Don't Trust That Memory (originally aired February 25, 2019)

Guest: Catriona Morrison, Department Head, Psychology, University of Bradford, UK 

What's your earliest memory? Research shows that your earliest memory is probably constructed, not actually real at all. Why is memory so fallible that all of us do this? Find out, and find out how to improve your memory as you age.

 

Welcome to Book Heaven

Guest: Alex Johnson, journalist and author, "Book Towns: Forty-Five Paradises of the Printed Word"

Throughout the world, entire towns are dedicating themselves as havens for book sellers, buyers, makers, readers. These “book towns” are paradises for the literary soul and surprisingly savvy economic solutions to small-town problems.

 

Frontiers in Autism Research

Guest: Rebecca Lundwall, Assistant Professor, Psychology, and Director, Development of Visual Cognition Lab, Brigham Young University

Approximately one in every 59 children is diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. Autism is an umbrella term that captures a wide variety of behaviors, experiences, and individuals, and there’s a lot of ongoing research exploring what we do and don’t know about this diagnosis. Gender differences, genetic influences, even changes in gut bacteria are all areas of interest for autism researchers.

 

Radium Girls

Guest: Kate Moore, author, “The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women”

In the early twentieth century, radium was used to make luminous watch dials, but the women who painted them became poisoned by the radium, and had to fight against huge, powerful companies to save the lives of their friends and to win justice. They weren’t fighting for their own lives. They were already doomed to die.