The Connection with Marty Moss-Coane

Dr. Francis Collins, former director of the NIH and the Human Genome Project, on finding common ground and the role of science and faith in his life.

Belonging is a powerful need for us human beings whether we’re a sports fan, a member of a book group, part of a neighborhood clean up crew or a member of a political party.

Men hold most of the leadership roles in American politics with majorities in governorships and the U.S. Senate. College presidents are mostly male, and men dominate the business world. And they still beat out women when it comes to the gender pay gap. But there is a jarring disconnect when looking at boys and men in America. They commit most of the homicides, are most likely to be victims of violent crime, are more likely to die by suicide compared to women and have shorter life spans. Our guest, developmental psychologist Niobe Way, has spent decades listening to boys and young men and says they are experiencing a crisis of connection, driven in part by our narrow view of masculinity. Her new book is Rebels with a Cause: Reimagining Boys, Ourselves and Our Culture. She joins us to talk how “boy” culture, which values thinking over feeling and independence over dependence, hurts boys and the rest of us.

Stress, exhaustion and negativity can lead to workplace burnout. Kandi Wiens explains how to become more resilient and reset your relationship with work.

Human beings are built for sleep. It’s a normal, natural process and yet many of us have a troubled relationship with it. How can we make peace with sleep? And what are the best ways to get a good night’s rest? We’ll dive into the fascinating physiology of sleep and explore what our brains and bodies are doing during these “off” hours. We’ll also discuss how sleep affects our memories and mood, how our daily activities affect our sleep cycles and what we can do to get restorative shut eye. Our guests are Duke University sleep medicine specialist Jade Wu, author of Hello Sleep, and Penn Medicine sleep specialist Indira Gurubhagavatula.

What are you? That’s a question that people who are biracial get asked all the time, either directly or indirectly. Are you Black? Are you White? Are you Latino? If you are mixed race in the U.S., you are part of the fastest growing segment of the population. The presidential candidacy of Kamala Harris, who is of Black and South Asian heritage, has put a spotlight on the issue of identity and race, just as Barack Obama did in 2008 when he ran for president. On this week’s edition of The Connection, what do you call yourself if you are mixed race? We’ll talk about the challenges and advantages of having multiple racial identities, especially with our country’s troubled past. We are joined by three guests. Psychologist Sarah Gaither heads Duke University’s Identity and Diversity Lab. Journalists Daralyse Lyons and Malcolm Burnley are cohosts of the podcast, On Being Biracial.

Did you have a favorite stuffed animal or blanket when you were a kid? Do you still have it today? Childhood possessions are filled with memories and meaning so we hold on to them for many years. In this hour we explore the uniquely human behavior of owning things and why we become attached to our belongings. We’ll look at how they connect us with a person or experience and become part of our identity. And we’ll talk about the downsides of having too many possessions – there are more than 50,000 self-storage facilities in the country filled with our overflow. Our guest is psychologist Bruce Hood author of Possessed: Why We Want More Than We Need.

Dr. Arik Kershenbaum decodes howls, whistles, squeals, grunts and other sounds of the wild.

Generally speaking, when we use the word intelligent we are referring to IQ or cognitive strengths. That’s the ability to process and understand information and use it to generate new knowledge. But what about EQ or emotional intelligence? That’s the ability to manage and express one’s feelings and recognize feelings in others. It turns out there are different kinds of intelligence. On The Connection this week we talk about what it takes to recognize, understand, express and regulate your emotional life. We’ll look at how it connects you with yourself and others and how we can use it to make a better world. Our guest Marc Brackett says that being an “emotional scientist” is a good place to start. Brackett is a psychologist and the founding director of the Center for Emotional Intelligence at Yale University. He’s the author of Permission to Feel: Unlocking the Power of Emotions to Help our Kids, Our Selves and Our Society.

Do you have a recurring dream — a story that comes back again and again when you drift off to sleep. Maybe it’s a classic anxiety dream about taking a final exam you never studied for or standing in front of crowd completely naked. On this edition of The Connection: why do we dream? What is our brain doing while we sleep? Why is the content of our dreams so bizarre? How can we better remember our dreams? How can our dreams help us address problems that we struggle with when we’re awake? We’re joined by Harvard University psychologist and dream researcher Deirdre Barrett is the author of Pandemic Dreams and The Committee of Sleep. She’s also the President of the International Association for the Study of Dreams.