Please Explain: Caffeine from Lopate - Underreported by listenerservices@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio)

This week's Please Explain will answer all of our caffeine-related questions, from whether or not we should drink coffee before we run a marathon to how caffeine differs from other stimulants. Bennett Alan Weinberg, co-author of the book The World of Caffeine: The Science and Culture of the World's Most Popular Drug, explains how the world's most popular drug affects us.

Download the podcast here. None other than the New Journal of Medicine had this to say about the book:

This book covers the history and social effects of the principal beverages that contain caffeine, notably coffee and tea. Products of cacao, chocolate that is eaten and drunk, and the soft drinks that contain caffeine (principally colas) are also covered. The historical origins of coffee, tea, and cacao are described, as are the various fascinating ways they made their way into world culture. Some of the main features of this story are told with a theme of geographic spread and with a description of effects of the arrival of “the drug,” as the authors often refer to caffeine, on existing cultures. How the different beverages were received (or rejected) by different cultures and by different strata and segments of each culture makes a rich and exciting story. Insights emerge as to how the various civilizations worked. The pleasure of reading is enhanced by the authors' eye for beauty and the many appropriate half-tone illustrations. The scholarship is impressive; many of the most famous figures of the past 500 and more years make brief appearances. Among them are Chinese emperors, Zen Buddhist monks in Japan, nameless Olmecs of Mesoamerica, and then Cortés and Montezuma and Charles V. The conquest of Europe by the drug from Turkish and African sources is also covered. The familiar names of great historical figures appear on almost every page, tying this account in with our knowledge of history and making it more real. The text is rich with information, yet it is easy and pleasant to read.

The full article is here. See also: Caffeine for the Creative Mind: 250 Exercises to Wake Up Your Brain, Caffeine for the Creative Team: 150 Exercises to Inspire Group Innovation, Buzz: The Science and Lore of Alcohol and Caffeine

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