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The next episode of Books and Ideas will be out on 9/25/09.
I have just posted a brief announcement in the feed for my Books and Ideas podcast. I have decided to take a break for the rest of the summer.
This will allow me to catch up on some professional activities (re-certifying my ACLS and ATLS) and perhaps get some other new projects off the ground. I have several great guests lined up and intend to post the next new episode at the end of September, 2009.
In Episode 29 of Books and Ideas Robert Martensen, MD returns to talk about his book A Life Worth Living: A Doctor's Reflections on Illness in a High-Tech Era. Last month we talked about Dr. Martensen's career as both an emergency physician and as an historian. This month we concentrate on the issues facing patients with life threatening illnesses, including making decisions about end of life care. Dr. Martensen and I agree that the American emphasis on high tech care tends to ignore the needs of people in these situations. We discuss the importance of better communication between physicians and patients as well as the need for fundamental changes in our system.
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This episode includes a short promo for Nina Kimberly the Merciless by Christiana Ellis. You can learn more about Christiana's work at http://ninakimberly.com.
Send feedback to Dr. Campbell at gincampbell at mac dot com or join the Discussion Forum at http://brainscienceforum.com
Books and Ideas #28 is an interview with Robert Martensen, MD, author of A Life Worth Living: A Doctor's Reflections on Illness in a High-Tech Era. Dr. Martensen worked for 25 years as an emergency physician, but about mid-way through his career he went to graduate school and earned a PhD in history, while continuing to work in the ER at night and on weekends. He is now the Director of the NIH Office of History.
This interview is actually the first of two parts. In this first part we talked about Dr. Martensen's career and we also reflected briefly on the history of emergency medicine in the United States. Dr. Martensen also explained the purpose fo the NIH Office of History and described its current and upcoming projects. When Dr. Martensen returns (hopefully next month) we will discuss his book A Life Worth Living: A Doctor's Reflections on Illness in a High-Tech Era.
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Episode 27 of Books and Ideas is an interview with Jennifer Michael Hecht, author of Doubt: A History: The Great Doubters and Their Legacy of Innovation from Socrates and Jesus to Thomas Jefferson and Emily Dickinson and The Happiness Myth. As a poet and historian Hecht brings a unique perspective to her examination of the role of science in modern society. She also shares how writing Doubt changed her attitude toward religion.
I have wanted to interview Jennifer for several years so I was very grateful that my recent appearance on Point of Inquiry led to this conversation. Hecht earned her PhD in the History of Science and while Doubt was an examination of the history of belief (and non-belief), she said that The Happiness Myth shares key ideas from the history of science. Hecht argues convincingly that the arrogance of modern science can not be justified, because history shows how much science, despite its best efforts, is always influenced by the cultural fads of its time. She feels that this knowledge could free us from unnecessary guilt, but that it should also motivate us to question our priorities (such as placing so much emphasis on long life instead of the quality of life).
You won't want to miss this thought-provoking conversation.
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Episode 26 of Books and Ideas is an interview with Sue Bailey and Carmen Flowers, the authors of Grave Expectations: Planning the End Like There's No Tomorrow. This book helps readers to plan for their funeral or memorial service. While this might seem like a strange idea Flowers and and Bailey explain that this can actually be a wonderful gift to leave for one's family and loved ones.
In this interview Bailey and Flowers share the personal experiences that led them to write this unusual book and they explain why they wrote it in an overtly humorous style. This interview will help listeners see death and funeral planning in a new way.
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Paul Offit, MD
Episode 25 of Books and Ideas is an interview with Dr. Paul Offit, author of Autism's False Prophets: Bad Science, Risky Medicine, and the Search for a Cure. I consider this the most important episode that I have ever released because despite overwhelming scientific evidence that shows NO connection between vaccines and autism, vaccine opponents continue to discourage parents from having their children vaccinated against preventable and potentially fatal childhood diseases. Epidemics of measles and hemophilis influenza type B meningitis are beginning to emerge among unvaccinated children.
In this interview we talk about the scientific evidence that vaccines DO NOT cause autism, but we also examine why the controversy continues despite the evidence. Most importantly we examine the growing threat posed by the increasing number of unvaccinated children in the US. As Dr. Offit observes "The threat is not theoretical anymore." It is very real.
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ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES
I recommend Dr. Offit's book Autism's False Prophets to everyone because of its thorough examination of the vaccine-autism controversy. He examines the evidence from both sides, while showing compassion for why parents are easily confused and frightened by claims that physicians and scientists have dismissed. The book is unlikely to dissuade those who are convinced by the tactics of vaccine opponents, but it will be a valuable resource to parents who want a clear explanation that includes a sober account of the risks of not vaccinating their children. Physicians and scientists will also benefit from reading this book because it provides an important case study in how lack of scientific literacy can threaten public health.
Links:
References:
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Transcript of Episode 23 (Download PDF)
Transcript of Episode 24 (Download PDF)
We are currently working on the back log of transcripts for the Brain Science Podcast, but I hope eventually to have transcripts for all the episodes of Books and Ideas. Please send me email at docartemis at Gmail.com if you are waiting for a particular episode.
