Modern Notion

This hour we talk to Joe Navarro, author of Dangerous Personalities: An FBI Profiler Shows How to Identify and Protect Yourself from Harmful People (Rodale Books, October 2014). Navarro takes us through the four personality types we should watch out for—and assuages any fears that the Modern Notion staff is riddled with narcissists. Contributing editor Erin Blakemore talks about Lewis and Clarks poop, and why its so helpful to archaeologists. And from KALW in the Bay Area, we hear the story of a girl who becomes enraged by certain sounds.

We talk with filmmaker Linda Matchan about her new documentary from Northern Light Productions, Circus without Borders, which tells the true story of two circuses from remote corners of the world---an Inuit village in Canada, and Guinea in West Africa. We also hear about the side of historical presidential assassinations that doesn’t get talked about: what happened to the first wives? And finally, we learn about the origins of Earth Day. Sure it was the brainchild of Sen. Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin, but it was an advertising legend who came up with the name.

This hour we’ll about two vastly differently, but equally fierce groups of warriors: the Nepalese Gurkhas and the women pilots of World War II. Well also hear from Freedom Riders and learn about the man who’s credited with the successful invasion of Normandy---and we’re not talking about Eisenhower. Finally, well hop into the present with Marnie Chesterton who tries to recreate a scientifically accurate sonic rainbow.

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Today we have a little bit of a different show for you. We talked to author Tom Burgis about his new book The Looting Machine, and because it was just so complex and speaks to a lot of current issues, we decided to do a whole show that centers on it. So make sure your headphones are in tight, were heading to Africa, and this all has a lot more to do with you---yes you--than you think.

This hour, host Kristen Majewski talks to Dr. Daniel Rubens, a pediatric anesthesiologist at Seattle Childrens and cofounder of the SIDS Research Guild, about his groundbreaking research on Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. He thinks SIDS is in some way connected with inner ear damage, and he and his team are researching the cause, mechanism, and prevention of SIDS. Producer Ben Harden introduces us to the Indiana Jones of mathematics as part of the STEM Story Project (distributed by PRX with support from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation). And we learn the tumultuous history of the Last Empress of China from Mark Hay, contributing editor to Modern Notion.

This hour we talk to Josh Lambert, author of Unclean Lips: Obscenity, Jews, and American Culture (NYU Press, 2013). Lambert says that there have been many studies of obscenity in America, but almost no scholarship explores how it relates to Jewishness—even though many of the prominent figures were Jewish. Producer Eleanor Stanford sends us an audio postcard from the Dennis Severs House in London, and contributing editor Erin Blakemore introduces us to Madame Wu, the overlooked woman at the center of the Manhattan Project. David Schulmans story takes us under the sea to listen to the sounds that can be found there (part of the STEM Story Project, distributed by PRX with support from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation).

We talk to Dr. John Launer, author of Sex vs. Survival: The Life and Ideas of Sabina Spielrein (Overlook Press, February 2015). Launer wants to bring Spielreins contributions to psychoanalysis to light, rather than dwelling on her brief erotic relationship with Carl Jung. We present our latest People Are Strange: Washington Irving Bishop, the mentalist who was alive for his own autopsy. And we speak to staff writer Josh Hrala about why we have chins, and what spiders can tell us about drugs. We also get a moles-eye view of New York City from producer Bishop Sand, in a story produced as part of the STEM Story Project, distributed by PRX with support from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

Deborah Cadbury talks about her book, Princes at War (Public Affairs, April 2015), a deep exploration of the four British royal brothers before, during, and after World War II. She fills in the details of Wallis Simpsons connection to the Nazis and shows how the three younger brothers stepped up in wartime, in a way their country never imagined they could. And from the PRX STEM Story Project, with support from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation: we learn about how some blind people are learning to see with echo-location, and we travel with soot particles to see how they become air pollutants.

This hour we talk to Amir Aczel, author of Why Science Does Not Disprove God (William Morrow, April 2015 paperback), a response to the New Atheist claim that God was not necessary for creation. Aczel uses the history of science and religion to, in his words, defend the integrity of science. We also hear the story of the potato ball caper and talk to staff writer Josh Hrala about trend-setting presidents: Eisenhower and Taft. And from the STEM Story Project, with support from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and distributed by PRX: producer David Schulman goes in search of a digital Stradivarius.

On the 150th anniversary of President Lincolns assassination, we talk to Terry Alford about Lincolns killer, John Wilkes Booth. Alford wrote the definitive biography of Booth, out today from Oxford University Press. We also learn about the daughter of Marie Curie, who was a Nobel Prize winner herself, and we hear the curious origins of the FDA: the Poison Squad.