IZOD Indycar's Simona de Silvestro & Catholicism Series

On today’s show World Footprints explores the plight of the endangered Panther, we chat with one of the rising IZOD Indycar stars Simona de Silvestro, and we also view Catholicism through the lens with Father Robert Barron.  As a special bonus, we added some sound bytes and interviews from the DC Stop Modern Slavery walk to end human trafficking.

Panthers once roamed the entire southeastern United States; from Florida to South Carolina and Louisiana.  However, the panther was added to the Endangered Species List in 1967.   The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is at the forefront of the Panther conservation efforts and Park Ranger Sandy Mickey from the Florida Panther & Ten Thousand Islands National Wildlife Refuges joins us today to talk about some of these initiatives. 

Then, we enjoyed a chat with one of the IZOD Indycar series rising stars, Simona de Silvestro.  Simona is one of a handful of female Indycar racers and she is one of the most prominent racecar drivers on the track.  Simona hails from a country where auto racing is banned but she has made a name for herself as one of racing’s brightest young stars.  She is the first woman in Atlantic Series history to have earned the most wins and pole positions, and the IZOD Indycar Rising Star Award.