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Only Human

Only Human is a show about health that we all can relate to. Because every body has a story.

WNYC Studios

The team that brought you Only Human and The Realness are teaming up with Kai Wright and WNYC Studios to bring you more stories about health, medicine and a whole lot more. In episode one of The Stakes, we investigate one of the longest-running public health epidemics in American history and the ongoing fight for accountability. 
Support for WNYC reporting on lead is provided by the New York State Health Foundation, improving the health of all New Yorkers, especially the most vulnerable. Learn more at www.nyshealth.org. Additional support for WNYC’s health coverage is provided by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Jane and Gerald Katcher and the Katcher Family Foundation, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

Join Us on 'The Stakes'

Only Human presents: Undiscovered, a podcast from WNYC Studios about the left turns, missteps, and lucky breaks that make science happen. In this episode, a new life support technology leaves a doctor wondering how far she'll go to save a life. Subscribe here.

Only Human Presents: Undiscovered

Prodigy is supposed to fly back home right after a show in Vegas, but he never gets on the plane. As the world of hip hop mourns, there are still questions surrounding his death. We try to find answers, and go inside Prodigy’s memorial service to say goodbye to a rap icon.
 
 
LANGUAGE WARNING: The Realness contains strong language that some listeners may find offensive. 
WNYC’s health coverage and The Realness by Only Human is supported in part by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Jane and Gerald Katcher and the Katcher Family Foundation, Science Sandbox, an initiative of the Simons Foundation, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. 
Audio of Prodigy on Questlove Supreme is provided by Pandora, which also has a recording of Mobb Deep's classic hit "Shook Ones (Part II)" performed by Nas.

The Realness Ep6: Missing You

It's The Alchemist's birthday, but thanks to the NYPD's "Rap Intelligence Unit," he and Prodigy are forced to celebrate in a jail cell, and soon after, P is headed upstate. But even Prodigy says prison changed him for the better.
 
 
LANGUAGE WARNING: The Realness contains strong language that some listeners may find offensive. 
WNYC’s health coverage and The Realness by Only Human is supported in part by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Jane and Gerald Katcher and the Katcher Family Foundation, Science Sandbox, an initiative of the Simons Foundation, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. 
Audio of Prodigy on Questlove Supreme is provided by Pandora, which also has a recording of Mobb Deep's classic hit "Shook Ones (Part II)" performed by Nas.
Additional audio of Prodigy provided from the audio book of My Infamous Life by Albert "Prodigy" Johnson.

The Realness Ep5: Go See About the God

When Prodigy goes on trial for violating probation, his lawyer files over 90 pages of P's medical records in his defense. We find those records buried deep in a Brooklyn courthouse, and they open a window into how Prodigy's body was at war with itself.
 
 
LANGUAGE WARNING: The Realness contains strong language that some listeners may find offensive. 
WNYC’s health coverage and The Realness by Only Human is supported in part by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Jane and Gerald Katcher and the Katcher Family Foundation, Science Sandbox, an initiative of the Simons Foundation, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. 
Audio of Prodigy on Questlove Supreme is provided by Pandora, which also has a recording of Mobb Deep's classic hit "Shook Ones (Part II)" performed by Nas.

The Realness Ep4: The Most Racist Judge in Nassau County

Roxanne Shanté is the queen of Queensbridge rappers. As a teenager in the 1980s, she lyrically demolished all comers. In this B-side outtake, we talk with Roxanne about meeting Prodigy, encouraging Hav to go solo, and how the water in Queensbridge bestowed her with rap superpowers.
 
 
LANGUAGE WARNING: The Realness contains strong language that some listeners may find offensive. 
WNYC’s health coverage and The Realness by Only Human is supported in part by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Jane and Gerald Katcher and the Katcher Family Foundation, Science Sandbox, an initiative of the Simons Foundation, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. 
Audio of Prodigy on Questlove Supreme is provided by Pandora, which also has a recording of Mobb Deep's classic hit "Shook Ones (Part II)" performed by Nas.

The Realness B-Side: Roxanne Shanté

Someone is shot inside Def Jam. A rap star chases Mobb Deep through Lower Manhattan. And Prodigy convinces a hip hop mogul to sneak weapons into one of New York's most decadent nightclubs. Mobb Deep came up in rap’s golden age. No other group defined the era quite like the duo from Queens.
 
