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The Source: Deadlines In The Student Loan Debate | Zombie Culture

Flikr user Laura Taylor

In the first segment:

July first marks the end of a temporary reprieve from student loan rates that was passed by Congress last year -- the rates will go up to over six percent. What does this jump in rates mean for students, for the government, and for taxpayers?  

Matthew Chingos from the Brookings Institution joins us to talk about the plans in Washington and what the likely outcomes could be at the national level.  Eyra Perez, Executive Director at theSan Antonio Education Partnership talks about the importance of the student loan program to a city like San Antonio.

In the second segment:

130619-source-zombies.mp3

The rise of zombie culture is reflected in the dozen or more blockbuster films made in the past 20 years including the feature World War Z, which opens this Friday.

What does this explosion in popularity say about our culture? Are we obsessed with our own end or does this monster reflect our deepest concerns in other ways? Is it a metaphor for disease, environmental degradation, the insecurity of a globalized world?

Pop-culture librarian Rob Weiner from Texas Tech University joins us to talk about what he thinks it means and how he unpacks it for students in his class on zombies at Texas Tech.

Paul Flahive can be reached at Paul@tpr.org