

It’s the season for nostalgia, so we’re looking at how community traditions help us feel connected to the place we live. Is there a certain holiday, or time of year, when you’ll go out of your way to be in your hometown? This week on the podcast, we’re sharing stories from around the country of Christmas traditions, Fourth of July festivities, summer music jams and a host of quirky celebrations fr...

Can righting society's past wrongs help us heal from historical harm? Many people argue that America’s past mistakes, particularly its treatment of African Americans and indigenous peoples, have had consequences we’ve never reckoned with. Others argue that former injustices happened so long ago we should just move on. In this podcast episode, we explore two authors’ frameworks for personal reparat...

It’s easy to take clean water for granted in America. But there are millions of people in this country who can’t count on water to flow when they turn the tap or flush the toilet. Your city is likely decades behind on maintenance and upgrades to its water infrastructure and sewer systems. Add to that the extended drought gripping Western states, and it’s increasingly clear that none of us can – or...

Our new “Stick With It” series on the Top of Mind podcast continues with a story about neighborhood conflict and the solution one woman found by staying open and curious. “Marie” found herself at odds with her neighbors when a drug dealer moved in next door and made the street unsafe. While other homeowners hunkered down and blamed the police for failing to solve the problem, Marie went looking fo...

Our new “Stick With It” series on the Top of Mind podcast kicks off with storyteller Sam Payne sharing how he tackled his own uncomfortable story about race. In this episode, Sam talks about a time he was asked to perform a story about race at a conference. He was embarrassed to decline the invitation because he didn't think he had story to tell. He is a white man living in a non-racially diverse...

Can the news be trusted? Americans aren’t too sure. What happens when we start to see journalists as enemies, rather than allies, of democracy and truth? Barely a third of Americans say they have even a "fair amount" of trust in the press, according to Gallup polls. They think mainstream media is biased, or sloppy. Are they right? In this podcast episode, we’ll discuss the role of journalism in de...

When war breaks out, we tend to focus on whether the war is justified. Is it right to fight? Under international law, it's not that hard to justify going to war. But if we really want to understand why wars happen, asking only if the war is justified can muddy the water. In this second episode about war, we're focused on understanding how the decision to fight gets made. What leads a leader or soc...