China’s Poor, Stickman, Hikikomori,Broken Heart Syndrome

Guest: Priya Raghavan, Counsel, Brennan Center’s Justice Program, NYU In this deeply divided political moment, one issue has emerged on which Democrats and Republicans find agreement. That point of agreement is that we are locking up too many people in the United States and too many of them end up back in prison for new crimes after they’re released.

Guest: Dorothy Solinger, Professor Emerita of Political Science, UC Irvine, Editor of “Polarized Cities: Portraits of Rich and Poor in Urban China” In the past twenty years, China’s middle class has swelled to more than ten times its original size. It’s the fastest growing middle class in the world. China is also churning out new millionaires faster than any other country on Earth. All of that wealth makes China a major global economic power. But there’s more to the story. Political scientist Dorothy Solinger has documented a widening wealth gap in China that is trapping millions of city-dwellers in poverty.

Guest: Patrick Dougherty, Contemporary Artist, www.stickwork.net The BYU Museum of Art has a large, light-filled gallery with a panoramic view of Mount Timpanogos. It’s hard for any kind of art to hang in that space and compete with the natural masterpiece on display. So contemporary artist Patrick Dougherty (DOE-urr-tee) has spent the last month creating something enormous and dramatic in the gallery to complement the mountain view. It’s called Windswept.

Guest: Alan Teo, Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Oregon Health and Science University In Japan, there are hundreds of thousands of people experiencing an extreme form of social withdrawal called “Hikikomori” where they will hole up at home and not leave for months. They’ll have limited contact with anyone but family in the home. This behavior isn’t unique to Japan, but it’s particularly well-studied there and researchers think there are some cultural reasons why may be more prevalent in Japan. Understanding Hikikomori could help us better understand the way depression and anxiety look in different cultures.

Guest: Ilan Wittstein, Cardiologist and Assistant Professor of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University For some people – women in particular – emotional “heartbreak” can cause the heart to break, physically. It’s called Broken Heart syndrome and researchers have known about it for a few decades, but they’re realizing it may be more common than once thought.

Guest: Conor Wild, Ph.D. Neuroscience Research Associate, Brain and Mind Institute, University of Western Ontario Everyone talks about getting enough sleep and with good reason: at least a third of American adults are sleep deprived. Have you ever heard someone say “Wow, I’m having a hard time focusing today, I got too much sleep last night”? While sleeping too much is rare, a global study conducted by the Brain and Mind Institute at the University of Western Ontario found both sleeping too little and sleeping too much have similarly negative effects on brain function.