In the first half, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Yale University, Samuel T. Wilkinson MD, discussed recent findings, ranging from evolutionary biology to cognitive psychology, that provide a framework for evolution that reveals a shared purpose to our existence. There's a lot of compelling evidence that there are higher order principles that have constrained or even guided evolution to go in certain directions and not others and that there is a universal purpose to our existence, he suggested. Relationships are the biggest factor that determines our well-being, and a lot of people find purpose in being part of something that is bigger than themselves. "I think the purpose of life is to overcome our weaknesses and to accentuate our strengths and to help other people," he added.

Wilkinson said there is evidence that demonstrates that "people who have a strong marriage ...and those who are involved in the community, in particular in religious participation," have a buffer against health problems. He also touched on depression and mental health issues. "Probably the biggest culprit in this is the growing rise and excessive use of social media and smartphones among teenagers. This seems to especially affect...teenage girls and young adult women," he commented. "In a way, I think excessive social media use kind of replaces the traditional in-person interactions that most of us find to be very rewarding emotionally," he pointed out.

---------

Farmer, author, and speaker Joel Salatin raises livestock on his Polyface Farm in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. He discussed the protest of farmers in Europe, issues with subsidies, and healthier food production practices. The EU has subsidized farmers to the tune of $60 billion for years, so European farmers have gotten extremely dependent on the government largesse and have overbought machinery and overspent in other ways, he commented. While American farmers also receive subsidies, in contrast to Europe, they are more market-oriented and entrepreneurial, he added.

Salatin outlined the causes of rising food prices, including inflation and increased wages for labor. He described his use of large-scale composting in sustainable agriculture at his farm, where the organic waste of pigs is converted into valuable compost and manure. He was critical of solar panels being used to cover up prime farmland in various states, as in addition to taking up growing space, they cause electromagnetic frequency problems and sterilize the landscape. Salatin also reported that various cultured and lab meat companies are losing investors and share prices as they have discovered they can't produce lab-grown meat in large enough quantities to be cost-effective.

News segment guests: Christian Wilde, Kevin Randle