Brain on Fire #208

April 12, 2013

This episode was recorded when Science for the People was called Skeptically Speaking.

This week, we’re learning about the brain, and the fascinating – and devastating – things that can happen when its functions are disrupted. We’ll speak with journalist Susannah Cahalan, about her bestselling memoir Brain On Fire: My Month of Madness. And we’re joined by Dr. Rob Tarzwell, to talk about neurological disorders that mimic psychiatric conditions.

Guests:

  • Susannah Cahalan
  • Rob Tarzwell
Listen Now

Featured Book

Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness

Written by Susannah Cahalan

Book Blurb Find On Amazon

Other Episodes About Brains & Neuroscience

Full Spectrum: How the Science of Color Made Us Modern

In "Full Spectrum: How the Science of Color Made us Modern", author Adam Rogers takes readers on a journey from prehistoric pigments to experiments working to make hues that exist only in... Read More

June 27, 2021

Tailoring your brain with science

Intent on improving your creativity or focus? Want to raise your IQ? What does that even mean? This week, we've got Emily Willingham back on the show to talk about tailoring the... Read More

January 31, 2022

Emotional Ignorance

On this week’s show, we’re getting emotional. Our guest, neuroscientist Dean Burnett, talks about his new book Emotional Ignorance. He shares how the experience of his father’s death during covid prompted him... Read More

January 16, 2023

Other Episodes About Biology

Our Friend, the Wasp

Is there an insect more universally despised than the wasp? What have they done to incur so much of our ire? No one likes them. Well... almost no one. Seirian Sumner, Professor... Read More

May 25, 2023

How birds go the distance

Birds carry out some of the most amazing feats of athleticism in the world. Hummingbirds cross the entire Gulf of Mexico, their tiny wings beating continuously for three days straight. A single... Read More

July 05, 2023

The Jewel Box

A lot of us learned basic ecology in primary school. Maybe we took a biology class in high school or secondary school and dug in a little more. We use terms like... Read More

July 31, 2023

Other Episodes About Medicine

Remaking the face

In 2022 it seems surgery can perform miracles. Plastic surgery in particular can reshape noses, jaws, and even transplant entire faces. But not so long ago, plastic surgery as a field didn't... Read More

June 07, 2022

Carte Blanche: The Erosion of Medical Consent

Even the luckiest and healthiest of us will interact with the medical systems we live in eventually, and navigating these systems can be frustrating, scary, and intimidating. In this labyrinth filled with... Read More

August 03, 2022

A world of universal vaccines

It seems like no one vaccine is ever enough. COVID mutates and the vaccines fall short. A new flu vaccine every year, and each one different from the last. Wouldn't it be... Read More

September 12, 2022