You can't confront the horror that was the Holocaust without facing inescapable questions of America's role. What did the United States know about the Holocaust and how did it respond? Today, the United States Holocaust Museum is asking the public to help uncover how the American press covered the genocide of millions of Jews - and whether or not anyone was listening.
Then, recent public health crises like Ebola and Zika show how fear grabs public and media's attention. But there's another virus potentially be more harmful on a mass scale that's crept under the radar. Today, we'll hear about a virus that's killing off Tilapia by the millions - and what that could mean for our global food supply.
Listen to the full show.
History Unfolded
When confronting the horror that was the Holocaust come inescapable questions of America's role. What did the United States know about the Holocaust and how did it respond? Those are thorny and multi-layered questions. What is the US in this case? Its government, with access to intelligence and foreign networks? Or its citizens, who got their intelligence primarily from newspapers?
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is calling on people to share newspaper articles for “History Unfolded: US Newspapers and the Holocaust”. The crowd-sourcing project is gathering news from the time into a centralized database that will be compiled and turned into an exhibit in 2018.
Elissa Frankleand David Klevan work in the education & outreach technology division for the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
The Words Are a Jumble
Art is the fruit of creativity and toil by an artist - so what happens when an artist suffers a life-altering brain injury? Producer Tobin Low brings us the story of a composer whose unusual career tells us a lot about inspiration, creativity, and the brain.
You can listen to this story again at PRX.org.
Impostor Syndrome Isn't Real
In 1978, two clinical psychologists came up with the term "impostor phenomenon" to describe high-achieving people unable to take credit for their own successes; those who instead chalk it up to luck, or being in the right place at the right time, all the while living in fear they'll be exposed as frauds. Maybe you've heard it called "imposter syndrome," or seen the quizzes, articles and think pieces claiming to "diagnose" or "treat" the condition. In recent years, "imposter syndrome" has become an easy explanation for why women struggle with disparity in the workplace.
L.V. Andersonis an associate editor at Slate, where she recently wrote about some of the misconceptions about impostor syndrome, beginning with labeling it a syndrome, rather than a normal part of experiencing success.
Fishpocalypse
A little more than a year ago, panic over the Ebola virus reached its peak. Now, the mosquito-borne Zika virus has public health officials shuddering and scientists scrambling come up with vaccines and treatments. The head of the US Centers for Disease Control now acknowledges that Zika is "scarier than we initially thought". Yes, it's scary. And fear gets the media - and the public's - attention. Meanwhile, there are far less headline-grabbing pathogens you've likely never heard of that could potentially be more dangerous to humans.
Ed Yongis a science writer for The Atlantic, where he wrote about a virus that's killing off large numbers of a fish called Tilapia and why it and other diseases may have dangerous implications for the future of our food supply. His book is I Contain Multitudes : The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life.
