Radio Curious

How many of us are lonely?  What is loneliness and how does it affect us?  Approximately 25 years ago, when asked the number of friends in whom we could confide, most people in the United States said “three.”  When that question was asked recently most people said “none.”

Inquires reveal that 20% of people, — 60 million in the Untied States alone – are feeling lonely at any given moment.  And, it appears that chronic loneliness may well compete with smoking, obesity and lack of exercise as a significant health risk.

In this edition of Radio Curious we visit with William Patrick, the founding editor of The Journal of Life Sciences and co-author of “Loneliness: Human Nature and the Need for Social Connection,” along with University of Chicago psychology professor John Cacioppo.

My conversation with William Patrick, recorded on October 13, 2008, began when I asked him to define loneliness as used in their book.

The book William Patrick recommends is “The Lost Gospel: The Book of Q and Christian Origins,” by Burton Mack.

Originally Broadcast: October 18th, 2008.

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Why some couples get along and others don’t, sometimes to the extent of terminating their relationship, is a curious question, the answer to which is likely to bring both pleasure and unhappiness to each of us. Michael Basta has been a licensed clinical social worker based in Sonoma, County California, since 1988. He is trained and certified as a Gottman Couples’ Therapist. This training identifies the traits and behaviors of couples that are useful to predict how long their relationship will last. Michael Basta visited Radio Curious on May 21, 2010, and began by describing the negative traits and behaviors that indicate a dark future for the relationship.

The book Michael Basta recommends is “The Female Brain,” by Dr. Louann Brizendine.

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Have you ever been curious about the difference between the male brain and the female brain?  Well I have, for a long time.  This week Radio Curious speaks with neuropsychiatrist, Dr. Louann Brizendine, founder of the Women’s Mood and Hormone Clinic at the University of California at San Francisco.  In 2006 she wrote a book called, “The Female Brain,” and in 2010 she wrote “The Male Brain,”–very different books about very different genders of our human species.

The interview with Dr. Louann Brizendine was recorded March 21^st, 2011.

The book she recommends is “The Emperor of All Maladies,” by Siddhartha Mukherjee.

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Carnism is the invisible belief system, or ideology, that conditions people to eat certain animals. It is the opposite of vegetarianism or veganism; “carn” means “flesh” or “of the flesh” and “ism” denotes a belief system. Most people view eating animals as a given, rather than a choice; in meat-eating cultures around the world people typically don’t think about why they find the meat of some animals disgusting and the meat of other animals appetizing, or why they eat any animals at all.  This is the topic of a conversation with Melanie Joy, Ph.D., author of , “Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs and Wear Cows, an Introduction to Carnism.”

The interview with Melanie Joy, Ph.D. was recorded in Ukiah, California on November 29, 2010.  Joy’s website is www.carnism.com The book she recommends is, “Food Revolution: How your diet can save your life and our world,” by John Robbins.

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We often hear terms in the vernacular to describe a man when he is easily frustrated or angered.  Seemingly insignificant things can easily explode into arguments that can affect if not seriously damage couples’ relationships when some men develop what has been called the “irritable male syndrome.”  Identifying and understanding these troubled waters is the topic of this edition of Radio Curious. Our guest is Jed Diamond, Ph.D., author of the book “Mr. Mean: Saving Your Relationship from the Irritable Male Syndrome.” In this visit we explore the causes of the “irritable male syndrome,” how it affects relationships and how a better understanding of its causal factors and influences can help diffuse anger and frustration that draw joy from couples’ partnerships.  Jed Diamond, Ph.D., is an internationally respected leader in the men’s health movement.  I spoke with Jed Diamond on May, 28, 2010 in the Radio Curious studios in Ukiah, California and began by asking him to define the “irritable male syndrome.”

The book Jed Diamond recommends is “Chaos Point 2012 and Beyond: Appointment with Destiny,” by Ervin Laszlo.

