Tag: Beth Bennett

Animal Creativity

This week on How on Earth, Beth speaks with Professor Carol Gigliotti about her new book, The Creative Lives of Animals. She provides a new perspective on animals as agents in their own lives, as valuable contributors to their world and ours, and as guides in understanding how creativity may contribute to conserving the natural world. Presenting a powerful argument for the importance of recognizing animals as individuals and as creators of a healthy, biodiverse world, this book offers insights into the creativity of animals.

Executive Producer: Beth Bennett
Show Producer: Beth Bennett
Additional Contributions: Susan Moran, Tom McKinnon, Joel Parker
Engineer: Shannon Young

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The Health of the US Public Health System

On today’s show, Beth speaks with Michael Stein, primary care physician and researcher, who has been writing about medicine and public health for decades. In Me Vs Us, he instigates a conversation about how we might change the current situation in which public health loses out to individual medicine and how public health nevertheless holds the solutions to our most concerning health crises, such as Covid-19 and obesity. In the end, Stein argues, we need to recover and sharpen our sense of health based on a reverent appreciation of both the health care and public health perspectives.

Executive Producer: Beth Bennett
Show Producer: Beth Bennett
Additional Contributions: Benita Lee and Shelley Schlender
Engineer Shannon Young

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Looking for a Good Night’s Sleep?

In today’s show Beth talks with Aric Prather, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of California, San Francisco, where he co-directs the Aging, Metabolism, and Emotions Center. A licensed clinical psychologist, he has helped hundreds of patients improve their sleep. In his new book, The Sleep Prescription, Dr. Prather describes the solutions that he uses in the clinic to regain normal sleep. In our conversation, Dr. Prather shares the science behind the simple yet effective techniques that can restore one’s sleep.
Executive Producer: Susan Moran
Show Producer: Beth Bennett
Additional Contribution: Shelley Schlender
Engineer: Shannon Young

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Grass-Fed Beef for a Post-Pandemic World

How on Earth’s Beth Bennett talks with authors Ridge Shinn and Lynne Pledger about how regenerative grazing can replace corn-based feedlots, which are responsible for significant climate emissions, nitrogen pollution, and animal suffering. Their book, Grass-Fed Beef for a Post-Pandemic World, outlines a hopeful path out of our broken food system via regional networks of regeneratively produced meat. They talk about how this ancient method of animal husbandry can restore degraded farmland, increase biodiversity, combat climate change by reducing emissions and sequestering carbon and produce nutrient-dense, healthy meat for consumers.  More information at Big Picture Beef.

Also, Shelley Schlender talks with Sarah Johnson, a professor of food, science and human nutrition at Colorado State University, about a recent study indicating that in mice prone to artery disease, those that ate belgian endive reduced the instability of artery plaques. That may be important, because in people, unstable plaques can trigger heart attacks.

Hosts: Joel Parker, Beth Bennett
Producer: Joel Parker
Additional contributions: Shelley Schlender
Executive Producer: Susan Moran

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 27:01 — 37.1MB)

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Song of the Cell: Siddhartha Mukherjee’s New Book

Today on How on Earth, Beth talks with Dr Siddhartha Mukherjee. His first book, The Emperor of All Maladies, won the Pulitzer Prize in 2011. His new book, The Song of the Cell, explores our radical new ability to manipulate cells. Mukherjee tells the story of how scientists discovered cells, began to understand them, and are now using that knowledge to create new humans. He combines accessible and exciting science writing with his own experience as a researcher, a doctor, and a prolific reader, to pull us into the expanding story of cell biology.
Executive Producer: Susan Moran
Show Producer:Beth Bennett
Headline Contribution: Joel Parker

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Hearing & Hearing Aids

Starting this week, the FDA has approved the sale of over-the-counter hearing aids.  In light of that, in today’s edition of How on Earth, we play an Encore Feature from February 2020 of an interview we did with David Owen about his book, Volume Control, in which he explores the surprising science of hearing and the remarkable technologies that can help us hear better.

Hosts: Joel Parker, Beth Bennett
Producer: Joel Parker
Additional contributions: Benita Lee, Shelley Schlender
Executive Producer: Susan Moran

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The Amazing…Honeybee!

On today’s show Beth talks to Prof Michael Breed about honeybees. Sure, there is a little on their decline which is concerning to all of us, but we focus on many remarkable aspects of their biology. If you want to go deeper, you can visit Mike’s website or the book he mentions in the interview.

Executive Producer: Beth Bennett
Show Producer: Beth Bennett
Engineer: Shannon Young

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Testosterone – Bane or Benefit?

ON this week’s show, Beth talks with Carole Hooven about her new book: “T – The Story of Testosterone, the Hormone that Dominates and Divides Us”. She demonstrates that the hormone acts in concert with genes and culture to produce a vast variety of male and female behavior. And, crucially, the fact that many sex differences are grounded in biology provides no support for restrictive gender norms or patriarchal values. In understanding testosterone, we better understand ourselves and one another—and how we might build a fairer, safer society.

Executive Producer: Beth Bennett
Show Producer: Beth Bennett
Additional Contributions: Shelley Schlender

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What’s New in Climate?

In this week’s How on Earth, we look at 3 aspects of climate change: its role in disease incidence and transmission; some effects of the new climate change legislation; and how ‘micro-forests’ can mitigate temperature and water loss. The latter comes from an interview with author Hannah Lewis and her book Mini-Forest Revolution, in which she describes the Miyawaki Method, a unique approach to reforestation devised by Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki.
Executive Producer: Beth Bennett
Show Producers: Beth Bennett & Benita Lee
Engineer: Shannon Young
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Keeping Your Heart Healthy – Off the Western Medicine Track

This week on How on Earth, Beth talks with Dr Seven Hussey about his recent book, Understanding the Heart: Surprising Insights into the Evolutionary Origins of Heart Disease—and Why It Matters. Following his early (34 years old) heart attack, he delved into alternative therapies to heal his heart. In the book he lays out a comprehensive vision of the cardiovascular system and alternative therapies for heart disease.

Executive Producer: Joel Parker
Show Producer: Beth Bennett
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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 26:49 — 21.4MB)

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