Review: Books about the human brain from Books news, reviews and author interviews | guardian.co.uk by Steven Rose

Against these reductionist claims, the Jesuit philosopher Andrew Gluck attempts a spirited, but to my mind ultimately unsuccessful, rebuttal. His title makes reference to the neurologist Antonio Damasio, whose major book Descartes' Error and its succeeding volumes laid two charges against Cartesian philosophy. The first, the one that concerns Gluck, is Descartes's dualism, in which an immaterial soul interacts with a material brain through the pineal gland. Not so, says Damasio, and neuroscientists overwhelmingly agree: we are, and have to be, materialists. The world is made of one stuff, not two. Gluck demurs, accepting materialism for the physical sciences, idealism for the mind. Damasio's second charge is perhaps more interesting - if not to Gluck, then to cognitive neuroscientists who see the brain as a problem-solving machine. On the contrary, brains are not primarily cognitive devices designed to solve chess problems, but evolved organs adapted to enhance the survival chances of the organisms they inhabit. Their primary role is to respond to the challenges the environment presents by providing the cellular apparatus enabling the brain's owner to assess current situations, compare them with past experience, and generate the appropriate emotions and hence actions. It is this evolutionary imperative within the particular line of descent leading to Homo sapiens that has resulted in our large and complex brains. As feminist sociologist Hilary Rose points out, Descartes's famous "cogito ergo sum" should be replaced by "amo, ergo sum."

Read the rest of the Guardian review, here.

Behind the public face of John Lennon (Soundcheck: Monday, 17 November 2008) from WNYC's Soundcheck by listenerservices@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio)

Writing a book about the Beatles is to enter a crowded market. But Philip Norman’s new 851-page biography, “John Lennon: The Life” is getting much buzz this fall for the unprecedented access provided by Lennon’s friends and relatives, including Yoko Ono. We talk with Norman about why Lennon remains such a fascinating and troubled figure.

Download the podcast here. See also: John Lennon: Life is What Happens

Book review: Jamie's Ministry Of Food: Anyone Can Learn To...‎ Scotsman - Oct 6, 2008

LAST WEEK, the telly chefs began their annual assault on the Christmas best-seller charts. Rick Stein, Gary Rhodes and Nigella Lawson all launched their latest recipe books – but the one to watch remains Jamie Oliver, because he at least is doing something different to the rest. Naturally, it ties into a new TV show. In 2006, the Jamie's School Dinners campaign to improve the school meals system resulted in angry parents in Rawmarsh, near Rotherham, in South Yorkshire, supplying their children with contraband burgers and chips over the school wall. "Children are locked up like caged animals inside there, starving all day," complained one mum, Julie Critchlow, furiously blaming Jamie Oliver. "It's him that started it."

Check the full story out here.

The New Asia from KQED's Forum Podcast

International policy expert Kishore Mahbubani discusses the growing influence of China and India, along with the implications for the rest of Asia and the United States. His new book is "The New Asian Hemisphere: The Irresistible Shift of Global Power to the East." Mahbubani is a dean and professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore.

Listen to the full podcast here. Download the mp3 file here.

Ron Suskind Alleges War Fought On False Premises from NPR Podcast Fresh Air

Story: Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ron Suskind says that the war in Iraq was based not simply on blunders but on lies. His book, The Way of the World, accuses the Bush administration of burying critical information and forging a letter that linked Iraq to the Sept. 11 attacks.

Read the full Fresh Air transcript here, and listen to the podcast. See also: A Hope in the Unseen: An American Odyssey from the Inner City to the Ivy League

The Black Hole War from KQED's Forum Podcast

Physicists Leonard Susskind and Stephen Hawking have disagreed vehemently on the fundamental nature of black holes. Susskind's new book "The Black Hole War" is his version of that dispute, and he joins us for a discussion in studio. Susskind's other books include "The Cosmic Landscape."

Download the podcast here. See also: Black Holes and Time Warps: Einstein's Outrageous Legacy (Commonwealth Fund Book Program), An Introduction To Black Holes, Information And The String Theory Revolution: The Holographic Universe, The Cosmic Landscape: String Theory and the Illusion of Intelligent Design

The Secret History of Dreaming from KQED's Forum by forum@kqed.org (KQED Public Radio)

Writer Robert Moss considers dreams "secret engines" in the history of everything from literature to quantum physics, and from religion to psychology. We talk with Moss about his new book, "The Secret History of Dreaming."

Listen to the podcast here. Download the podcast here.

The Black Hole War from KQED's Forum by forum@kqed.org (KQED Public Radio)

The Black Hole War -- Physicists Leonard Susskind and Stephen Hawking have disagreed vehemently on the fundamental nature of black holes. Susskind's new book "The Black Hole War" is his version of that dispute, and he joins us for a discussion in studio. Susskind is Felix Bloch professor of physics at Stanford University. His other books include "The Cosmic Landscape."

Listen to the podcast here, download the podcast file here. See also: The Cosmic Landscape: String Theory and the Illusion of Intelligent Design

Richard Muller -- "Physics for Future Presidents" from KQED's Forum by forum@kqed.org (KQED Public Radio)

Richard Muller -- "Physics for Future Presidents" -- Physics can help inform our understanding of such hot-button topics as climate change, energy consumption, space exploration, weapons and war. Professor Richard Muller's new book explains the basics of physics that all voters and politicians should know in order to make educated decisions on these and other issues. Muller is a professor in the physics department at UC Berkeley, and faculty senior scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory.

