Radio Curious

Dr. Mira Dakin-Sadgopal is an obstetrician and gynecologist living and working in rural India and an organizer of the Jeeva Project, which in part, studies an indigenous midwifery practice that uses the placenta to revive newborn babies who are unable to breathe.  In a two part series we discuss  current and traditional midwifery practices in India’s rural countryside.

Dr. Dakin-Sadgopal is the Managing Trustee of Tathapi, a small center for ‘Women and Health’ Resource Development in India, where she has lived for over 3 decades.  In the 1980s Dr. Dakin-Sadgopal provided medical relief to victims of the Union Carbide gas leak in Bhopal.  She later collaborated with women members of a landless laborer’s union to run “Zaroori Dawai ki Suvidha” – “essential medicines facility,” a local village medical co-operative.  She is the author of “In Our Hands,” and the editor of two books, “Her Healing Heritage,” and “Na Shariram Nadhi,” – “My Body is Mine.”

In 2007 Dr. Dakin-Sadgopal was the recipient of the Chingari Award for Women Against Corporate Crimes, which is given annually to a woman activist who has taken up the cause of a community fighting corporate criminal activity in India.   Dr. Dakin-Sadgopal grew up in California and is now citizen of India. This, the first of two interviews with Dr. Mira Dakin-Sadgopal was recorded in the studios of Radio Curious on September 6th, 2010.

The book Dr. Dakin-Sadgopal recommends is, “Anila’s Journey,” by Mary Finn.

Click here to listen to part one of the interview with Dr. Mira Dakin-Sadgopal, or click on the player below.

Click here to listen to part two of the interview with Dr. Mira Dakin Sadgopal.

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If you have been sexually abused as a child, or know someone who was, listen to this edition of Radio Curious with host Barry Vogel and Susan A. Clancy, Ph.D, author of “The Trauma Myth:  The Truth About the Sexual Abuse of Children – and Its Aftermath.”  This conversation discuss’s the myth of when trauma of child sexual abuse takes place, how and the abuse is perceived by the victim, and the effects of denial, minimization and blame, and how this issue within the Catholic Church is not being resolved.  Susan A. Clancy, Ph.D. is currently the Research Director of the Center for Women’s Advancement, Development and Leadership at the Central American Institute for Business Administration in Nicaragua.  This interview was recorded on April 12, 2010, with Susan A. Clancy Ph.D. from her home in Managua, Nicaragua.

The books she recommends are “Happiness: A History” by Darrin M. McMahon, and “In The Woods,” by Tana French.

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For millennia when couples were not able to conceive and bear their own children their options were somewhat limited, and not at all available if the complication was on the females parts.  And, these matters still are not much discussed even among the couples themselves.  However in the past decades medical science has developed in vitro fertilization which can accommodate the egg for the intended mother, or from another woman, and the sperm from the intended father, or from another man, depending on what is needed. The fertilized egg can then be placed into a ‘surrogate’ mother who can take the pregnancy to term and deliver the baby for the parents. The many issues surrounding surrogacy form the conversation in this edition of Radio Curious.  We visit with Dr. Katie Dow, who has studied issues of surrogate parenthood in preparation of her doctorial dissertation in anthropology at the London School of Economics. Katie Dow joined us in the studios of Radio Curious in Ukiah, California on March 8th, 2010, and began by explaining what constitutes surrogacy.

The book Katie Dow recommends is “A Meaningful Life,” by L.J. Davis.

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The fundamental human drive to procreate and reproduce our own kind is also a ticking clock. The female biological clock, though varying woman to woman, as we know, more often than not unwittingly controls root emotions and family life. As many women’s choices in life have widened and changed in the past half century their clocks still tick. In this edition of Radio Curious we visit with Jody Gehrman, writer of “The Ticking Clock,” and actress/researcher Deborah Edelman. Their play is based upon material collected in interviews and surveys with over 150 women; mothers, non-mothers, adoptive mothers, surrogates, pregnant teenage women and more, and queries how their clocks have shaped their lives.

This interview was recorded on January 29th 2010 in the studios of Radio Curious in Ukiah, California. I began by asking Jody Gehrman to explain the play and how the interviews were collected.

The book that Jody Gehrman recommends is “Nocturne,” by Diane Armstrong.

The book that Deborah Edelman recommends is “The Omnivore’s Dilema,” by Michael Pollan.

