Episode of the day: "The White Elephant of Tel Aviv"

Listen to "The White Elephant of Tel Aviv"

Podcast: 99% Invisible (Episode 206)

Perspectival section drawing of the original building design
(image: 99% Invisible)

"Israeli buses regularly make international headlines, be it for suicide bombings, fights over gender segregation, or clashes concerning Shabbat schedules. One particular ill-fated megastructure, however, has been at the nexus of various lesser-publicized conflicts: a building in Tel Aviv designed to be the largest bus station in the world."

More information:

Article about Tel Aviv's Central Bus Station in Forward

Article in The Times of Israel

Youths practice their downrocks in Tel Aviv’s Central Bus Station.
(image: Yifa Yaakov/The Times of Israel)

Episode of the day: "The Birth of Instagram and Tunisia's Jihadis"

Listen to "The Birth of Instagram and Tunisia's Jihadis"

Podcast: The New Yorker Radio Hour (Episode 23)

"Instagram co-founder Mike Krieger talks about how Instagram took over the world; the New Yorker's cartoon editor, Bob Mankoff, shares his three favorite jokes; and George Packer reports from Tunisia, the birthpalce of the Arab Spring, where democratic governance has led to an upsurge in jihadism."

More information:

Mike Krieger's Instagram

Mike Krieger in The Financial Times

To understand more about young males who join terrorist groups we highly recommend listening to an episode published here before entitled "Terrorism" from Hidden Brain.

Mike Krieger

Episode of the day: "The Man in the Zoo"

Listen to "The Man in the Zoo"

Podcast: Radio Diaries (Episode 47)



"In 1906, New York’s Bronx Zoo was the largest zoo in the world. More than 800 birds, reptiles and beasts of all kinds. But that year, the zoo introduced a new exhibit that would quickly became its most popular attraction. In the monkey house, right next to an orangutan, there was a man… inside a cage."

More information:

Article in The Guardian about Ota Benga's life

Episode of the day: "Proof"

Listen to "Proof"

Podcast: Snap Judgement (Episode 606)

Three great stories. Even though I'm not a great fan of fictional stories on podcasts, really enjoyed The One About the Dead Dog. We all know someone who has the most unbelievable stories about themselves and make us wonder if there is truth in all that...

More information:

Eddie Lowery on the Innocence Project

Eddie Lowery on After Hours

The Kroger's on the BBC News

The Kroger's in The New York Times

Episode of the day: "Apple's Security Debate is Everyone's Problem (Including You)"

"Apple's Security Debate is Everyone's Problem (Including Yours)"

Podcast: Note to Self

"Russel Banks was one of several prolific writers who signed a letter last month calling for the FBI to stand down in their attempt to hack Apple."

Sorry Mr. Banks, but I'm with Mr. Obama.

More information:

Costumer Letter from Apple about US government demands

Episode of the day: "Tribes and Traitors"

Listen to "Tribes and Traitors"

Podcast: Hidden Brain (Episode 24)



"What happens when you empathize with the enemy and why showing empathy for another group can feel so threatening to our own tribes"

More information:

Avner Gvaryahu on YNet News

Breaking the Silence  website

Mohammed Dajani in the Washington Institute

Episode of the day: "Either/Or"

Listen to "Either/Or"

Podcast: Criminal (Episode 39)

"In 1983, three men were prepared to plead guilty to a violent sexual assault in Anderson, South Carolina. Defense attorneys did not want their clients to go before a jury, and arranged a plea deal. This left the sentencing in the hands of the judge, who gave the assailants a very controversial choice."

30 years in prison or surgical castration.

More information:

1983 Article in the The New York Times

Michael Braxton's new prison term in the Independent Mail

Episode of the day: "Update: 23 Weeks 6 Days"

Listen to "Update: 23 Weeks 6 Days"

Podcast: Radiolab

Juniper French in the NICU
(image: Cherie Diez / Times)

"An update on Juniper French, a tiny baby, born at 23 Weeks and 6 days -- roughly halfway to full term. And a whole universe of medical and moral questions."

I had this episode in my archives and it has been now updated. There is more than simple natural reflexes, there is a transcendental bond cultivated by natural reflexes.

More information:

Roe versus Wade on Wikipedia

Kelley Benham and Tom French on book collaboration

Juniper: the girl who was born too soon on Amazon

Tom French reading to Juniper
(image: Cherie Diez / Times)

Episode of the day: "The Man Who Cured Everything"

Listen to "The Man Who Cured Everything"

Podcast: Only Human



"In the early 1900s an eccentric fitness guru named Bernarr Macfadden discovered what he believed was a treatment for everything: fasting."