 
LANGUAGE WARNING: The Realness contains strong language that some listeners may find offensive. 
WNYC’s health coverage and The Realness by Only Human is supported in part by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Jane and Gerald Katcher and the Katcher Family Foundation, Science Sandbox, an initiative of the Simons Foundation, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. 
Audio of Prodigy on Questlove Supreme is provided by Pandora, which also has a recording of Mobb Deep's classic hit "Shook Ones (Part II)" performed by Nas.
Additional audio of Prodigy provided from the audio book of My Infamous Life by Albert "Prodigy" Johnson.

The Realness Ep3: Son, They Shook

As a kid with sickle cell anemia, Prodigy was told he'd barely make it to adulthood. The work of doctors, athletes, Hollywood stars and The Black Panthers help transform his fate. But what kind of life would he lead?
 
 
LANGUAGE WARNING: The Realness contains strong language that some listeners may find offensive. 
WNYC’s health coverage and The Realness by Only Human is supported in part by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Jane and Gerald Katcher and the Katcher Family Foundation, Science Sandbox, an initiative of the Simons Foundation, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. 
Audio of Prodigy on Questlove Supreme is provided by Pandora, which also has a recording of Mobb Deep's classic hit "Shook Ones (Part II)" performed by Nas.
Additional audio of Prodigy provided from the audio book of My Infamous Life by Albert "Prodigy" Johnson.

The Realness Ep2: T'Chaka

Prodigy and Havoc begin laying down rhymes together in high school. When their first album flops, they come up with a new sound that's directly influenced by P's sickle cell, and it helps define a generation of hip hop. Plus: Big Twins talks about the sickle cell attack he’ll never forget.
 
Explore More:
One of the interviews we didn’t get a chance to use was this appearance Prodigy made on The Breakfast Club a while back. About 12:40 in, he talks about how sickle cell influenced his music, and says “a lot of the pain that comes out of me” is from having sickle cell.  
If you ever needed proof that Prodigy was hella influential, this tribute show Hot 97’s Peter Rosenberg put out after P’s death proves it. Eminem and Kendrick Lamar (who later gave Prodigy a shout out on the BET awards) make guest appearances, rapping some of P’s most famous lines.
 
Finally, check out the music video for Peer Pressure, one of Mobb Deep’s first singles. In it, Havoc and Prodigy are carrying sickles. A producer who worked with them told us they were meant to represent P’s sickle cell.
 
 
LANGUAGE WARNING: The Realness contains strong language that some listeners may find offensive. 
WNYC’s health coverage and The Realness by Only Human is supported in part by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Jane and Gerald Katcher and the Katcher Family Foundation, Science Sandbox, an initiative of the Simons Foundation, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. 
Audio of Prodigy on Questlove Supreme is provided by Pandora, which also has a recording of Mobb Deep's classic hit "Shook Ones (Part II)" performed by Nas.

The Realness Ep1: This Sunny Day Right Here

One day in February, a group of staff packed up Arnaldo's belongings, moved him out of Carlton Palms and into a three-bedroom house in a suburban neighborhood. On its face, it's the type of setting disability advocates strive toward. Arnaldo has his own bedroom, more autonomy, a staff that looks after him.
At the moment, Arnaldo is the only resident. He'll eventually share the house with two other men, but just days before the first is slated to join Arnaldo, he dies - under suspicious circumstances in the care of Carlton Palms.

Aftereffect Ep8: “They call him Cheese”

The Realness is about how a sick kid became a legendary rapper, but still couldn't escape sickle cell anemia.

WNYC Studios presents: The Realness

For decades, Carlton Palms' elusive founder, Ken Mazik, has wielded his power and influence to sway members of Congress and state legislatures into bending the rules in his favor, from scuttling laws that would have limited the use of physical restraints, to securing leeway from the state of Florida in order to amass a fortune in Medicaid funding.
As one of his former employees told us, "Ken Mazik made millions of dollars tying up little kids."

Aftereffect Ep7: “The man behind an empire”

A cup of hot water thrown on a developmentally-disabled resident. Another kicked in the ribs. A tooth knocked out by a staff member. Carlton Palms had a dark history long before Arnaldo arrived. So why is the state of Florida so reluctant to close it?