Episode 24 of Books and Ideas is a follow-up interview with Nobel Prize winning physicist. Dr. Frank Wilczek. We discuss the questions that we didn't get around to in Episode 23, including the 2008 Nobel Prize in Physics, String Theory, and dark matter and dark energy. Dr. Wilczek also answers some questions from listeners and tells us a little about his current work.
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Click here if you missed Dr. Wilczek's first interview
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Main Topics from this Episode:
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Episode 23 of Books and Ideas is an interview with Frank Wilczek, PhD from MIT. Dr. Wilczek won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 2004 and recently published an excellent book aimed at general readers: Lightness of Being: Mass, Ether, and the Unification of Forces. This book provides an excellent review of current ideas about the meaning of both matter and space.
In his interview Dr. Wilczek helps us understand the current evidence that matter is actually made of particles that are massless. He says "I jokingly say that the more important law is Einstein's Second Law m=E/c² (which is of course just a rearrangement of E=mc²) but this suggests that what we really should be doing is not explaining energy in terms of mass, but explaining mass in terms of energy."
The second surprisingly concept that Dr. Wilczek helps us tackle in this interview is the idea that space is not empty. "Space is a medium with a variety of properties that make it, not only an important component of reality, but really the primary component of reality."
These ideas are supported by experimental evidence, but the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) near Geneva, Switzerland is expected to expand knowledge even further. The purpose of the LHC is a main focus of this interview. Dr. Wilczek has agreed to come back on Books and Ideas to answer questions about dark matter and string theory.
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Ginger as "The Mayor" (see below)
Episode 22 of Books and Ideas is my summary of my recent trip to Dragon*Con 2008 in Atlanta, Georgia. It was a great opportunity to spend time with other podcasters, but the highlight of the weekend was our late night performances of Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. I had a non-singing part in Act 3 (as the mayor).
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Show Notes and Links
Stuff I did:
Live Episode of Buffy Between the Lines (Link to audio)Podcasters:
Special thanks to Beatnik Turtle for the new theme song "The Open Door."
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If I met you at Dragon*Con but forgot to link to your site please send me email at docartemis at gmail.com! Since I am busy preparing for my upcoming presentations at Dragon*Con I have decided to postpone the next episode of the Books and Ideas Podcast until September, 2008. I have just posted a brief audio annoucement in my regular feed.
I also included a song by the Beatnik Turtle called "The Open Door," which I intend to use as the new them music for Books and Ideas. If you have feedback on the music please send me email at docartemis at gmail.com or visit the Books and Ideas section of the Brain Science Podcast Discussion Forum.
Eugenie Scott, the Executive Director of the National Center for Science Education, was interviewed in Episode 21 of Books and Ideas. The focus of our conversation was the importance of teaching evolution in the public schools. Dr. Scott and the NCSE have worked for over 20 years to promote the teaching of evolution because it is an essential component of a modern education in the life sciences. Unfortunately, nearly 150 years after Darwin's On the Origin of Species (1859) many Americans still reject this fundamental idea and much of Scott's work is focused on trying to keep creationism and so-called Intelligent Design out of school curriculum.
Recently the NCSE launched a very valuable site called Expelled Exposed, which focuses on exposing the many inaccuracies presented in Ben Stein's recent pro-intelligent design "documentary" Expelled. One of the things that has come out in numerous interviews is that the producers of the film mislead all the pro-evolution guests that appear in the film. We discuss this briefly near the end of the interview, but it was not the focus of our discussion. (see below for more links regarding Expelled)
Since Dr. Scott has been interviewed about Expelled and Expelled Exposed on several other podcasts, I wanted to focus our interview more on the importance of accurate science education. Also, we discussed the fact that despite the claims of right-wing fundamentalists there are many Christians and people of other faiths who accept the theory of evolution as scientifically valid. Accepting evolution does not mean one is choosing atheism. I think this is a very important distinction because while atheists are outspoken in their support of evolution they represent a small minority. I was encouraged to learn from Dr. Scott that the NCSE is working closely with religious leaders and scientists of faith to try to educate their members.
Since Books and Ideas reaches an international audience I thought that it was important that we discuss the origins of the evolution versus creationism controversy, which is unique to the United States. Scott does an excellent job of explaining how our unique religious heritage along with our locally controlled school systems combine to create a situation that most of the world find's rather mystifying. Her book Evolution vs. Creationism: An Introduction also provides an excellent overview of the subject from both an historical and scientific prospective.
Finally, we talk about the importance of evolution as a basic idea in modern biology. While we didn't dwell on this, I think we are both concerned about the implications for the future if a majority of young Americans are reaching college without a solid foundation in the principles of evolution. We also talked about why intelligent design fails to meet the basic definition of a scientific theory since it provides no testable hypotheses. Dr. Scott also provides a excellent review of the basic writings for those who want to learn more.
