Showing posts with label TTBOOK. Show all posts
Showing posts with label TTBOOK. Show all posts

Monday, September 22, 2014

Narcissism - To the Best of Our Knowledge

From NPR's To the Best of Our Knowledge, this week's show focuses on narcissism, including interviews with Jeffrey Kluger (The Narcissist Next Door), Elizabeth Lunbeck (The Americanization of Narcissism), and Sam Harris (Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality without Religion) - includes and extended interview with Harris about his new book.

Narcissism



09.21.2014 | TTBOOK

 Nobody wants to be a narcissist -- a relentless, self-loving, self--promoter. But look at Facebook and Twitter. We talk about ourselves all the time on social media. Which raises the question -- Are we living in a Golden Age of Narcissism?

YOU CAN TAKE THE NARCISSISTIC PERSONALITY QUIZ HERE


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The Narcissist Next Door - Jeffrey Kluger


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Jeffrey Kluger talks about his book, "The Narcissist next Door: Understanding the Monster in Your Family, in Your Office, in Your Bed -- in Your World."

Sonic Sidebar: Tusk


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Narcissists make great film characters. Think Hannibal Lecter, Gordon Gekko. We can add a new one to the list -- the old sailor in Kevin Smith's new movie, "Tusk."

The Americanization of Narcissism - Elizabeth Lunbeck


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Elizabeth Lunbeck talks about her book, "The Americanization of Narcissism."

Unworthy: How to Stop Hating Yourself - Anneli Rufus


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Anneli Rufus talks about her book, "Unworthy: How to Stop Hating Yourself."

Dangerous Idea: We Matter


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Theoretical physicist Marco Gleiser's Dangerous Idea? We matter.

On Our Minds: Sam Harris


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Extended Interview

Neuroscientist Sam Harris is on our minds this week. Harris is best known as one of the guys who helpd lauch the New Atheist movement. So it comes as a surprise to see the title of hsi new book -- "Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion."
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Related Books:


The Narcissist Next Door
(Jeffrey Kluger)



The Americanization of Narcissism
(Elizabeth Lunbeck)



Unworthy: How to Stop Hating Yourself
(Anneli Rufus)



The Island of Knowledge
(Marcelo Gleiser)



Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality without Religion
(Sam Harris)
Posted by at Monday, September 22, 2014 0 comments
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Sunday, September 07, 2014

The Amazing Brain (To the Best of Our Knowledge)

http://cdn.zmescience.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/3.png

Here is this week's To the Best of Our Knowledge from PRI (Public Radio International and NPR). The topic this week is the amazing brain.

The Amazing Brain

09.07.2014 | TTBOOK
It's hard to wrap your head around the future of the human brain. Augmented intelligence, memory playback, downloadable skills - it's all coming. We explore the future of the mind, and hear how a brain injury can transform your life.



Guest(s):
Producer(s):

Stories: 

Struck By Genius - Jason Padgett

Jason Padgett was a hard-partying guy until a traumatic brain injury turned him into a math genius. Now, he sees complex geometric designs everywhere he looks.

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Future of the Mind - Michio Kaku

What if you could take a pill or download netware to supercharge your brain? Physicist Michio Kaku says augmented intelligence and memory playback systems are the future of brain science.

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Disharmony - Noa Guy

Noa Guy was a promising Israeli composer whose musical career was derailed by a car accident. In this episode from Israel Story, Shai Satran tells the story of how she learned to make music again.

Click here to hear more pieces from Israel Story.

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Dangerous Idea: Simulating drugs through hypnosis

Filmmaker and hypnotist Albert Nerenberg explains how we can simulate the effects of drugs through hypnosis.

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On Our Minds: Against Football

Steve Almond has loved football his whole life. But after investigating the violence and social ills that shape football, he explains why he no longer watches his favorite sport.

Related Books:
Struck By Genius (Jason Padgett, Maureen Ann Seaberg)


The Future of the Mind: The Scientific Quest to Understand, Enhance, and Empower the Mind (Michio Kaku)


Against Football (Steve Almond)
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Sunday, July 27, 2014

Life, Art, and Therapy - To the Best of Our Knowledge

This week on NPR's To the Best of Our Knowledge, the topic is psychoanalysis - whatever happened to it? Sadly, the question they ask refers more to Freudian psychoanalysis, and not any of the relational, object-relations, or intersubjective systems models that have emerged from the charred remains of Freudian analysis over the last several decades (beginning especially with the object-relations school in England and Kohut's Self Psychology in the U.S.).

Still, there is some interesting stuff here.

Life, Art, and Therapy

07.27.2014

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Whatever happened to psychoanalysis? It used to be the most influential science of the mind, but today its founder, Sigmund Freud, just looks like a sex-obsessed old man. Analyst Adam Phillips says we got Freud all wrong; he remains a radical thinker if we know how to read him. This hour explores the connections between therapy and art.

