The Connection with Marty Moss-Coane

All the bad news and stories of bad, even horrific, human behavior can overwhelm us, leading to a very pessimistic outlook on humanity. It overshadows the examples of people doing the right thing, acting generously, with kindness and empathy.

Social scientist and physician Nicholas Christakis says its actually our tendency toward goodness that has been a big driver in our evolution. Christakis runs the Human Nature Lab at Yale and was once a hospice physician, work that has informed his research.

He says our need for human connection is one of our most defining characteristics and he’s seen it expressed at the bedside of people at the end of life, holding onto loved ones in their final moments. Christakis joins us to talk about our social evolution, why friendship and love are vital to our species’ survival, and how he maintains his optimism for humankind.

Back in September 1970, 12-year-old Martha Hodes and her 13-year-old sister were flying to New York from Israel when the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine hijacked their plane. Two other jets were hijacked by the same armed group, and all three were forced to land in the Jordanian desert where the passengers and crew were held, not knowing their fate.

It was a terrifying international incident – and Hodes spent the last fifty years suppressing her fear and anxiety about what she had endured. Hodes is a historian and decided to investigate why she was so determined to block out what happened so many years ago.

In her new book, My Hijacking: A Personal History of Forgetting and Remembering, she reconstructs the events of her ordeal by digging through historical archives, press reports and interviews with other hostages including her sister to understand her own amnesia, in a very moving story about how trauma can rewrite our memories.

As we get older, it’s impossible to ignore changes in our body and our mind, but societal attitudes also play a big part in how we feel about aging. The way older people are dismissed, ignored, stereotyped can affect how we see ourselves, our happiness and longevity. This hour, we’ll examine the myths of getting older, our cultural ideas and how to reshape our beliefs about later life.

Gerontologist Tracey Gendron joins us. She’s the author of Ageism Unmasked and writes that aging is just a fact of life, a slow and steady process of change, neither good nor bad. We’ll also talk with writer Lorene Cary. She’s adapting her memoir Ladysitting: My Year with Nana at the End of Her Century, to the stage.

Hiking through a spectacular mountain valley, singing in a church choir, or gazing at a masterpiece…all experiences that can elicit awe. What sparks that feeling of joy or wonder is different for everyone, but psychology professor Dacher Keltner says the emotion is universal.

His new book, Awe, explores how this emotion has propelled our evolution as a species and is beneficial to our mental and physical health. It can heal grief, it can build communal bonds, it taps into our childhood sense of wonder, it humbles us and makes us feel part of something larger than ourselves. He invites us to take “awe walks” by seeing the familiar with new and fresh eyes.

Keltner joins us this hour, along with Philadelphia Orchestra cellist Yumi Kendall, who shares how she experiences awe through music.

The New York Times, How a Bit of Awe Can Improve Your Health “In his book, Dr. Keltner writes that awe is critical to our well-being — just like joy, contentment‌ and love.”

U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has been warning Americans that loneliness is a public health crisis. One in two Americans say they’re lonely, and the impact on wellbeing can be as damaging as smoking or obesity. It’s correlated with cardiovascular disease, depression, dementia and premature death. Why do so many of us feel lonely and how can we connect with each other again?

Our guests are Julianne Holt-Lunstad, professor of psychology at Brigham Young University who was the lead scientific editor on the U.S. Surgeon General’s advisory on loneliness, and Eric Klinenberg, professor of sociology at New York University and author of Palaces for the People and Going Solo.

You’d think that by the time we reach adulthood, saying you are sorry would be second nature. But many people struggle with apologies and end up sounding insincere. Marjorie Ingall and Susan McCarthy have been tracking apologies from celebrities, politicians, and others in the public eye since 2012 for their website SorryWatch. They have analyzed what makes a good apology and have boiled it down to six essential steps, which they share in their book, Sorry, Sorry, Sorry. They join us today to talk about saying sorry, the mistakes people make, why some of us apologize too much, and the benefits of a good apology.

Clint Smith began writing the poems in his new collection, Above Ground, when his wife was pregnant with their first child. The poems reflect the joy and fear that accompanies fatherhood. Some are fun and full of wonder, like “Ode to a double stroller” or “What sound a giraffe makes.” Others wrestle with the world children inherit, our racist past and the violence in everyday life.

This is Smith’s second poetry collection and follows his widely acclaimed book, How the Word Is Passed, which looked at how the legacy of slavery is enmeshed in our history and landscape. Clint Smith joins us to read his poems and talk about Black fatherhood and America’s history. [originally broadcast 3/31]

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, ADHD, is a neurological condition that affects at least 4 percent of Americans – but there’s so much confusion about what it means and how it impacts everyday life. On social media, millions of people are trying to spread awareness and find connection by posting videos about their own experiences.

We increasingly have a better appreciation of neurodiversity and are learning that while ADHD can make it difficult to pay attention and manage tasks, it can also be a source of creativity and original thinking. Difference, it turns out, does not mean disability.

We talk with neuropsychologist David Nowell (@davidnowell) about diagnosing ADHD and helping people live with it. And, cartoonist Anika Orrock (@anikadrawls) on what she discovered in the 20 years since her diagnosis.

What’s it like to perform on stage in front of hundreds or thousands of people? We talk with three artists who have mastered their craft about the creative process, stage fright, perfectionism, improvisation and connecting with an audience.

We’re joined by David Kim, violinist and concertmaster of The Philadelphia Orchestra, Ángel Corella, artistic director of Philadelphia Ballet and Jennifer Childs, actor and co-founder of 1812 Productions.

Across the country in Republican-controlled states, anti-trans bills are being introduced and sometimes passed into law, criminalizing gender-affirming care, restricting participation in school sports programs, policing bathroom use, banning drag shows for children and instituting so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bills. And yet polls show a majority of Americans strongly oppose these efforts to restrict LGBTQ+ rights.

Today, two trans women activists join us to share their personal story, talk about living with transphobia and how to fight it. Jennifer Finney Boylan is a transgender activist, English professor and author of many books including her groundbreaking memoir, She’s Not There: A Life in Two Genders, and Raquel Willis is the co-founder of Transgender Week of Visibility and Action and the board president of Solutions Not Punishments Collaborative.