An estimated 5.2 million Americans have Alzheimer’s disease, with about 200,000 diagnosed under the age of 65. On today’s show, a new documentary provides a glimpse of a family grappling with early onset Alzheimer’s.
Then, romantic comedies capitalize on romantic notions of people finding their one true love, but a social psychologist explains why the concept of discovering your soul mate may not be the best strategy for long term relationships.
Listen to the full show and Read more for individual segments.
The Genius of Marian
- Banker White’s documentary film “The Genius of Marian” is an intimate, sometimes heartbreaking portrait of a family watching the mother that they knew overtaken by Alzheimer’s. The film makes its television debut as the season opener for PBS’s P.O.V. series on September 8.
- CORRECTION: In the introduction to this segment, we introduced a clip of Pam talking to her doctor in 2001, the year should have been 2011.
Early Bloom
- When plant researcher David Rhoades found evidence that plants could communicate, it was a paradigm-shifting discovery. But it could not have come at a worse time. Peter Frick-Wright and Robbie Carver from the podcast "30 Minutes West" have the story of one creative scientist from the period whose groundbreaking discovery could not have come at a worse time.
- This program is part of the STEM Story Project -- distributed by PRX and made possible with funds from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. You can listen to this story and more at PRX.
Can't Find Your 'Soul Mate'? That Might Be A Good Thing.
Spike W.S. Lee is an assistant professor of marketing at the University of Toronto and holds a PhD in social psychology. He is co-author of a new paper published in the September issue of The Journal of Experimental Social Psychology-- “Framing Love: When it Hurts to Think We Were Made For Each Other.” We found an article about the study at Salon.com.
- Are you skeptical about soul mates, or are you a true love believer? Take a short quiz to find out how you compare with others.
The Secret to Desire in a Long-term Relationship
- Esther Perel, has based her career on how to unite those conflicting desires. She’s a psychologist, sex therapist and author who specializes in couples and sexuality. Her TED talk on “The Secret to Desire in a Long-term Relationship” has over 2 million views and her bestselling book is called “Mating in Captivity: Reconciling the Erotic and the Domestic”. Click here for more information.