Guest(s):
Producer(s): Steve Paulson
Related Link(s):
* * *
Chapters:

Rethinking Freud - Adam Phillips

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Extended Interview

Psychoanalyst Adam Phillips says we've gotten Freud all wrong. He wasn't a scientist; he was a great writer and countercultural figure. And his insights still have the power to dazzle us.

* * *

Growing Up Freudian - Erin Clune

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What's it like to grow up with a mom who's a Freudian therapist? Commentator Erin Clune has a few personal observations.

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Cartooning & Psychotherapy - Alison Bechdel

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Extended Interview

Acclaimed cartoonist Alison Bechdel has written two brutally honest memoirs about her parents. She tells Steve Paulson about her complicated relationship with her mother and how it inspired her as an artist.

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Art as Therapy - Alain de Botton

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Maybe you're familiar with art therapy - making art to cope with pain. Philosopher Alain de Botton has a different idea. He thinks just looking at great art can be therapeutic.

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BookMark: Nic Pizzolatto

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"True Detective" creator and writer Nic Pizzolatto recommends "Absalom, Absalom" by William Faulkner.

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On Our Minds: James McBride

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James McBride won the National Book Award for "The Good Lord Bird," his novel about the abolitionist John Brown. He explains why he doesn't like most fictional portraits of slavery and how he tried to tell a different story.

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Related Books:


Becoming Freud
(Adam Phillips)


Are You My Mother?
(Alison Bechdel)


Art as Therapy
(Alain de Botton, John Armstrong)


The Good Lord Bird
(James McBride) 
Posted by at Sunday, July 27, 2014 0 comments
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Tuesday, June 03, 2014

Investigating Belief on NPR's To the Best of Our Knowledge (TTBOOK)


This week's episode of To the Best of Our Knowledge on NPR focused on investigating how and why we believe, the psychology and brain chemistry behind our beliefs.

Investigating Belief

To the Best of Our Knowledge | 06.01.2014


You know the earth is round, the sky is up, and your dog loves you. But HOW do you know those things? This week, how we form opinions – the psychology and brain chemistry behind our beliefs.


You & Your Brain - Julian Keenan
It turns out that even the most basic things we believe about ourselves are often wrong. Neuroscientist Julian Keenan says it has to do with how the brain works. He’s the author of the “Face in the Mirror: How We Know Who We Are.”

* * * * *

 Sonic Sidebar: The Political Divide
Social psychologist Jonathan Haidt says despite what we believe, our political beliefs aren't always as well reasoned as we think.

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 Irrational Beliefs - Will Storr
Ever wonder how we form beliefs in the first place? Journalist Will Storr tried to find out in his book, “The Unpersuadables.” In it, he follows Holocaust deniers, climate change skeptics, and conspiracy theorists to find out how seemingly intelligent people can hold unconventional, even irrational beliefs.

* * * * *

 Charting Religious Traditions - Karen Armstrong
Karen Armstrong is the author of nearly 20 books on religion. She tells Steve Paulson that traditions from Confucianism to Judaism emerged as responses to the rampant violence of their time. And she says our own time has a lot in common with that age.

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 Dangerous Idea: American Exceptionalism
Harvey Kaye's Dangerous Idea? Re-discovering the true meaning of American Exceptionalism.

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 On Our Minds: Tiananmen Square
June 4 marks the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown. To find out how Chinese dissidents have fared since then, we’re revisiting an interview with historian Ian Buruma. He’s the author of "Bad Elements: Chinese Rebels from Los Angeles to Beijing."

 Related Books:



The Face in the Mirror: How We Know Who We Are
(Julian Keenan, Gordon G. Gallup, Dean Falk)


The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion
(Jonathan Haidt)


The Unpersuadables: Adventures with the Enemies of Science
(Will Storr)


The Great Transformation: The Beginning of Our Religious Traditions
(Karen Armstrong)


The Fight for the Four Freedoms: What Made FDR and the Greatest Generation Truly Great
(Harvey J. Kaye)


Bad Elements: Chinese Rebels from Los Angeles to Beijing
(Ian Buruma)

Incidental Music:

Posted by at Tuesday, June 03, 2014 0 comments
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Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Stories of You - To the Best of Our Knowledge

From NPR's To the Best of Our Knowledge, this is an encore presentation (on their part and mine) of a show that aired on February 3rd, 2013, and originally aired on February 19th, 2012. This show offers 5 interviews on the nature of identity and how our stories (our narratives) shape our sense of self.

Stories of You

Who are you?
A man? A woman?
Are you a success? A failure?
A parent? An athlete? A wallflower?
A Christian? A Buddhist? A baker?
If we are only a collection of stories about ourselves... what's the truth of who "we" are?