Listen to the show here, or download the podcast here.

What Does China Think? from KERA's Think Podcast

China is big news this year. With a rapidly expanding economy, devastating environmental issues, and (oh yeah) the Olympics just around the corner everyone's talking about China. But how is the country changing politically and philosophically? We'll spend this hour with Mark Leonard, Executive Director of the European Council on Foreign Relations and author of the new book "What Does China Think?" (Public Affairs, 2008).

Listen to the full KERA show here. Download the mp3 here.

"Michael Pollan: If You Can't Say It, Don't Eat It" - from NPR's Day to Day

If your great-grandmother wouldn't recognize it as food, then neither should you, award-winning writer Michael Pollan is wont to say. He shares additional tips on how to eat for a healthier body and planet, the focus of his latest book, In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto.

A few pages of the book, as well as the podcast of the show can be found here. See also: Food Rules: An Eater's Manual, The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World, Second Nature: A Gardener's Education

The High Price of Chinese Industrialization (The Leonard Lopate Show: Monday, 21 April 2008) from WNYC's Leonard Lopate Show by listenerservices@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio)

China’s mass industrialization is coming at a high cost for many Chinese workers, from long hours and low wages to nearly unbreathable air. Financial Times editor Alexandra Harney’s new book is The China Price: The True Cost of Chinese Competitive Advantage. Events: Alexandra Harney will be speaking and signing books. Tuesday, April 22 at 6:30 pm. China Institute. 125 East 65th Street (between Park and Lexington Avenues). Alexandra Harney will be speaking and signing books. Monday, April 28 at 6:30 pm. Asia Society. 725 Park Avenue (at 70th Street).

Download and listen to the podcast here (mp3 file).

The Splendid Table for Saturday December 30, 2006 from APM: The Splendid Table

This week we talk to Paula Wolfert about the reissue of her classic The Cooking of Southwest France, The Sterns are eating Indian fry bread in Greybull, WY at Lisa's, bestselling author Peter Mayle has taken on French wine, French festivals and now he's taken on French bread in his new book Confessions of a French Baker, and we meet the woman and culture behind one of Portland, Oregon's best restaurants, Andina, sophisticated Peruvian cuisine.

Download the podcast here. See also: Mediterranean Clay Pot Cooking: Traditional and Modern Recipes to Savor and Share, The Cooking of Southwest France : Recipes from France's Magnificent Rustic Cuisine, Couscous and Other Good Food from Morocco

New England Journal of Medicine Review of "Just Health: Meeting Health Needs Fairly" by Samuel Y. Sessions, M.D., J.D.

Many important issues of health policy, such as whether government should provide universal health insurance, raise fundamental questions about the proper scope of government and the fair allocation of resources in society. Norman Daniels’s new book, Just Health, presents a carefully reasoned approach to answering such questions. The book is by design a successor to an earlier work, Just Health Care (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1985), in which, as the title indicates, Daniels focused on equity in the provision of health care. In the more than two decades since the earlier work’s publication, extensive research has shown that although health care is important, health status depends heavily on factors such as education, the environment, behavior, and socioeconomic status. One of Daniels’s principal goals in Just Health is to integrate these insights into his analysis. The result is a much more comprehensive study of the role that health should play in social policy, broadly defined to include even the economic and political structures of society.

Read the full New England Journal of Medicine book review, here. The author serves as the inspirational and philosophical footing for this particularly well established healthcare blog, which says:

CRUD’s guiding philosophy is rooted in Norman Daniels’ call for greater transparency in health policy making processes. In a BMJ article, Daniels writes that “[a] fair process requires publicity about the reasons and rationales that play a part in decisions. There must be no secret where justice is involved, for people should not be expected to accept decisions that affect their well being unless they are aware of the grounds for those decisions.”

See that blog entry, here. See also: Public Health: What It Is and How It Works, Introduction to Public Health, Third Edition, Betrayal of Trust: The Collapse of Global Public Health, A History of Public Health

667 Dealing with Depression Podcast from The People's Pharmacy® Radio Program

Depression is debilitating and surprisingly common. Scientists have found that 5 percent of the people in a large survey reported symptoms of depression during the previous year. Nearly 13 percent of Americans experience depression at some point during their lives. The big question is how to treat depression? It’s hard to get a good picture of the effectiveness of antidepressants from the published medical literature, because many studies that show little or no benefit don’t get published. Dr. Erick Turner explains how unpublished studies may skew medical opinion. Dr. David Mischoulon discusses the pros and cons of antidepressant medication and many alternative treatments for this devastating mental disorder. Guests: David Mischoulon, MD, PhD, is the Director of Research, Depression Clinical and Research Program, at the Massachusetts General Hospital Department of Psychiatry. He is also an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the Harvard Medical School. He is currently working on the second edition of his book, Natural Remedies for Psychiatric Disorders: Considering the Alternatives. (Photo is of Dr. Mischoulon.) Erick Turner, M.D. is Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) and in the Department of Pharmacology & Physiology. He is the Medical Director of the Portland VA Medical Center Mood Disorders Program, where he acts as site principal investigator (PI) on several multicenter clinical drug trials. His article, "Selective Publication of Antidepressant Trials and Its Influence on Apparent Efficacy," was published in the New England Journal of Medicine, Jan. 17, 2008.

Download the podcast here.