More information:

Bernarr Macfadden on Wikipedia

Mr. America book on Amazon

Charlie Foundation

Lennox Gastaut syndrome

Episode of the day: "Earth Pony"

Listen to "Earth Pony"

Podcast: Reply All (Episode 58)


Amidst the campaign that no one had anticipated, forecasters try their best bets.

"The truth behind Carl Diggler, the internet’s most successful election forecaster."

More information:

Carl Diggler's Blog cafe.com

Nate Silver's Blog fivethirtyeight.com

Paul the Octopus on Wikipedia

Episode of the day: "The Promise"

"The Promise"

Podcast: Snap Judgement (Episode 707)

"Some of them are worthless, some of them have infinite value, and some will never know how much they are worth... until you have to cash them in."

Listen to "The Promise"

More information:

Nathan Nicholson in the GQ Magazine and NBC News

Episode of the day: "Thorny Politics"

"Thorny Politics"

Podcast: Serial (S02 Episode 10)



"Are you hearing what I'm hearing?"

Listen to "Thorny Politics"

More information:

Cody Full and Gerald Sutton on FOX News

Platoon members on FOX News

Obama and Bergdahl's  in the White House Rose Garden

Episode of the day: "Your Quantified Body, Your Quantified Self"

"Your Quantified Body, Your Quantified Self"

Podcast: Note to Self



"What happens when we start thinking of ourselves as walking, breathing, calorie-consuming piles of data?"

Listen to "Your Quantified Body, Your Quantified Self"

Episode of the day: "Frequent Flyer Miles"

"Frequent Flyer Miles"

Podcast: Surprisingly Awesome (Episode 8)



Aren't we all in on way or another trapped in a frequent flyer miles program?

Listen to "Frequent Flyer Miles"

More information:

Article from the Wall Street Journal

Pudding Guy on Wikipedia

"A Hedge Fund, a Country, and a Big Sailboat"

"A Hedge Fund, a Country, and a Big Sailboat"

Podcast: Planet Money (Episode 689)



"Argentina decided that it could take on the world—it defaulted on its loans, dug in its heels and took a hard line against its lenders. The country would not pay what it was owed. Lenders blinked. Victory seemed near. But a group of hedge funds had a different plan. They took the entire country to court."

Listen to "A Hedge Fund, a Country, and a Big Sailboat"

Hans Humes, the "good guy" on Wikipedia

Article on The New York Times

Episode of the day: "Behind Family Lines"

"Behind Family Lines"

Podcast: The Longest Shortest Time (Episode 77)

"Darlene's childhood dream was to join the military. She didn't imagine she'd also be raising three children solo."

What an incredibly brave woman!

Listen to "Behind Family Lines"

Episode of the day: "Seesawing Libidos"

"Seesawing Libidos"

Podcast: Modern Love (Episode 9)



As Michele Weiner-Davis puts it during her TED talk "Use the Nike philosophy and - Just do it!"

The actor Stephen Bogardus reads the essay “Finding Equilibrium in Seesawing Libidos,” about a hypersexualized wife and a husband struggling to keep up.

Listen to "Seesawing Libidos"

More information:

"The sex-starved marriage" TED Talk by Michele Weiner-Davis

The article "Finding Equilibrium in Seesawing libidos from The New York Times

Episode of the day: "The Government's Fake Bank for Drug Money"

"The Government's Fake Bank for Drug Money"

Podcast: Planet Money (Episode 418)

"One day in the early 1990s, a man walked into the U.S. embassy in Ecuador. He said he had information on how to go after some of most powerful drug traffickers in the world"

Getting rid of the 100 dollar bill and the 500 euro bill would be an extra help!

Listen to "The Government's Fake Bank for Drug Money"

Episode of the day: "Milk Wanted"

"Milk Wanted"

Podcast: Reply All (Episode 57)



Very interesting episode for mums, dads and entrepreneurs...

"There are parents in the US desperate for breast milk and others who have too much milk and end up pouring it down the sink. Reply All wades into the world of breast milk markets, and discovers a breast milk paradise, shady breast milk scammers, and the surprising history of breast milk in the United States"

Listen to "Milk Wanted"

More information:

Article "Why Brazil loves Breastfeeding" from The Atlantic

Article about the history of breast milk in The New Yorker

The original Fritz Talbot's article in The Journal of the American Medical Association

Episode of the day: "How Freak Shows Worked"

"How Freak Shows Worked"

Podcast: Stuff You Should Know



This podcast has generally interesting topics, but hosts Josh and Chuck sometimes get lost in redundant, off-topic information and therefore their episodes are rarely my favorites. But this week, despite the trivialities, I truly enjoyed listening to their episode. They end with an interesting note concerning moral ambiguity. How fair it is to judge the audience, the performers or the managers of these shows?