Producer(s): 
* * * * *

Narrative Identity 101

Jonathan Adler Image: Amy Dykens
Guest(s): 
Jonathan M Adler
Interviewer: 
Jim Fleming
02.17.2012
So if our identities are just stories... what does that mean for our lives, our memories, our mental health? Jonathan Adler is a psychologist who studies narrative identity. He tells Jim Fleming that his research found that our sense of well-being is based on the tone of our internal narratives rather than the stories themselves.
TranscriptTranscript

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Forget Your Self
 
Sara Nics
Guest(s): 
Sara Nics
02.17.2012

 Sara Nics explains the impetus behind this show... a lifetime of attempting to make peace with the stories we tell ourselves.
TranscriptTranscript
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You & Your Brain

Julian Keenan
Guest(s): 
Julian Paul Keenan
Interviewer: 
Anne Strainchamps
02.17.2012
Press your thumb to the bridge of your nose. Now draw it slowly over the crown of your head to about where you might have a ponytail. That area under your skull is where "you" are. Research suggests that region houses the web of neurons that holding our narrative identities.
Neuroscientist Julian Keenan takes Anne Strainchamps on a tour of our selves, thinking about our selves, thinking about our selves thinking about our selves, thinking about one another thinking about ourselves...
TranscriptTranscript
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Contemplating Our Selves

Gangaji Image: Michael Waha
Guest(s): 
Antoinette Varner
Interviewer: 
Steve Paulson
02.17.2012

 Antoinetter Varner - also known as Gangaji - says she spent decades wrestling with and reshaping her narrative identity. But when she met her true spiritual teacher - a Hindu man vaguely aligned with the nondualist tradition - he told her to stop all stories. Gangaji says that's when she was finally able to connect with the "I" that underlies our selves.

 Steve Paulson asked Gangaji about her story, and the end of stories.

Listen to the UNCUT version of this interview here.
TranscriptTranscript
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Stories of Us

Jonathan Harris
Guest(s): 
Jonathan Harris
Interviewer: 
Anne Strainchamps
02.17.2012

 Jonathan Harris is the creator behind “We Feel Fine”, “I Want You to Want Me”, and other projects using new media to reflect human experience. In his latest work, he’s bringing together a community of storytellers in the hopes that combining individual stories might reveal the ecstatic truth of human life.
Harris talked with Anne Strainchamps about learning from our common stories, myths, and sagas.
The storytellers included in the Cowbird audio medley are Annie Correal, Bianca Giaever, Geoffrey Gevalt, Jordan Bower, Lily Virginia, Molly Adams, Paul Louis Archer, Paulo Martins, Scott Thrift, and Jonathan Harris.
Listen in on the UNCUT interview here
TranscriptTranscript
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Related Books:



The Face in the Mirror: The Search for the Origins of Consciousness
(Julian Keenan, Gordon G. Gallup, Dean Falk) 

Hidden Treasure: Uncovering the Truth in Your Life Story
(Gangaji)


Posted by at Tuesday, December 31, 2013 0 comments
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Tuesday, August 13, 2013

The Beast in Me - To the Best of Our Knowledge


On this week's To the Best of Our Knowledge (TTBOOK), the topic is the beast within us all - beginning with M.E. Thomas on being a sociopath and ending with Patricia Churchland on whether we are genetically predisposed to genocide. There are four segments in all - you can listen to each one individually.

The Beast in Me

Producer: Doug Gordon
08.11.2013

 “Everyone is a moon, and has a dark side which he never shows to anybody.”
-- Mark Twain

 M.E. THOMAS ON "CONFESSIONS OF A SOCIOPATH"
M.E. Thomas talks about her book, "Confessions of a Sociopath: A Life Spent Hiding in Plain Sight."
* * * * *

 LAUREN BEUKES ON "THE SHINING GIRLS"
Lauren Beukes talks about her new novel, "The Shining Girls"
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Posted by at Tuesday, August 13, 2013 0 comments
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Sunday, June 02, 2013

Creative Insight on NPR's To the Best of Our Knowledge


In this cool episode of To the Best of Our Knowledge, there are four segments on creativity, but the first one - with psychedelic pioneer James Fadiman - is by far my favorite.


Creative Insight

05.26.2013



Producer(s):

Suppose there's a pill that would dramatically boost your creativity. Would you take it? Psychologist Jim Fadiman says that pill exists. It's the powerful hallucinogen LSD. Fadiman describes a remarkable experiment showing how psychedelics enhanced the creativity of senior scientists.


JIM FADIMAN ON PSYCHEDELICS


Could LSD boost your creativity? Yes, says psychologist Jim Fadiman, a pioneer in psychedelics research and one of the founders of the transpersonal psychology movement. 
 

 Singer/Songwriter Suzzy Roche talks about channeling her creativity from writing songs to writing her debut novel, 'Wayward Saints."


AUSTIN KLEON ON "STEAL LIKE AN ARTIST"


 Austin Kleon talks about his book, "Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative." 
 
Poet and writer Kenneth Goldsmith talks about his "Uncreative Writing" course in which students are penalized for showing any originality and creativity. Goldsmith is the author of "Uncreative Writing: Managing Language in the Digital Age."
Posted by at Sunday, June 02, 2013 0 comments
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