On this hour of Modern Notion Daily, we welcome guest Sam Kean, author of The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons: The History of the Brain as Revealed by True Stories of Trauma, Madness, and Recovery (Basic Books, June 2015 paperback). Kean set out to find the boundary between brain and mind, using anecdotes about various brain abnormalities throughout history.

Later in the hour, Gabe Bullard brings us a cultural history of the banjo, and contributing editor Emma Bryce tells us about the man who brings back words from the dead—and she introduces us to some of those resurrected words.

Music this hour:

“Elle va au Japon” by Nic Bommarito, from the album A Quiet Age

“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within