Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Donate your vehicle during the month of April or May and you'll be entered into a $500 Visa gift card drawing!

Legacy of a Jerk

/
Flickr

In this episode, Stephen Dubner focuses on an experimental procedure called the fecal transplant. This procedure is sort of combination of organ transplant and blood transfusion that may present a viable way to treat not only intestinal problems but also obesity and a number of neurological disorders. We'll talk to two doctors at the vanguard of this procedure and a patient who says it changed his life. Also: we've all heard our share of poignant and loving eulogies, but what if the deceased was a real jerk? Ancient wisdom tells us not to speak ill of the dead, but in this very chatty age, which includes online obituaries, what happens to a person's reputation once they're no longer around to defend themselves? Stephen Dubner speaks with Steve Jobs biographer Walter Isaacson about the Apple CEO's well known proclivity toward jerkitude; and we offer a radical reassessment of baseball's biggest jerk, Ty Cobb.

For more information about this program, visit www.freakonomicsradio.com.

Related Content

You make NHPR possible.

NHPR is nonprofit and independent. We rely on readers like you to support the local, national, and international coverage on this website. Your support makes this news available to everyone.

Give today. A monthly donation of $5 makes a real difference.