William Ury, the coauthor of “Getting to Yes,” a classic on negotiation, maintains that conflict is inevitable—and sometimes desirable—but that violent confrontation can be much more easily prevented than is commonly believed.

To see additional resources and our other programs, please visit humanmedia.org . Humankind specials are  heard on NPR and PRX member-stations, in association with GBH Boston.

In the second half of this Humankind documentary, we listen to nurses in the Twin Cities who are drawn to their profession by compassion for patients. Providers reveal the difficulties of remaining emotionally “present” in a high-stress medical setting, and several patients tell what it’s like to be treated unkindly or to feel undervalued. We consider the primary importance of listening to patients as a way of conveying respect.

To see additional resources and our other programs, please visit humanmedia.org . Humankind specials are  heard on NPR and PRX member-stations, in association with GBH Boston.

Patients often complain about rushed doctor visits and, of course, the cost of medical services. But a number of studies in recent years highlight a different concern: whether as a patient you actually experience kindness when receiving health care.

In this Humankind documentary, we examine that challenge, from the perspective of both health care professionals – often serving in a stressful environment – and patients who come for help.

To see additional resources and our other programs, please visit humanmedia.org . Humankind specials are  heard on NPR and PRX member-stations, in association with GBH Boston.

Jon Kabat-Zinn, founder of the renowned Stress Reduction Clinic at the Univ. of Massachusetts Medical School, discusses how the technique of “mindfulness” can be physically and mentally therapeutic.

To see additional resources and our other programs, please visit humanmedia.org . Humankind specials are  heard on NPR and PRX member-stations, in association with GBH Boston.

In a country as wealthy as the United States, “working poor” should be a contradiction in terms. But tens of millions of Americans fall into that category, affecting a growing population of children.

To see additional resources and our other programs, please visit humanmedia.org . Humankind specials are  heard on NPR and PRX member-stations, in association with GBH Boston.

In this provocative profile of David Allen, we hear the sounds of communications technology coming at us, and later we stroll through the peaceful garden in Ojai, California where for him “time disappears.” We also hear how he brilliantly defines the widespread problem of “overwhelm” along with very practical solutions that can increase relaxation for everyone.

To see additional resources and our other programs, please visit humanmedia.org . Humankind specials are  heard on NPR and PRX member-stations, in association with GBH Boston.

How can we deal with the modern sense of feeling overloaded? It is emerging as a broad social problem that takes its toll on both work and home life—and can impinge on our ability to function with personal clarity. Best-selling author David Allen discusses new ways we all can learn to focus—in an age of ever-multiplying inputs of information. And he raises the question of what we are focusing on, from routine daily tasks to the big picture of life’s meaning.

To see additional resources and our other programs, please visit humanmedia.org . Humankind specials are  heard on NPR and PRX member-stations, in association with GBH Boston.

Christal Presley, an English teacher in Virginia who experienced “secondary trauma” in response to the extreme behavior of her father, a Vietnam-era veteran with PTSD, tells how the family began a journey of recovery.

To see additional resources and our other programs, please visit humanmedia.org . Humankind specials are  heard on NPR and PRX member-stations, in association with GBH Boston.

Because laughter is surely good medicine, we visit with professional comedians who are also cancer survivors, as well as a top surgeon at New York’s renowned Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, to understand the role of humor and a positive attitude in surviving the disease.

To see additional resources and our other programs, please visit humanmedia.org . Humankind specials are  heard on NPR and PRX member-stations, in association with GBH Boston.

A Harvard medical professor tells the story of how he united with a Soviet cardiologist to launch a physicians movement to end nuclear war that recruited 150,000 doctors worldwide and won the Nobel Peace Prize.

To see additional resources and our other programs, please visit humanmedia.org . Humankind specials are  heard on NPR and PRX member-stations, in association with GBH Boston.