Aftereffect Ep6: “When they don't behave”

A year and a half after the shooting, there are signs of trouble at Arnaldo's new home, Carlton Palms. The staff isn't keeping an eye on him. There are unexplained injuries. His mother isn't allowed to see his room and he's being physically restrained in a full-body mat for getting out of bed at night.
And yet, his family continues to hope that this is the right place for him.

Aftereffect Ep5: “I need to believe”

The day of the shooting wasn't Arnaldo's first encounter with the police. In fact, they'd loomed large in his life for years before that. Even as he bounced from one group home to another, the people that consistently showed up for him, often in the worst way, were the cops.

Aftereffect Ep4: “I Baker Act you. You Baker Acted me.”

Since the beginning, Arnaldo’s mother struggled to find adequate care for her autistic son. Her memories are often painful: the doctors who wouldn't diagnose him; the staff who punched him, drugged him, tied his hands behind his back in a classroom chair.
These early experiences shaped Arnaldo. In this episode, we talk with a number of people who've cared for him. They recount a sweet, affectionate young man who was also capable of violent outbursts and fits of rage.
Hidden beneath Arnaldo's story is a disability-services system starved of funding; facilities trying to squeeze every dollar out of their residents; and staff members willing to restrain their clients by any means necessary.

Aftereffect Ep3: “He was definitely a handful”

The shooting left Arnaldo severely traumatized, unable to remain in the home where Charles Kinsey had taken care of him. The next day, he was involuntarily committed to a hospital psych ward, where days stretched into weeks into well over-a-month as the state of Florida struggled to find a new home for him.
Eventually, Arnaldo finds himself in a new facility with a well-documented track record of abuse and neglect. It's Halloween when we first meet Arnaldo face-to-face. Ironically, after everything he's endured, the staff have dressed him in a police uniform costume.

Aftereffect Ep2: “Suck it up, buttercup”

Only Human listeners, we're here with a new podcast series that we think will be right up your alley. Aftereffect touches on the same themes of how health intersects with our lives everyday. Give it a shot. Let us know what you think.
Just before 5pm on Monday July 18th, 2016, a 26-year old autistic man named Arnaldo Rios Soto walked out of his North Miami home. He had a silver toy truck in his hand. Hours later, his life would be changed forever.
A passing motorist mistook Arnaldo’s toy for a gun and called 911. Police and SWAT arrived and the confrontation was captured in a cell phone video. The encounter left Arnaldo's behavioral aide -- a black man named Charles Kinsey -- severely wounded, and it left Arnaldo in need of round-the-clock care.
As a result, three police officers lost their jobs, including the now-former North Miami chief of police, Gary Eugene. In his words: "We blew it."

Aftereffect Ep 1: “Let me get this on camera”

In summer 2016, a police shooting upended the life of Arnaldo Rios Soto, a 26-year old, non-speaking, autistic man. Aftereffect tells Arnaldo's story —  a hidden world of psych wards, physical abuse and chemical restraints — and asks the question: What made Arnaldo's life go so wrong?
Aftereffect by Only Human is produced by WNYC Studios, a listener-supported producer of leading podcasts including Freakonomics, Death, Sex & Money, and On the Media.

Aftereffect: A SWAT team, an autistic man, an American tragedy.

We'll give a sneak peek at what's next for Only Human, and then share an episode of one of WNYC's latest podcasts, Caught. Mary Harris reports on Stephen Hall, one of thousands of so-called "juvenile lifers" who have an unexpected shot at freedom today. Up until 2005, most juveniles could be sentenced just as harshly as adults: that meant life without parole, even the death penalty. Then a landmark Supreme Court decision made executing juvenile offenders illegal, and sentencing guidelines began to change. The court was swayed after hearing about teenage brain development. 

Caught: "The Teenage Brain is Like a Sports Car"

Starting with the 1925 Scopes Trial to climate change, we look at how even well-established science can remain controversial.  

The Birth of Climate Change Denial

Another Round co-host Tracy Clayton enlisted Only Human to help her with an experiment, to find her roots. 

“I Got Indian in My Family”: An Another Round Takeover

When North Carolina passed HB2 last year — a controversial law also known as the "bathroom bill" — it seemed to many that the rights of transgender people in that state were under threat. Now that the bathroom bill has been repealed, we wanted to check in with three young people we met last summer at one of the few clinics for transgender kids in the south. About a year after starting therapy, they tell us how the shifting political climate is affecting their personal lives.