"Not too long ago, people would pay money to gawk and stare at a performer with a physical disformity. They were called freakshows and they began in large part thanks to P.T. Barnum, whose circus we still enjoy today. Sounds awful, but some of these performers became rich folks as a result. Exploitive? You decide."

Listen to "How Freak Shows Worked"

More information:

Joice Heth on the JSTOR

Zip the Pinhead on The Human Marvels

Episode of the day: "Jolly Jane"

"Jolly Jane"

Podcast: Criminal (Episode 38)



"Jane Toppan was born in Massachusetts in 1857. She attended the Cambridge Nursing School, and established a successful private nursing career in Boston. Said to be cheerful, funny and excellent with her patients, nothing about “Jolly Jane” suggested she could be the most notorious woman poisoner of modern times."

Listen to "Jolly Jane"

More information:

Jane Toppan on Wikipedia

Jane Toppan on Murderpedia

Episode of the day: "Trade Secrets"

"Trade Secrets"

Podcast: Serial (S02 Episode 09)

                                                   

I would be fooling myself if I didn't post the latest Serial episode here. What a well put-together story. I'm addicted to this podcast and I look forward for the next episode!

"You don't make peace with your friends"

Listen to "Trade Secrets"

More information:

Richard Holbrooke on Wikipedia

YouTube video of Chuck Hagel being confronted

Episode of the day: "A Faithful Leap"

"A Faithful Leap"

Podcast: Modern Love (Episode 8)

This was my choice today, not because I found this episode particularly insightful, fascinating, or intriguing, but because it touched me on a deep personal level.

The actress Amber Tamblyn reads an essay about a woman whose complicated relationship with her mother ends in a tragedy inspired by “Thelma & Louise.”

Listen to "A Faithful Leap"

Episode of the day: "Lonely Hearts"

"Lonely Hearts"

Podcast: Hidden Brain (Episode 7)

An episode from the archives. An unbelievable true story that makes you wonder - what is love?

"Jesse always wanted to fall in love. So when the perfect woman started writing him letter, it seemed to good to be true. Becasue it was. This is the story about a con - with a twist. When the con was exposed, its victims defended the con artist. They still wanted to believe the lie"

Listen to "Lonely Hearts"

More information:

Article on The New York Times

Episode of the day: "Falling in Love... With Heroin"

"Falling in Love... With Heroin"

 Podcast: Death, Sex and Money



"Susanne and Mike met and fell in love with each other... and heroin. They stuck together through addiction and recovery, but things haven't fallen into place the way they had hoped."

Interesting but sad story. The end of this story can be a bit of a turn off though. You'll understand why.

Listen to "Falling in Love... With Heroin"

Episode of the Day: "Sports and Self-Esteem"

"Sports and Self-Esteem"

Podcast: Quiet:The Power of Introverts (Episode 4)



This is a new podcast which I have been following since the first episode mainly because I also consider myself an introvert and therefore I feel a connection with several of these issues. This fourth episode was just wonderful. I especially enjoyed listening to the part about lessons on how to interact with an introverted child.

"Olympic gold medalists Meryl Davis and Charlie White share how their introversion gave them an edge in the competitive sport of ice dancing. Susan Cain also explains why mastering a sport—or any creative pursuit—is a healthy way to build your quiet child’s confidence. You’ll learn how to avoid common traps like fear of failure and perfectionism and gain concrete tips on how to choose the right activity and coach for your children."

Listen to "Sports and Self-Esteem"

More information:

Learn more about parenting quiet kids

Episode of the day: "Deep Stealth Mode"

"Deep Stealth Mode"

Podcast: Love + Radio

"Marlo Mack gave birth to a son. At least, she thought she did. But her son crawled towards dresses, wanted to be a princess, and asked to grow long blonde hair. At age 3, Marlo’s son asked to go back into mommy’s tummy, so he could come back out as a baby girl. Marlo thought it was a phase–it wasn’t."

I'm fascinated with transgender children as they are the living proof that it is not a choice. I always have the hardest time tolerating people (especially parents) who are intolerant to these issues.

Listen to "Deep Stealth Mode"

More information:

Marlo's Blog

Slate article

Episode of the day: "The Green Book"

"The Green Book"

Podcast: 99% Invisible (Episode 201)














Interesting story on how far segregation went and what one man did to help people dealing with it.

"The middle of the 20th Century was a golden age for road travel in the United States. Cars had become cheap and spacious enough to carry families comfortably for hundreds of miles. The Interstate Highway System had started to connect the country’s smaller roads in a vast nationwide network. Finally, tourists could make their way from New York to California, seeing the grandeur of America along the way. That freedom and mobility, however, was not equally available to everyone."

Listen to "The Green Book"

More information:

The Negro Motorist Green Book on Wikipedia

Victor H. Green on Wikipedia