Mary Catherine Bateson – Do We Really Know the People Around Us?

Full Circles, Overlapping Lives (Culture and Generation in Transition)

Do we really know the people around us? Our children? Our family? Our friends? Or are we strangers in our own community? Mary Catherine Bateson, the author of a book entitled, “Full Circles: Overlapping Lives, Culture and Generation in Transition,” believes that we are strangers. She describes us as immigrants in time, rather than space.In this interview from the archives of Radio Curious, recorded in April 2000, we visit with Mary Catherine Bateson, the daughter of two distinguished anthropologists, Margaret Mead and Gregory Bateson.

The book Mary Catherine Bateson recommends is “Ithaka: A Daughter’s Memoir of Being Found,“ by Sarah Saffian.

Originally Broadcast: April 17, 2000

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Lynn Freed – Reflections on a Life

The Mirror

The personal journal is often not meant for the eyes of anyone but the writer. When a stranger’s journal is read, the reader often becomes a voyeur to the innermost secrets of another. And whether it is a true journal or one of fiction, who cares? Often, it remains a good story. Lynn Freed, originally of Durban, South Africa, wrote the fictional journal of Agnes LaGrange, entitled “The Mirror,” which reveals the thoughts, feelings, and loves of Agnes, starting when she arrived in South Africa to work as a housekeeper, and ending 50 years later.

Lynn Freed recommends “Misfit,” by Jonathan Yardly, “Essays,” by George Orwell & “Last Days in Cloud Cukooland Dispatches,” by Graham Boynton.

Originally Broadcast: December 12, 1997

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Richard Gardiner – The Mix of Psychiatry and the Psyche

This program is a two-part series with Dr. Richard Gardiner, a practicing psychiatrist in Ukiah, California.We discuss what do psychiatrist do, and what don’t psychiatrist do?What is the psyche?What is crazy? What are the causes of mental dysfunction?What medicines were available to assist people with mental health problems, and other resources that were available in 1997 when this program was recorded.

Richard Gardiner recommends “How Good People Make Tough Choices,” by Rushworth M. Kidder and “The Cider House Rules,” by John Irving.

Originally Broadcast: September 30, 1997 October 3, 1997

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Amy Bloom – Love as Creator

Love Invents Us

Amy Bloom is a Connecticut-based author and psychotherapist and the author of a novel entitled “Love Invents Us.” This book, the enactment of psychological theory about human behavior, also traces the intimate details in the life of Elizabeth Howe from her childhood to middle age. I spoke with Amy Bloom by phone while she was on tour to discuss ‘Love Invents Us” and asked her, “how does love invent us?”

Amy Bloom recommends “Seeing Calvin Coolidge in a Dream,” by John Derbyshire.

Originally Broadcast: February 12, 1997

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