Trans Kids Update: Dating, PMS, And, Yeah, Bathrooms

If you’ve ever worried about catching a cold from a co-worker who came into work when he (or she) should’ve taken a sick day, then this episode is for you. 

Flu-dunnit?

A granddaughter sets out to find the roots of her grandmother’s obsession with Vicks Vaporub. The little blue jar ends up changing their relationship.  

Just Put Some Vicks On It

When Mathilda Crisp was three years-old, she got sick. She stopped sleeping through the night, but during the day, she would fall asleep without warning — during a swim lesson, for example, or straight into her cereal bowl at breakfast. For one doctor, figuring out what was making this little girl sick was just the beginning of an even bigger medical mystery.

A Three Year-Old Girl, a Colony of Dogs, and One Very Rare Side Effect

Jennifer Jako spent a lifetime trying to explain a single mistake she made. In this episode, we tell the story of that mistake and how it ultimately took a secret experiment buried deep inside one of America’s favorite television shows to help correct the record.

The Woman Behind a Secret Grey's Anatomy Experiment

Who knew counting a crowd would be so… political? If the election felt contentious, the inauguration seemed to make the country even more divided, between "us" and "them." After many gathered on the Washington Mall for President Trump's inauguration and the Women’s March the following day, Only Human looks to social psychology to explain what happens to us as individuals when we become part of a crowd.

The Crowd Made You Do It

Only Human is working on an episode about the psychology of crowds. We're looking at what happens to us as individuals when we join a rally, a ceremony or a protest -- such as inauguration, or the Women’s March on Washington.
And we need your help!
This survey will help us understand what kind of effect these events might have on us, whether you're attending in person or watching from home. It should just take a couple minutes. Thank you!


Take Our Survey!

The 2016 election has certainly felt stressful. But what is the Trump-Clinton saga actually doing to us, physically? It turns out there’s a way to measure this. Researchers at the University of Nebraska have been looking at the intersection of biology and politics, and they teamed up with us to conduct an election stress experiment. We scattered across the city and managed to get more than 100 liberals and conservatives to give us spit samples to test their stress levels. And we found some surprising results.

Please Spit in This Tube: An Election Experiment

We have this idea of what therapy is supposed to look like. There’s a couch. An objective therapist sitting across the room scribbling notes. But of course it’s not that simple. In this episode, six short stories, many from our listeners, looking at how the role of patient and therapist can get... complicated. 

Me and My Therapist

Earlier this year, North Carolina passed HB2, the so-called "bathroom bill." But the state is also home to one of the few clinics for transgender kids in the South. This week, we spend some time in that clinic, at Duke University's Children's Hospital, to find out how these patients are coping.

I’d Rather Have a Living Son Than a Dead Daughter

Robert Hoge doesn’t look like most people. He was born with severe defects; growing up, he had to get used to people calling him “ugly.” This week, Robert reflects on the lie we all tell ourselves: that it’s what on the inside that counts, and looks don’t matter. And he tells us what happens when the way you look forces you to confront that, every day.
 

Growing Up "Ugly"

Is laughter really the best medicine? This week, Mary Harris and Studio 360’s Kurt Andersen try to find out. We go to laughter yoga in New York, an improv class for doctors and nurses in Chicago, and talk to some brain scientists about why humans laugh in the first place. 

Yes, Simba, Chimps Laugh

Poet Max Ritvo is back on our show this week, for what he’s calling his “farewell tour".The 25-year-old has spent years living with terminal cancer and says he’s now at the end of his road. But in typical Max fashion there are as many laughs as there are tears.

The Prank Your Body Plays On Life

When Rose was growing up, she knew something wasn't quite right about how she heard the world. But every time she got a hearing test at the audiologist's office, she aced them. It took her years to figure out what was happening — until she met Professor Nina Kraus. What began as a quest to solve a mystery about one woman’s hearing lead to a discovery not about faulty ears, but about how all of our brains process sound. (Rebroadcast)

Your Brain On Sound (Rebroadcast)

Marc Edwards uncovered the dangerous lead in Flint’s water last year. Like a lot of other people crusading for change, he discovered the struggle isn’t just about getting the science right. It’s also about convincing people to listen.

