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Sadly, school shootings continue to happen. After Sandy Hook, our next guest’s company decided to use their CEO’s military experience to create a product that they hope will help make schools safer. Mike Switzer interviews Kirk Ferguson, chief of staff at R2P Innovations in Goose Creek, SC.

Since the pandemic started, we have been hearing about ships clogging our ports. While that situation has eased somewhat, our next guest believes it and high rates of inflation will continue for a while due to increased consumer demand fueled by years of the Fed’s easy money policy and more recently, pandemic relief money. Mike Switzer interviews Bruce Yandle, Dean Emeritus at the College of Business & Behavioral Science and Alumni Professor of Economics Emeritus, both at Clemson University. He is also the Distinguished Professor of Economics at George Mason University’s Mercatus Center which publishes his Economic Situation Report.

During the pandemic when restaurants were closed, many people decided to cook more of their own meals than they had been used to. Has that trend continued or at least are there more home chefs than there used to be? Our next guest should know the answer to that. Mike Switzer interviews John Militello, owner, chef and culinary instructor at Let’s Cook Culinary studio in Columbia, SC.

The beetle family Phengodidae is known also as glowworm beetles, whose larvae are known as glowworms. The females and larvae have bioluminescent organs. They occur throughout the New World from extreme southern Canada to Chile. The recently recognized members of the Phengodidae, the Cydistinae, are found in Western Asia. The family Rhagophthalmidae, an Old World group, used to be included in the Phengodidae.

The antlions are a group of about 2,000 species of insect in the neuropteran family Myrmeleontidae. They are known for the predatory habits of their larvae, which mostly dig pits to trap passing ants or other prey. In North America, the larvae are sometimes referred to as doodlebugs because of the marks they leave in the sand. The adult insects are less well known due to their relatively short lifespans compared to the larvae. Adults, sometimes known as antlion lacewings, mostly fly at dusk or after dark and may be mistakenly identified as dragonflies or damselflies.

Nature’s evolutionarily perfect scavengers, our vultures, are Johnny on the spot to deal with roadkill.

I have an uplifting ride to work as I pass the Fort Motte Garden Club Garden Spot, the Pollinator Friendly Garden maintained by Nina Mack, Julia Wolfe and friends, and then I go down a hill to cross the Congaree River and check out its water flow.

Congratulations are in order for my dear friend, Sidi Limehouse, of Rosebank Farms on Johns Island, for his very large watermelon. It won the S C Big Melon Contest at the recent watermelon field day at

The annual Sunbelt Ag expo in Moultrie, Georgia, allows growers to see the most up-to-date farming technology in the country. In addition to acres of exhibits, the organizers also select the Swisher Farmers of the Year for Southeastern states.

Stephen Atkins Swails is a forgotten American hero. A free Black in the North before the Civil War began, Swails exhibited such exemplary service in the 54th Massachusetts Infantry that he became the first African American commissioned as a combat officer in the United States military. After the war, Swails remained in South Carolina, where he held important positions in the Freedmen’s Bureau, helped draft a progressive state constitution, served in the state senate, and secured legislation benefiting newly liberated Black citizens. Swails remained active in South Carolina politics after Reconstruction until violent Redeemers drove him from the state.Gordon C. Rhea tells Swails' story in his new biography, Stephen A. Swails: Black Freedom Fighter in the Civil War and Reconstruction (2021, LSU Press. Rhea talks with Walter Edgar about the saga of this indomitable human being who confronted deep-seated racial prejudice in various institutions but nevertheless reached significant milestones in the fight for racial equality.