The 21st Show

Creating Manufacturing Jobs; Injuries In Youth Sports; Summer Movies

By Niala Boodhoo, Libby Foster, Alan Montecillo and Robin Linn
 

Pablo Salmerón/Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

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On The 21st: The Reel Deal Critic Reggie Ponder joins us to talk about summer movies. Plus, we talk with a pediatric orthopedist and athletic trainer to talk about summer sports for kids - and how hard they can be on growing children’s bodies. But first, how have some Midwestern cities like Grand Rapids not only managed to survive, but actually thrive when it comes to creating manufacturing jobs? 

Often we hear about how manufacturing jobs have declined in the US during these past few decades. Conventional wisdom holds that it’s because of cheaper labor in foreign countries - and, the rise of robotics. And the Great Recession didn’t help - especially in the Midwest.

But new research shows that some local labor markets managed to not just survive - but thrive - over the past decade. Take Grand Rapids, Michigan. Its post Recession manufacturing job growth has outpaced the national average.

To talk manufacturing, we were joined on the line by Tim Bartik. Tim is a Senior Economist for the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research in Kalamazoo, Michigan. 

We also spoke with Economist Jared Bernstein from Washington. Jared was chief economist to former Vice President Joe Biden and he is currently a senior fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

Plus- 

As the school year comes to a close, many of you listening out there may have kids involved with sports who will continue training and practicing all summer long. Or, maybe this is the time of year when they pick up a new sport - be it swimming, soccer or baseball.

This is a good thing - something we encourage when it comes to making friends and spending time outdoors. But, is there such a thing as too much playing?

Joining us for this conversation was Dr. Cynthia LaBella, she’s a Pediatric Orthopedist at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine & Lurie Children’s Hospital. Brendan McHale spoke with us from our studio in Urbana. He’s the Supervisor of Sports Medicine and Athletic Training Services at the Carle Foundation Hospital. And on the line from Bloomington was Kurt Gibson, the Associate Executive Director of the Illinois High School Association.

And- 

Are you ready for some summer movies? When it’s too hot to be outside, there’s nothing like stepping inside to a cool movie theater. And lucky for us, this is the time of year the studios release a lot of their blockbusters. But which are worth seeing, and which are just, well, busters? Reggie Ponder has his answers. He joined us from our studio at Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism.

Story source: WILL