I Thought the Truth Would Be Enough

For some people, there is no “getting over” being sick. There’s just an occasional break from the pain. Three people tell Only Human what it’s like when life hands you a vacation from disease and then sends you home again. 

Vacation Is All I Ever Wanted

As the Supreme Court nears its decision on a landmark abortion case, we revisit a favorite episode. Dr. Willie Parker, a devout Christian, refused to perform abortions in his early career. Then he heard a Martin Luther King Jr. speech that changed his mind. (Originally aired Feb 2, 2016)

One Doctor's Mission: Safe Abortions in the South (Rebroadcast)

In part three of our mental health series we meet Rachel Star Withers, a fearless woman with schizophrenia who offers a rare snapshot of mental illness on YouTube. Follow along on Facebook at Only Human Podcast.

Part 3: A Star With Schizophrenia

Medical school culture isn’t known to be open about mental health issues. But many students like Giselle suffer from intense anxiety and depression. And she doesn’t want to stay silent. This is part two of our mental health series. Follow along on Facebook at Only Human Podcast.

Part 2: Be the Doctor Your Mom Wanted You to Marry

What happens when you’re becoming a psychologist but you’ve  never come clean to your own family about your struggles with mental health? This is the dilemma Rose confronts, and she lets us eavesdrop when she finally confesses to her mother that she’s been depressed most of her life.

Part 1:  'You Don't Watch Bollywood With Me Anymore'

Scientist Paul Quinton has lived twice as long as expected for someone with cystic fibrosis. He also made a discovery that led to a breakthrough treatment for the disease. But now that this new drug is available, who gets to decide how much it costs?

Too Ornery to Die

Native Americans have struggled with poor access to health care for many years. Two doctors who grew up on reservations are trying to change that, one patient at a time.

Medicine and Mistrust on Native American Reservations

Jay Alan Zimmerman is a musician who has been losing his hearing over the past several decades. As his hearing worsened, Jay considered other professions, but couldn’t imagine a life without music. Now he’s trying to decide if he’ll risk the unknown and participate in experimental research to try to gain back all he’s lost. (Rebroadcast)

A Deaf Composer Holds Out for Science (Rebroadcast)

Prenatal screening keeps getting more precise, more accessible, and less stressful -- at least in terms of the basic procedure. But what happens when these tests catch something? This week, the life and death decisions that come with genetic information.

How a Prenatal Test Is Transforming Modern Medicine

A young woman with diabetes hacks her insulin pump and takes DIY medicine to a new level. But could she find herself in trouble with the federal government?

The Robot Vacuum Ate My Pancreas

Doctors listen to stories from patients all the time. This week, we give them the mic to hear about the patients who left a lasting impression on their lives.

Doctor Stories: The Patient I’ll Never Forget

What actually makes you feel better when you go to the doctor? This week we explore that question and the power of a placebo – the most misunderstood “medicine” of all.

Real Doctors, Fake Medicine?

When it comes to dissecting a cadaver, medical students don’t always know who is under their scalpel. This week, Only Human’s Fred Mogul learns about a musician who spent his life educating others, and continues to do so after he dies.

Every (Dead) Body Has A Story

In the early 1900s, an eccentric fitness guru named Bernarr Macfadden discovered what he believed was a treatment for everything: fasting. In this episode, how Macfadden’s miracle cure got big, was forgotten and came back nearly a century later. 

The Man Who Cured Everything

We’re often taught that sex can come with consequences. But is our fear of these risks making us alienate and punish people with sexually transmitted disease?

When Risky Sex Lands You in Jail

The new “female Viagra” has been underwhelming. But researcher Nicole Prause is on a mission to find out what it takes for women to have better sex.

The Science of Turning Her On

Jaime Lowe started taking lithium when she was 17, after a manic episode landed her in a psychiatric ward. She was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, andor more than 20 years, the drug has been her near-constant companion.
“It’s hard to know if lithium is actually -- like, if it dampens my personality, or if it normalizes my personality, or if it allows me to just sort of be who I am,” she says.
But now the drug that keeps Jaime sane is also making her sick. She faces a choice that’s not much of choice at all: an eventual kidney transplant, or giving up the drug.

