Modern Notion

This hour we talk to author Zoe Cormier about her book, Sex, Drugs, + Rock and Roll: The Science of Hedonism and the Hedonism of Science. She tells us why humans are special in the ways we have sex, do drugs, and derive pleasure from music. Were also in the studio with Modern Notion contributor Sam Schipani to talk about space innovations, and we hear the sounds of the loneliest whale in the world.

We talk with Harriet Brown, author of How Science, History, and Culture Drive Our Obsession with Weight--and What We Can Do About It (Da Capo Press, March 2015). Brown argues that focusing on weight as a measure of health is misguided and dangerous. Mark Hay, contributing editor to Modern Notion, joins us in the studio to tell the story of a Muslim prince enslaved in the American South. Plus, we hear stories of a family matzo company leaving the Lower East Side of New York and people who make their own space gear.

We talk with author and retired anthropology professor Pat Shipman about her book, The Invaders: How Humans and Their Dogs Drove Neanderthals to Extinction (Harvard University Press, March 2015). Shipman theorizes that the combination of early humans and wolf-dogs was an unstoppable force. We hear about the Cardiff Giant hoax in central New York and tell the story of Simo Hayha, otherwise known as White Death.

This hour host Dara Katz talks to Will Storr, author of The Unpersuadables: Adventures with the Enemies of Science (Overlook Books, March 2015). Storr spent time with creationists, past life regression analysts, and Holocaust deniers to find out why they believe what they do, despite all evidence to the contrary. We sit down with Erin Blakemore, contributing editor to Modern Notion, to learn about the Radium Girls, and we visit a typewriter shop and a woman who uses an iron lung.

We talk with Blaine Harden about his book The Great Leader and the Fighter Pilot: The True Story of the Tyrant Who Created North Korea and the Young Lieutenant Who Stole His Way to Freedom. We also hear how never-before-seen Mary Pickford films were uncovered in a New Hampshire barn, and we talk with Mark Hay, a contributor to Modern Notion, about the Mars One mission.

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We talk with Carl Hoffman about his book, Savage Harvest: A Tale of Cannibals, Colonialism, and Michael Rockefellers Tragic Quest for Primitive Art. We also learn about the checkered past of the cyclotron, or proton accelerator, and we have the latest installment of People Are Strange.

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