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The development of the large human head and broad shoulders provide many evolutionary benefits for our species but also require assistance for a safe birth, sometimes presenting life threatening complications in the birth process. Yet gorillas, our 300-pound primate cousins, give birth without assistance in approximately 15 minutes. In this edition of Radio Curious we visit with pediatrician Dr. Mark Sloan, author of “Birth Day: A Pediatrician Explores the Science, the History, and the Wonder of Childbirth.” In this conversation Dr. Sloan explains how our transition from being four legged creatures to two legged ones has forced us to cope with unique physical and cultural differences. We explore what some of the benefits of cesarean deliveries can be as well as the possible, but unverified consequences this birth form present.

This interview was recorded on July 3, 2009 speaking with Dr. Sloan from his home in Santa Rosa, Californa. The conversation began with an explanation of why the human birth process was more difficult than in other primates.

The book Dr. Mark Sloan recommends is “The Discovery of France” by Graham Robb.

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Taboos associated with menstruation limit public discussion of a primary event in the lives of more than half of the human population of the world. And even more limited is the conversation about a young woman’s menarche, or first menstrual period. Rachel Nalebuff, our guest in this edition of Radio Curious, is an eighteen year old woman passionate about breaking taboos associated with menstruation and the author of “My Little Red Book,” an anthology of stories about first periods, collected from women of all ages, around the world. She examines these very personal stories from the larger picture of gender politics and self image. In this conversation we discuss what brought a young woman (Rachel started collecting stories at 13 years old) to choose to publish such a book and how she believes we can bring periods from being taboo into the arena of acceptable discourse. Speaking with Rachel Nalebuff from her home in San Francisco, California on May 29, 2009, we began with her thoughts about why menstruation is seldom discussed.

Rachel Nalebuff, the author of “My Little Red Book,” will enter Yale University in the fall of 2009 . The book Rachel Nalebuff recommends is “A Heartbreaking Work Of Staggering Genius,” by Dave Eggers.

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Are you jealous? Have you ever been? Do you know the origin of your jealousy? Jealousy often goes hand in hand with feelings of love, but where does this emotion come from, and how can we manage it? In this edition of Radio Curious we visit with Marcianne Blevis, author of “Jealousy: True Stories of Love’s Favorite Decoy.” In this book, Marcianne Blevis, a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who lives and works in Paris, France, reveals the different ways jealousy affects people and suggests methods to understand and manage what can be a very destructive yet elusive emotion. She examines the deeper consequences of jealousy and inquires if jealousy is useful to us, and is this extraordinary passion in reality a strategy for survival. In this conversation with Marcianne Blevis from her home in Paris, France recorded on February 2nd, 2009 we began by asking her to explain what jealousy is?

The book she recommends is “Aux Confins De L’Identite” by Michel d’Musan currently only available in french.

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Sex, something that all creatures seek to achieve in one form or another, is often more than discreet among humans. In this discussion with science journalist, Mary Roach, author of, “Bonk, The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex,” we have a direct and frank conversation about human sexuality, including orgasms, what they are, how you know if you have one, and the difference between the male and female human sexual response. This program was recorded on April 14, 2008.

The book Mary Roach recommends is, “The Atlas of Human Sex Anatomy.”

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Born Into Brothels

“Born into Brothels” received the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2005.  A tribute to the resiliency of childhood and the restorative power of art, “Born into Brothels” is a portrait of several unforgettable children who live in the red light district of Calcutta, where their mothers work as prostitutes.  The most stigmatized people in Calcutta’s red light district however are not the prostitutes, but their children.  In the face of abject poverty, abuse, and despair, these kids have little possibility of escaping their mother’s fate or for creating another type of life. In “Born into Brothels,” directors Zana Briski and Ross Kauffman chronicle the amazing transformation of the children they come to know in the red light district.  Briski, a professional photographer, gives them lessons and cameras, igniting latent sparks of artistic genius that reside in these children who live in the most sordid and seemingly hopeless world. The photographs taken by the children are not merely examples of remarkable observation and talent; they reflect something much larger, morally encouraging, and even politically volatile: art as an immensely liberating and empowering force. Devoid of sentimentality, “Born into Brothels” defies the typical tear-stained tourist snapshot of the global underbelly.  Briski spends years with these kids and becomes part of their lives.  Their photographs are prisms into their souls, rather than anthropological curiosities or primitive imagery, and a true testimony of the power of the indelible creative spirit. You can learn about this film and Kids with Cameras at www.kids-with-cameras.org. I spoke with Zana Briski and Ross Kauffman in February 2005. Beginning the conversation first with Zana Briski, I asked her to explain what drew her to India before the concept of “Kids With Cameras” was even a dream.

www.kids-with-cameras.org

Zana Briski recommends “Secret Life of Bees,” by Sue Monk Kidd.

Originally Broadcast: March 15, 2007

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