Your Sanity or Your Kidneys (Revisited)

A neuropsychologist and an opera singer have teamed up to create a form of vocal training for people on the autism spectrum. So far they’ve had success, but what does it mean for the patients who have to change and conform just to fit in?

When Opera Meets Autism

Peter Grinspoon spent years addicted to painkillers – as a successful physician who also prescribed them. He kept his addiction secret and often shared pills with his patients, until he was caught. In this episode, the author of “Free Refills” talks about his lifelong infatuation with drugs, and his eventual recovery.

A Doctor’s Love Affair with Vicodin

Calories, the longstanding building blocks of a diet, can be sneaky. It turns out that measuring what we eat through these units of energy isn’t as foolproof as we thought. We team up with the podcast Gastropod to find out the truth about calories, and how to burn them.

Don't Count on the Calorie

Dr. Willie Parker, a devout Christian, refused to perform abortions early in his career. Now he travels across conservative states like Alabama and Mississippi, amid threats and criticism, providing safe abortions for women. Parker talks about the Martin Luther King Jr. speech that changed his mind, and his work.

One Doctor’s Mission: Safe Abortions in the South

An outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease had New Yorkers panicking last summer. We go behind the scenes to find out how the city stopped a deadly bacteria that claimed 16 lives, and left more than a hundred people sick.

How to Stop an Outbreak

Ever since Susannah Ludwig was born without an esophagus, her life has been a series of medical experiments. In this episode, the Academy Award-nominated movie producer talks about the uncertainty of living with a rare condition, and the optimism that moves her forward. 

When Life's a Medical Experiment

When we ask the world’s oldest people a simple question — what’s your secret to longevity? — we walk away with some pretty illogical answers. In this episode we set out to see what we’ve actually learned from supercentenarians and, along the way, reveal a whole other side to our fascination with extreme longevity.

Bacon, Booze and the Search for the Fountain of Youth

Behavioral economist Dan Ariely's insights into why we do what we do have made him a best-selling author and a star TED talker. Now, he's going to help you stick with your New Year's resolution to exercise. In this episode, Ariely partners with Only Human on a new project.

This Is the Year You Stick to It

We all know the cost of healthcare is staggering in this country — but is there anything you can do about it? Dr. Zeke Emanuel talks about how we can be a smarter consumers of healthcare, and the ways the system might be slowly changing to help all of us — doctors, hospitals, insurers, and patients — understand cost better.

Why is Healthcare So Expensive? We Ask an Expert

(REBROADCAST) When we asked you to share your health confessions with us we didn’t know what to expect. Turns out you guys have all kinds of vices: you eat the wrong things, you use drugs, sometimes you lie to your doctors. And doctors are no better. In this episode, hear stories from patients — and doctors — about mistakes, mishaps, and near fatal errors.

Patients and Doctors Fess Up (Rebroadcast)

Does a more humane hospital equal a safer one? That’s a question Johns Hopkins is grappling with — and Dr. Peter Pronovost believes the answer is yes. His Project Emerge aims to reengineer the way patients are cared for in the ICU.
 

Putting Care Back in the ICU

Bishop Gwendolyn Phillips Coates is on a mission. She’s a preacher in a small church in South L.A., and she’s made it her job to get her congregation prepared for the end of life. Bishop Coates is trying to make conversations about death easier because she knows first hand that being prepared for the end can make living better too.
 

Let's Talk About Death

When Rose was growing up, she knew something wasn't quite right about how she heard the world. But every time she got a hearing test at the audiologist's office, she aced them. It took her years to figure out what was happening — until she met Professor Nina Kraus. What began as a quest to solve a mystery about one woman’s hearing lead to a discovery not about faulty ears, but about how all of our brains process sound.

Your Brain On Sound

It’s not coincidental that Only Human decided to tackle listening right before a big holiday, when a lot of us will spend time with family. Sometimes the people we love the most can be the hardest to listen to. So we’re rounding out our Listen Up project with some last-minute guidance. Writer and humorist Henry Alford offers advice from crisis negotiators, as well as some of his own strategies to keeping the peace at the Thanksgiving dinner table.

