David McElroy

Joe Paterno has been a living legend in college football for as long as I can remember. I’ve had respect for Penn State’s program for years because of him. Even when Penn State played my school, the University of Alabama, it was always hard to dislike the guy, simply because of what he stood for.

Now that legacy is in ruins. Paterno has been fired by the school where he’s still larger than life. The image he spent a lifetime building has been tarnished beyond repair. And now we have word that he’s dealing with lung cancer. It’s not the way you want to see a man of his caliber exit the public stage.

On this week’s episode of the public radio show, “This American Life,” the entire hour was devoted to what’s going on at Penn State — not the scandal itself, but the reactions of the university community and alumni. (If you’re one of the few who doesn’t know what’s gone on, you can get the background here.)

Paterno was a coach who preached the value of “doing things the right way.” He seemed to care about academics and honesty and integrity. It’s what he built his career on. In a very real sense, it was his reputation for integrity that the school has built its own image upon for close to 50 years. He was seen as a beloved god in State College, Penn., and it’s been difficult for students, fans and alumni to wrap their heads around the fact that he’s a god who failed to live up to his sterling reputation.

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The congressional “super committee” is a super failure. The only question I have is why anyone ever thought it had a chance of success.

This super committee was set up as a result of the congressional budget deal in August. Formally, it’s called the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, but everybody just calls it the super committee. Its job was to do what Congress was supposed to have done during the fight a few months ago — figure out how to reduce the federal budget deficit that’s threatening to grow bigger and bigger and bigger.

Democrats on the committee want tax increases and few spending cuts. Republicans want no tax increases and slightly more serious spending cuts. The two sides have positions that are locked in concrete. They aren’t budging. Monday, the members announced that they’re giving up, because no deal is possible.

If you read various stories about why the negotiations failed, you almost have to come to the conclusion that the two sides might as well be on different planets insofar as how they view the world. Democrats view high-income taxpayers as cows to be milked. Republicans want to keep milking those cows, but just not as hard. The narrative that’s probably going to prevail in the media is the one that says Republican insistence on extending the Bush-era tax cuts is to blame for the failure. I think the truth is simpler and less exciting to TV news.

This country isn’t united in what it wants. It’s not even close. Maybe it never has been. But the fissures are getting deeper. The unity that exists in history books and government classes and romantic imaginations is gone. We have less and less in common. There’s nothing united about today’s United States.

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On the surface, this is a story about food and obesity. Underneath, though, it’s a much deeper story — about science, economics, prejudice and how humans arrive at their version of truth. It’s complicated and messy, but the lessons are applicable across the board — including in politics.

Over the last 50 years, it’s become medical wisdom that eating fat is a very bad thing. It causes obesity. It clogs arteries. It causes all sorts of problems. But what if there’s no proof of that? What if every study ever attempted to prove it had done the opposite or been inconclusive? Science writer Gary Taubes says that’s the case.

Taubes researched the history of the recommendations against fat and the various efforts to prove that approach is the right one. He also looked at the competing theory about obesity, heart disease and other health problems — that they’re caused by sugar. His evidence will leave you wondering why you ever worried so much about fat.

His book is called “Good Calories, Bad Calories: Fats, Carbs, and the Controversial Science of Diet and Health,” but you don’t have to read the book to be fascinated by its insights, both about nutrition and about how science determines what’s true and what’s not. (If you’re honest, it might make you wonder how honest you can really be with yourself.) On this week’s episode of EconTalk, economist Russ Roberts interviews Taubes. Click “play” to listen.

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