"On Second Thought" For Friday, April 12, 2019

Poker and chess are both considered professional sports. Competitive gaming is now on that list. Esports is, in fact, booming. Market watchers predict revenues to hit $1.5 billion by 2020. The gaming industry is so big that Georgia high schools got the green light to form student esports teams in 2018. 

As the definition of athletes expands, so do demands to treat gaming-related injuries. Dr. Vonda Wright is an Atlanta-based orthopedic surgeon. She's currently partnering with game developers Skillshot Media to research and treat professional gamers. Wright spoke with On Second Thought host Virginia Prescott about her efforts. 

 On Second Thought for Friday, April 12, 2019

Before Atari, Nintendo and Playstation there was Fairchild Channel F. The 1976 model heralded an innovation that changed the gaming industry forever: interchangeable cartridges for consumer gaming consoles. The literal game changer was the brainchild of Jerry Lawson. Lawson was one of the few African-American engineers working in Silicon Valley. He died in 2011.

Now, Lawson's children are honoring his legacy with the Lawson Foundation for Diversity in Technology. On Second Thought host Virginia Prescott spoke with Anderson and Karen Lawson about the foundation and their father's revolutionary invention.

Writer and director Lulu Wang found a fascinating family story for her second film — her own family. The Farewell follows a Chinese family's decision not to tell their beloved matriarch that she's been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. Their complicity in the secret reveals truths about their relationships to one another. 

Comedian Awkwafina plays main character, Billi, who resists their decision to shield her grandmother from the truth. If this story sounds familiar, Wang told it herself in an episode of This American Life. She stopped by On Second Thought to talk about the new film which kicked off the Atlanta Film Festival.

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