The Connection with Marty Moss-Coane

11/07/2025

Author and scientist Angus Fletcher says our capacity for creativity and flexibility gives humans a leg up when it comes to competing with artificial intelligence, and that storytelling is our true superpower.

His new book “Primal Intelligence” is about what he learned working with the U.S. Army Special Operations. For instance, role-playing can reduce anxiety and activate the imagination. He joined us to discuss the art and science of human potential.

Listen: https://whyy.org/episodes/how-our-primal-intelligence-gives-us-an-edge-over-ai/

11/03/2025

Champion marathon swimmer Diana Nyad first attempted the grueling 110-mile crossing between Cuba and Key West in 1978 at age 28, then again in 2011 and 2012. Each time the powerful currents, the sharks, and the deadly box jellyfish forced her to abandon her quest to be the first person to make the crossing without a shark cage.

At age 64, she finally made it, swimming for nearly 53 hours and becoming the first person to complete the crossing. Nyad has said that facing her 60s and feeling her own mortality became a powerful motivator. Now in her mid-70s, she says she’s living the best decade of her life.

Listen to our conversation: https://whyy.org/episodes/long-distance-swimmer-diana-nyad/

10/17/2025

This week we talk with one of the most recognized names — and voices — in public radio.

Scott Simon began working at NPR in the 1970s and became the first host of Weekend Edition Saturday in 1985, a job he still holds today. Known for his empathy and curiosity, he has earned numerous awards for his distinctive style of journalism.

Listen: https://whyy.org/episodes/nprs-scott-simon-on-journalism-empathy-and-family/

10/13/2025

Anthropologist Roy Richard Grinker comes from a long line of psychiatrists—his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather—all of whom believed that everyone has some degree of mental illness.

Grinker’s book, Nobody’s Normal, explores the shifting history of stigma and acceptance toward people who are perceived as different. In a recent piece for The New York Times, Grinker criticized Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and President Trump for describing autism as a tragic epidemic and a “horrible crisis.”

Listen to his conversation with Marty Moss-Coane on The Connection, wherever you get your podcasts: https://whyy.org/episodes/redefining-normal-autism-stigma-and-culture/

10/07/2025

Psychologist Jean Twenge says it’s harder to be a parent these days.

Her new book “10 Rules for Raising Kids in a High-Tech World” offers tools for helping kids develop healthy relationships with technology and social media, and describes how modern society can be vastly overprotective of kids in the real world while it’s under-protective in the virtual one.

09/26/2025

Why linguist John McWhorter lets his kids say f**k – and the latest controversy over the First Amendment – on today’s episode of The Connection.

Listen: https://whyy.org/episodes/linguist-john-mcwhorter-free-speech-woke-language-and-why-words-matter/

09/20/2025

Why fawning isn’t people-pleasing …

09/12/2025

This week’s topic… how to think like a neuroscientist when we make decisions.

09/05/2025

We’re smiling but sad that Paige is leaving us! Thanks for everything…

09/04/2025

Today's hearing with HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. comes almost five years after Covid-19 deaths in the U.S. passed 200,000.

While we shared the coronavirus pandemic with the rest of the world, the crisis bred mistrust in our political system, our healthcare system, the media and each other. Fights over masks devolved into disagreements over medical treatment and eventually the vaccine.

This week we ask: have we recovered? Join us at noon.

Five years ago we were in the throes of the Covid pandemic. Many businesses were shuttered, their employees working from home or online. Essential workers were putting their lives at risk. Most schools had gone to remote learning. Hospitals were overwhelmed and bodies were literally piling up.

08/29/2025

Paige here: I have kids' music stuck in my head most of the day. What about you? Today we're talking about how music repeats in our mind...and tons of other fascinating stuff. Join Marty at noon.

There are songs that can transport us to memorable moments from our past, especially from our adolescence. Those memories are often vivid, conjuring up intense feelings about a first love, a broken heart, a shared experience with friends. Music, even just a few notes, has a way of unlocking forgotte...

08/21/2025

Did you know the plural of "octopus" is "octopuses"?

Did you also know that they are very anti-social creatures? But...when you give them M**A, they're friendly and even touchy-feely?!

Our guest this week, UC Berkeley neuroscientist Gül Dölen, figured that out in her research into psychedelics. We'll talk about M**A, psilocybin, L*D and other psychedelics as they show therapeutic promise...but aren't a magic pill.

Join us.