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Links and References: Listen to Dr. Scott’s Interview
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Episode 20 of Books and Ideas is an interview with forensic psychologist Delany Dean, PhD. Dr. Dean began her career as a criminal lawyer but his interest in the mind and the brain lead her to a second career as a clinical psychologist. Besides forensic psyschology she has extensive experience with therapies based on the use of mindfulness meditation. In this interview, Dr. Campbell and Dr. Dean share there personal experiences with meditation, and Dr. Dean explains why she feels mindfulness meditation provides a extremely valuable tool for helping people deal with a wide range of problems, including the stress that we all face from time to time. They also give practical advise for listeners interested in beginning a mindfulness practice.
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Mind Expressions: Delany's Dean's blog Teachers and Scientists mentioned in the interview: Subscribe to this podcast
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Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions by Dan Ariely
Dan Ariely
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Tabitha Grace Smith
Episode 18 of Books and Ideas is an interview with writer and podcaster Tabitha Grace Smith. Tabitha is the creator of Buffy Between the Lines, an award-winning podcast set in the universe of my favorite TV show: Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She is also a writer and works on several other podcasts. In her interview we talk about writing, podcasting, and why we love the work of Joss Whedon.
Included in this episode is the Valentine episode of Buffy Between the Lines, which is the episode in which I had my voice-acting "debut."
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Links:
Tabitha Grace Smith
Buffy Between the Lines
Jane Espenson's blog: (Jane is one of our favorite TV writers)
Go Ask Malice: A Slayer's Diary (2006) by Robert Joseph Levy
The Myth of Free Will: Revised & Expanded Edition (2008) by Cris Evatt (I have a short chapter in this edition.)
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Ginger and Mur
Episode 17 of Books and Ideas is an interview with writer Mur Lafferty. Mur's podcasts I Should Be Writing and Geek Fu Action Grip helped inspire me to start podcasting, so I was excited to get a chance to talk with her about her new novel, Playing for Keeps. We also talk a little about the challenges of podcasting.
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Part 1 of the audio version of Playing for Keeps is included in this episode. It starts at 30:48. You can find the novel at http://playingforkeepsnovel.com or at http://podiobooks.com.
Mur emphasized that her "street team" has done a lot to promote Playing for Keeps. Special thanks go to Natalie Metzger and Jarod Axelrod for artwork, and to Chris Miller for the companion video podcast, which is available on youtube.
Mur co-wrote Tricks of the Podcasting Masters with Rob Walch.
She has also had several great stories on Escape Pod. My favorite is "I look Forward to Remembering You," which is scheduled to become a video on http://strangerthings.tv.
To find more of Mur's work go to http://murlafferty.com.
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Episode 16 of Books and Ideas is a conversation with Dr. Steven Novella from the popular podcast The Skeptics Guide to the Universe. This interview is a response to numerous requests from fans of the Brain Science Podcast, but I put it in the Books and Ideas feed so that Dr. Novella could share some of his personal experiences both as a physician and as a podcaster.
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Show Notes:
Dr. Novella talked a little bit about why he became a physician and about choosing neurology as his specialty. We talked about the role of imaging and how recent advances in neuroscience are influencing patient care. We also talked about the importance of helping patients get accurate information, both from the internet and from their physicians, and how the pressure for physicians to see large numbers of patients hinders good communication. Dr. Novella is committed to evidence-based medicine and we talked about the role of skepticism in evaluating medical claims, both from mainstream and alternative sources. Dr. Novella also talked briefly about his podcast and his blogs, including a new blog specifically devoted to promoting evidence-based medicine.
In the last section of this episode I looked back on the first 15 episodes of Books and Ideas. I particularly want to thank Matthew Cobb for being my first guest back in episode 7. You can get his book Generation at the Books and Ideas aStore at Amazon.com.
Links:
Robert Schleip, PhD of the University of Ulm in Germany was a guest on Books and Ideas episode 15.
His personal website is http://www.somatics.de/
Here are some additional links to supplement those in the original show notes:
General site on fascia related research
Wikipedia entries (English)
Books and Ideas Podcast #15 is an interview with Robert Schleip, PhD from the University of Ulm in Germany. Dr. Schleip is an experienced practioner of the body work method known as rolfing, but several years ago he went back and earned his PhD in Biology and began a second career as a research scientist. In our interview we discuss some of the recent discoveries that may revolutionize the way we look at the connective tissue that is commonly called fascia. We also talk about the importance of applying the scientific method to the evaluation of alternative and complimentary healing methods (CAM). Dr. Schleip's enthusiasm for science made this a very enjoyable interview. Listen to the interview now.
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References and Links: Dr. Schleip recommends the Wikipedia entry on Fascia if you would like to learn the basics. To learn more about Dr. Schleip's work visit the Fascia Research Project website at http://www.fasciaresearch.de/ The First International Congress International Research Congress was held in October, 2007 in Boston, MA. You can find some of the scientists Dr. Schleip mentions on this speaker page. Click here for more references, including those written in German. Listen to Books and Ideas Episode 15 Subscribe to this podcast
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