Radio Curious

Do we need supplements to our diet? Does a normal balanced diet of food supply us with the nutrition we need? Our guest in this edition of Radio Curious argues that the supplement industry is confusing and misinformed, encouraging consumers to buy supplements we don’t need. Brian R. Clement is the author of “Supplements Exposed: The Truth They Don’t Want You To Know About Vitamins, Minerals, And Their Effects On Your Health.” His book examines the dietary supplement industry, what so called natural supplements from his perspective really contain and how they can affect our health for better and worse. I spoke with Brian Clement by phone while he was on an excursion in Mexico on November 9th 2009 and began by asking him about the drive to promote the supplement industry.

The book recommended by Brian Clement was “The New Gold Standard,” by Joseph Michelli.

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The development of the large human head and broad shoulders provide many evolutionary benefits for our species but also require assistance for a safe birth, sometimes presenting life threatening complications in the birth process. Yet gorillas, our 300-pound primate cousins, give birth without assistance in approximately 15 minutes. In this edition of Radio Curious we visit with pediatrician Dr. Mark Sloan, author of “Birth Day: A Pediatrician Explores the Science, the History, and the Wonder of Childbirth.” In this conversation Dr. Sloan explains how our transition from being four legged creatures to two legged ones has forced us to cope with unique physical and cultural differences. We explore what some of the benefits of cesarean deliveries can be as well as the possible, but unverified consequences this birth form present.

This interview was recorded on July 3, 2009 speaking with Dr. Sloan from his home in Santa Rosa, Californa. The conversation began with an explanation of why the human birth process was more difficult than in other primates.

The book Dr. Mark Sloan recommends is “The Discovery of France” by Graham Robb.

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Why do you buy what you buy? What do you hope to gain from it and will it make you a happier, sexier and more successful person? In these days of economic downturn many of us may be questioning whether we really need all this “stuff” and how it impacts our lives?

In this edition of Radio Curious we meet Geoffrey Miller, a tenured professor of evolutionary psychology at the University of New Mexico, and the author of “Spent: Sex, Evolution and Comsumer Behaviour.” During our visit we discuss how our purchasing choices are driven by thousands of years of evolution, how marketers can take advantage of this and how we might try to better understand our consumer instincts.

I spoke with Geoffrey Miller from his home in Australia on May 29, 2009 and began by asking him to define his field of evolutionary psychology.

The book Geoffrey Miller recommends is “The Life You Can Save: Acting Now To End World Poverty,” by Peter Singer.

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Have humans changed in the last 10,000 years? Or are we biologically the same as the last 40-50,000 years. Some recently considered evidence suggests that so called civilization has promoted rapid evolutionary change in our species in the last 10,000 years. In this archive edition of Radio Curious we visit with Gregory Cochran, a physicist and anthropologist, who has co-authored the book “The 10,000 Year Explosion – How Civilization Accelerated Human Evolution.” His book asserts that changes in human biology, lactose tolerance and resistance to malaria for example, represent human evolution accelerated by civilization.

Over the course of two Radio Curious conversations with Gregory Cochran we discuss what some of these evolutions  have been and why they occurred. We spoke with Gregory Cochran from his home in Albuquerque, New Mexico on February 23rd, 2009 and began by asking him what biological indications exist to show an increase in human evolution in the past 10,000 years.

The book Gregory Cochran recommends is “Twilight Of The Mammoths: Ice Age Extinctions And The Re-Wilding Of America,” by Paul S. Martin.

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How many of us are lonely? What is loneliness and how does it affect us? Approximately 25 years ago, when asked the number of friends in whom we could confide, most people in the United States said “three.” When that question was asked recently most people said “none.” Inquires reveal that twenty per-cent of people, — 60 million in the Untied States alone — are feeling lonely at any given moment. And, it appears that chronic loneliness may well compete with smoking, obesity and lack of exercise as a significant health risk.

In this edition of Radio Curious we visit with William Patrick, the founding editor of The Journal of Life Sciences and co-author of “Loneliness: Human Nature and the Need for Social Connection,” along with University of Chicago psychology professor John Cacioppo.  My conversation with William Patrick, recorded on October 13, 2008, began when I asked him to define loneliness as used in their book.

The book William Patrick recommends is “The Lost Gospel: The Book of Q and Christian Origins,” by Burton Mack.

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Reinforcement of desired behavior is the key to animal training. As humans, we are subject to the same way of learning. Amy Sutherland, author of, “What Shamu Taught Me About Life, Love and Marriage: Lessons for People from Animals and Their Trainers,” shares many ideas about how to achieve more desirable relationships with friends and loved ones. This Program was recorded on March 19, 2008.

The book Amy Sutherland recommends is, “Demonic Males: Apes and the Origin of Human Violence,” by Richard Wrangham and Dale Peterson.

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Sex, something that all creatures seek to achieve in one form or another, is often more than discreet among humans. In this discussion with science journalist, Mary Roach, author of, “Bonk, The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex,” we have a direct and frank conversation about human sexuality, including orgasms, what they are, how you know if you have one, and the difference between the male and female human sexual response. This program was recorded on April 14, 2008.

The book Mary Roach recommends is, “The Atlas of Human Sex Anatomy.”

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The chance to interview another interviewer is an opportunity I like to take. A chance came on September 4, 2007, when I was able to visit with Ira Flatow, the host of “Science Friday,” a part of Talk of the Nation, on NPR. We talked about some ideas and concepts he raises in his new book, “Present at the Future: From Evolution to Nanotechnology, Candid and Controversial Conversations on Science and Nature.”  I think that after thirty-five years as a science journalist, Ira Flatow has seen enough to know unexpected changes are in order. He refers to that at the close of the introduction to his book and writes,

“After watching science do its thing for a while, you realize knowledge is really a moving target. What we know today will probably be wrong tomorrow. And science is that tool for discovery. When science tells us something, chances are that it will tell us something different a few years from now.”

And that’s where Ira Flatow and I began our conversation, which was originally broadcast September 5, 2007.

His website is www.iraflatow.com and the book he recommends is “The World Without Us,” by Alan Weisman.

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The consequences of growing genetically modified alfalfa were deteremined by the United States District Court in San Francisco, California to be so uncertain and so potentially dangerous that they were outlawed nation-wide in litigation brought by the Center for Food Safety based in San Francisco. In this edition of Radio Curious we visit with Attorney Kevin Zelig Golden, who, along with others from the Center for Food Safety, litigated this landmark case which banned the planting of genetically modified alfalfa as of May 3, 2007.  This program was originally broadcast May 7, 2007.

The book that Kevin Z. Golden recommends is “Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals,” by Michael Pollan.

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