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Part One

How do we make the big decisions in our lives?  Who to vote for—or who to choose as a life mate or form an opinion about politics or war?  Most of us are certain we consciously evaluate these decisions.  But, we may be fooling ourselves, if not being fooled by others.  Shankar Vedantam, author of “The Hidden Brain: How Our Unconscious Minds Elect Presidents, Control Markets, Wage Wars, and Save Our Lives,” encourages us to be aware of how our unconscious mind is capable of controlling our decision making capabilities.  In this, the first of two conversations with Shankar Vedantam, we explore the unconscious mind, how we rely upon it and how it is can be manipulated by advertising  and our anecdotal experiences.  These interviews with Shankar Vedantam were recorded on May 17, 2010 by phone from his home in Massachusetts.  We began with his description of the “hidden brain.”  Shankar Vedantam is a national correspondent and columnist for The Washington Post and 2009-10 Nieman Fellow at Harvard University.

The book Shankar Vedantam recommends is “A House For Mr. Biswas” by V.S.Naipaul.

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Part Two

Not too long before the pseudo religious organization known as “The People’s Temple moved to the remote jungles of Guyana in the northeast corner of South America where over 900 people killed themselves at the direction of Jim Jones in 1978, they were based in Redwood Valley, California, about 10 miles from Ukiah, the home of Radio Curious.   In this, the second Radio Curious conversation with Shankar Vedantam author of “The Hidden Brain: How Our Unconscious Minds Elect Presidents, Control Markets, Wage Wars, and Save Our Lives,” we explore what compelled these people to kill themselves. We’ll examine what compels suicide bombers of the early 21^st century to take their own lives and those of others? And are we, in fact, all susceptible to these ideas? The conversation with Shankar Vedamtam, recorded from his home in Massachusetts on May 17, 2010, began when I asked him to explain the attraction of cults, who are drawn to them, and why.  Shankar Vedantam is a national correspondent and columnist for The Washington Post and 2009-10 Nieman Fellow at Harvard University. This interview was recorded on May 17th, 2010.

The book Shankar Vedantam recommends is “Heart Of Darkness” by Joseph Conrad.

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Why some couples get along and others don’t, sometimes to the extent of terminating their relationship, is a curious question, the answer to which is likely to bring both pleasure and unhappiness to each of us.  Michael Basta has been a licensed clinical social worker based in Sonoma, County California, since 1988.  He is trained and certified as a Gottman Couples’ Therapist.  This training identifies the traits and behaviors of couples that are useful to predict how long their relationship will last.  Michael Basta visited Radio Curious on May 21, 2010, and began by describing the negative traits and behaviors that indicate a dark future for the relationship.

The book Michael Basta recommends is “The Female Brain,”  by Dr. Louann Brizendine.

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What would it be like for you if you were deaf? If you could not speak your first word until you were six? If you had three years of education, your first language was German, and you later emigrated to another country where they speak English?  Ingelore is the first name of a woman who was born in Germany in 1924, and came to America in 1940 at the beginning of the Third Reich, right after Kristallnacht. The film “Ingelore” was made by Inglelore’s son Frank Stiefel, and it tells his mother’s story.  This edition of Radio Curious begins with we a piece from the movie “Ingelore” in which she explains who she is and a little of her story. As we hear is her ability to articulate words in English it’s important to remember  she cannot hear.

This interview was recorded on May 29th, 2010 with Frank Stiefel from his home in Santa Monica, California.

The books that Frank Stiefel recommends are “Hand Of My Father,” by Myron Uhlberg, and “The Road,” by Cormac McCarthy.

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Several weeks ago I had the good fortune of seeing “If Animals Could Talk,” a movie made by Jane Goodall.  A segment was about The MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility in Woodburn, Oregon. The boys incarcerated there have committed serious criminal offenses, some of them are given an opportunity to train dogs, develop relationships with the dogs and in doing so learn  responsibility, patience and respect for other living creatures. There is a zero recidivism rate among the juvenile inmates who spend time training dogs at MacLaren.  Joan Dalton is the founder and executive director of Project Pooch, a non-profit corporation linked with MacLaren.  Joan Dalton and I visited by phone from her home near Portland, Oregon on February 15, 2010. We began our conversation when I asked her to tell us how Project Pooch came about and then about Project Pooch itself.

The books that Joan Dalton recommends are “Children And Animals: Exploring The Roots Of Kindness And Cruelty,” by Frank R. Ascione and “Rescue Ink: How Ten Guys Saved Countless Dogs and Cats, Twelve Horses, Five Pigs, One Duck,and a Few Turtles,” by Rescue Ink and Denise Flaim.  You may visit the Project Pooch website at www.pooch.org.

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