Book Club

In his book, The Wildlife of Our Bodies, biologist Rob Dunn from the Department of Biology at North Carolina State University opines that while "clean living" has benefited us in some ways, it has also made us sicker in others. We are trapped in bodies that evolved to deal with the dependable presence of hundreds of other species. As Dunn reveals, our modern disconnect from the web of life has resulted in unprecedented effects that immunologists, evolutionary biologists, psychologists, and other scientists are only beginning to understand.

Author Christopher McDougall's book, Born To Run, is an epic adventure that began with one simple question: Why does my foot hurt? Isolated by Mexico's deadly Copper Canyons, the blissful Tarahumara Indians have honed the ability to run hundreds of miles without rest or injury. Mr. McDougall set out to discover their secrets. In the process, he has journied from science labs at Harvard to the sun-baked valleys and freezing peaks across North America, where ever-growing numbers of ultra-runners are pushing their bodies to the limit, and, finally, to a climactic race in the Copper Canyons that pits America's best ultra-runners against the tribe.

In his book, The Wildlife of Our Bodies, biologist Rob Dunn from the Department of Biology at North Carolina State University opines that while "clean living" has benefited us in some ways, it has also made us sicker in others. We are trapped in bodies that evolved to deal with the dependable presence of hundreds of other species. As Dunn reveals, our modern disconnect from the web of life has resulted in unprecedented effects that immunologists, evolutionary biologists, psychologists, and other scientists are only beginning to understand.

In 1998 Andrew Wakefield, a British gastroenterologist with a history of self-promotion, published a paper with a shocking allegation: the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine might cause autism. The media seized hold of the story and, in the process, helped to launch one of the most devastating health scares ever. Yet despite the numerous studies that failed to find any link between childhood vaccines and autism, it has since been popularized by media personalities, and declining vaccination rates have led to outbreaks of deadly illnesses like Hib, measles, and whooping cough. In The Panic Virus: The True Story Behind the Vaccine-Autism Controversy, author Seth Mnookin draws on interviews with parents, public-health advocates, scientists, and anti-vaccine activists to tackle a fundamental question: How do we decide what the truth is?

500,000 Americans died over a 6 week period; is this the latest thriller from Hollywood, or a piece of American history? Joining host Dr. John Russell to elaborate is Gina Kolata, acclaimed reporter for The New York Times and author of Flu: The Story Of The Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918 and the Search for the Virus that Caused It. In Flu, Ms. Kolata unravels the mystery of this lethal virus. From Alaska to Norway, from the streets of Hong Kong to the corridors of the White House, Kolata tracks the race to recover the live pathogen and probes the fear that has impelled government policy ever since. A gripping work of science writing, Flu addresses the prospects for a great epidemic's recurrence and considers what can be done to prevent it.

In 1998 Andrew Wakefield, a British gastroenterologist with a history of self-promotion, published a paper with a shocking allegation: the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine might cause autism. The media seized hold of the story and, in the process, helped to launch one of the most devastating health scares ever. Yet despite the numerous studies that failed to find any link between childhood vaccines and autism, it has since been popularized by media personalities, and declining vaccination rates have led to outbreaks of deadly illnesses like Hib, measles, and whooping cough. In The Panic Virus: The True Story Behind the Vaccine-Autism Controversy, author Seth Mnookin draws on interviews with parents, public-health advocates, scientists, and anti-vaccine activists to tackle a fundamental question: How do we decide what the truth is?

500,000 Americans died over a 6 week period; is this the latest thriller from Hollywood, or a piece of American history? Joining host Dr. John Russell to elaborate is Gina Kolata, acclaimed reporter for The New York Times and author of Flu: The Story Of The Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918 and the Search for the Virus that Caused It. In Flu, Ms. Kolata unravels the mystery of this lethal virus. From Alaska to Norway, from the streets of Hong Kong to the corridors of the White House, Kolata tracks the race to recover the live pathogen and probes the fear that has impelled government policy ever since. A gripping work of science writing, Flu addresses the prospects for a great epidemic's recurrence and considers what can be done to prevent it.

When Dr. Pauline Chen began medical school, she dreamed of saving lives. What she could not predict was how much death would be a part of her work. Almost immediately, she found herself wrestling with medicine's most profound paradox-that a profession premised on caring for the ill also systematically depersonalizes dying. Drawing from her authored work, Final Exam, Dr. Chen describes the course of her education and practice as she struggled to reconcile the lessons of her training with her innate sense of empathy and humanity. Hosted by Dr. Maurice Pickard.

Dr. Maurice Pickard welcomes author Scott McGaugh to discuss the subject of his book "Surgeon in Blue: Jonathan Letterman, the Civil War Doctor Who Pioneered Battlefield Care." Through their discussion, listeners will discover how one lone surgeon, Jonathan Letterman, reshaped military medicine over the course of four major Civil War battles and a single year. Letterman, confronted by thousands of wounded lying abandoned on the battlefield, a sickly and malnourished Union army, and obscenely filthy military camps, took steps that make battlefield survival possible for our soldiers today.

Dr. Maurice Pickard welcomes author Scott McGaugh to discuss the subject of his book "Surgeon in Blue: Jonathan Letterman, the Civil War Doctor Who Pioneered Battlefield Care." Through their discussion, listeners will discover how one lone surgeon, Jonathan Letterman, reshaped military medicine over the course of four major Civil War battles and a single year. Letterman, confronted by thousands of wounded lying abandoned on the battlefield, a sickly and malnourished Union army, and obscenely filthy military camps, took steps that make battlefield survival possible for our soldiers today.