Listen Up! The Big Turkey in the Sky

When you’re in a situation where you have to collaborate with other people, it’s easy to get stuck in a sludge of unproductivity. So we’re borrowing an exercise from the world of improv comedy, “Yes, And… ,” which is used to keep conversation flowing. Instead of shutting down the other person’s ideas with “no” or “but,” you build upon them. Molly Lloyd from the improv theatre Upright Citizens Brigade guides us through this week’s challenge — and you might be surprised where it can take you.
 

Listen Up! Day 5: Yes, And... !

Memory and listening go hand-in-hand. But you know the feeling: You’re at an event where you don’t know anyone. And then you get introduced to lots of folks — only to forget their names ten minutes later. The good news? We can work on our memory. Memory champion and science journalist Joshua Foer guides us through creative ways that will help make any name stick — and reminds us effort is always key. 

Listen Up! Day 4: Memorize This!

We often scramble to fill up “awkward silence” in conversations. But the best listeners know when others just need to be heard. Renowned mediator Ken Feinberg listens to thousands of heartbreaking stories after tragic events — and embracing silence is something he relies on to do his job. So find time for some solitude today and become a more empathic listener.

Listen Up! Day 3: Take a Breather

Being a good listener isn’t just about your ears. Body language can tell you a lot about a person’s intentions, and it’s one of the keys to Hamilton actor Okieriete Onaodowan’s success on stage. And with the help of movement instructor Fay Simpson, we’ll guide you through a “mirroring” partner exercise that gets you moving in sync with each other.

Listen Up! Day 2: Mirror, Mirror

We're so used to communicating with each other through email, text, tweets — everything but face-to-face. But when we are left with tech, we might be missing a lot of crucial information. With the help of MTV's Franchesca Ramsey and cognitive psychologist Beatrice de Gelder, we'll guide you through our first Listen Up! challenge: getting out of your comfort zone and having conversations in person.

Listen Up! Day 1: Face-to-Face

As a kid, Marvin Miller dreamed of starting an all sign language town. A place where deaf would be the norm and everyone from the garbage man to the mayor would sign. Ten years ago he found the land to build it.

Dreaming of a Deaf Utopia

Jay Alan Zimmerman is a musician who has been losing his hearing over the past several decades. As his hearing worsened, Jay considered other professions, but couldn't imagine a life without music. Now he's trying to decide if he'll risk the unknown and participate in experimental research to try to gain back all he's lost.

A Deaf Composer Holds Out for Science

At 24, Max Ritvo has a lot going for him. He's a gifted poet with a teaching job at Columbia University and a manuscript that he's shopping to publishers. He's a new husband. He's a comic in a darkly funny experimental improv group. But he's also a cancer patient whose prognosis isn't good.

Who Are You Calling 'Inspiring'?

When we asked you to share your health confessions with us we didn’t know what to expect. Turns out you guys have all kinds of vices: you eat the wrong things, you use drugs, sometimes you lie to your doctors. And doctors are no better. In this episode, hear stories from patients — and doctors — about mistakes, mishaps, and near fatal errors.
 

Patients and Doctors Fess Up

Jaime Lowe started taking lithium when she was 17, after a manic episode landed her in a psychiatric ward. She was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and for more than 20 years, the drug has been her near-constant companion. 
“It’s hard to know if lithium is actually -- like, if it dampens my personality, or if it normalizes my personality, or if it allows me to just sort of be who I am,” she says.
But now the drug that keeps Jaime sane is also making her sick. She faces a choice that’s not much of choice at all: an eventual kidney transplant, or giving up the drug.

Your Sanity or Your Kidneys

A young mom learns she has breast cancer. Then, while she's scheduling surgery and planning for chemo, she finds out something else: she's pregnant. That's what happened to Only Human's host, Mary Harris, two years ago. She tells her story – and asks you to share yours.

Keep the Baby, Get the Chemo

A deaf composer gets a shot at hearing again. A woman with bipolar disorder tries going off her usual medication. Our host finds out she has breast cancer—and is pregnant—at the same time. 
This is Only Human, a new podcast from WNYC Studios. Health is something we often choose to ignore—until it hits us in the face. Only Human is a show that isn’t afraid to have those uncomfortable conversations, or experiment with possible solutions. Hosted by Mary Harris, Only Human tells stories we all can relate to. Because every body has a story. 
Join us every week, starting October 6. And subscribe to us on iTunes by clicking here. 