WPR: To the Best of our Knowledge - Science

Eben Alexander on Near Death Experience

webmaster@wpr.org (Wisconsin Public Radio) — Tue, 15 May 2012 00:00:00 -0500

Eben Alexander is a neurosurgeon who had a near death experience in 2008. In this NEW and UNCUT audio, he tells the story of his "NDE," and how it's changed his understanding of consciousness and life.

Marcus Wohlsen on Biopunks

webmaster@wpr.org (Wisconsin Public Radio) — Sun, 13 May 2012 00:00:00 -0500

Welcome to the 21st Centrury and the Biopunk Movement where biohacking and kitchen table biotech are the norm.

David George Haskell on One Square Meter of Woods

webmaster@wpr.org (Wisconsin Public Radio) — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0500

Listen in on this UNCUT interview from the Into the Woods show. He tells Jim Fleming about what twigs have to teach us about climate change, and the poetry of the forest.

David George Haskell on the Forest Unseen

webmaster@wpr.org (Wisconsin Public Radio) — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0500

Biologist David George Haskell spent a year making weekly visits to the same one-square-meter patch of old-growth forest near his home in Tennessee. His writes about his experiment in "contemplative science" in a series of gorgeous essays, called "The Forest Unseen".

Richard Davidson on the Emotional Brain

webmaster@wpr.org (Wisconsin Public Radio) — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0500

Neuroscientist Richie Davidson has developed an entirely new model for understanding the science of emotions. He talks about this paradigm shift and the personal journey that led to it.

Martha Herbert on "The Autism Revolution"

webmaster@wpr.org (Wisconsin Public Radio) — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0500

Autism's a tricky diagnosis. And its causes are also mysterious. Harvard Medical School neurologist Martha Herbert t advocates a whole-body approach, which looks at environmental toxins, vitamin deficiencies and immune problems.

V.S. Ramachandran on Phantom Limb Syndrome

webmaster@wpr.org (Wisconsin Public Radio) — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0500

Neuroscientist V.S. Ramachandran is renowned for his ability to crack strange neurological mysteries. He tells Steve Paulson about the science behind phantom limb syndrome and his ingenious treatment for it.

Martha Herbert on Autism

webmaster@wpr.org (Wisconsin Public Radio) — Wed, 4 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0500

Autism's a tricky diagnosis. And its causes - and increasingly frequent diagnosis - are also mysterious. In this NEW and EXTENDED interview, Martha Herbert talks with Anne Strainchamps about unpacking autism.

Adam Frank on spiritual atheism

webmaster@wpr.org (Wisconsin Public Radio) — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 00:00:00 -0500

Adam Frank is an atheist with a spiritual bent. As an astrophysicist, his yearning for the sacred is rooted in science. It's an impulse going back to his childhood.

This Will Make You Smarter

webmaster@wpr.org (Wisconsin Public Radio) — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0600

John Brockman talks smarts, "third culture" intellectuals, and our web-y world in this NEW and UNCUT interview.

Contemplating Our Selves

webmaster@wpr.org (Wisconsin Public Radio) — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0600

American spiritual teacher Antoinette Varner - also known as Gangaji - says it's possible to transcend our stories about ourselves. She tells Steve Paulson that to truly know yourself, just drop who you think you are, and pay attention to the "I". You can also hear the UNCUT version of this interview here.

You & Your Brain

webmaster@wpr.org (Wisconsin Public Radio) — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0600

Neuroscientists say that about a quarter of our mental energy is dedicated to maintaining our narrative identities. Julian Keenan says there's got to be an evolutionary benefit for all that "self".

Narrative Identity 101

webmaster@wpr.org (Wisconsin Public Radio) — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0600

The evidence is mounting... "we" are mostly who we think we are. Our identities are mental constructs, cobbled together from memory and stories. Jonathan Adler gives us a crash course in narrative identity and mental health.

Marc Kaufman on First Contact