Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has said that America is the “sickest country in the world,” citing that 76.4% of Americans suffer from a chronic disease. And maybe so. But Alan Levinovitz says that getting a diagnosis relieves symptoms. It’s a medical and psychological phenomenon called the Rumpelstiltskin Effect. Levinovitz says that an official diagnosis gives people a name for what they’re experiencing and takes them off of the book for their suffering and shortcomings. Even self-diagnosis brings relief. Plus: We have a Greek comic to thank for our favorite sitcoms. Mitchell Brown says that the Greek comic Menander was the first to write plays focused on daily life. 

Later in the show: Thousands of enslaved men, women and children began working in railroads, coal mills and ironworks when Richond, Virginia transformed into a major manufacturing hub in the mid-19th century. Businesses started to sell life insurance policies on enslaved people working industrial environments. Michelle Oliver explains how these enslaved life insurance policies reduced commodified enslaved people, dead or alive.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has said that America is the “sickest country in the world,” citing that 76.4% of Americans suffer from a chronic disease. And maybe so. But Alan Levinovitz says that getting a diagnosis relieves symptoms. It’s a medical and psychological phenomenon called the Rumpelstiltskin Effect. Levinovitz says that an official diagnosis gives people a name for what they’re experiencing and takes them off of the book for their suffering and shortcomings. Even self-diagnosis brings relief. Plus: We have a Greek comic to thank for our favorite sitcoms. Mitchell Brown says that the Greek comic Menander was the first to write plays focused on daily life. Later in the show: Thousands of enslaved men, women and children began working in railroads, coal mills and ironworks when Richond, Virginia transformed into a major manufacturing hub in the mid-19th century. Businesses started to sell life insurance policies on enslaved people working industrial environments. Michelle Oliver explains how these enslaved life insurance policies reduced commodified enslaved people, dead or alive.

The Rumpelstiltskin Effect

Brigham Young was a rough-hewn transient from New York whose life was electrified by the Mormon faith. He married more than 50 women, and transformed a barren desert into his vision of the Kingdom of God. In his new biography Brigham Young: Pioneer Prophet, John Turner (George Mason University) explores Young’s thirty-year battle with the U.S Government for the control of Utah, his polygamous marriages, and his role in the massacre of settlers who came out west. Also featured: Since 1950, the South has undergone the most dramatic political transformation of any region in the United States. In their new book Quentin Kidd (Christopher Newport University) and co-author Irwin Morris show how the once solid Democratic-South is now overwhelmingly Republican, and African Americans are now voting at levels comparable to those of whites.

Brigham Young American Moses

If the inventor of radio had not been so stubborn, perhaps 1,600 souls would not have perished when the Titanic sank in the icy Atlantic 100 years ago. Bill Kovarik (Radford University) looks at the history of radio and its effects on American politics and popular culture. Also featured: Local sports segments have been a mainstay on television news for decades, but they might be disappearing. Former sportscaster Jeff Halliday (Longwood University) recently surveyed network-affiliated TV sports personnel across the country and found a bleak picture—one that includes fewer jobs, reduced air time, and lots of anxiety.

Dialing Through the Years

Each week on With Good Reason we explore a world of ideas with leading scholars in literature, history, science, philosophy, and the arts.  With Good Reason is created by Virginia Humanities and the Virginia Higher Education Broadcasting Consortium.

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Each week on With Good Reason we explore a world of ideas with leading scholars in literature, history, science, philosophy, and the arts. With Good Reason is created by Virginia Humanities and the Virginia Higher Education Broadcasting Consortium.

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