New scientific research suggests that the mind of a baby is a humming, buzzing, supercharged learning machine, capable of taking in and processing enormous amounts of information. Now that we know this, how should we interact with babies and support their developing minds? We talk to our science contributor Jonah Lehrer. He is the author of Proust was a Neuroscientist. He latest book is How We Decide.
"For so long we've seen babies just as unconscious, basically just as these lumps that just want to eat and cry and sleep, and now we think babies are actually more conscious than us." —Writer Jonah Lehrer on new research revealing the active learning of a baby's brain
It's Monday, which means it is time to pull out our road map for the week. Our guide this week is our own Washington correspondent Todd Zwillich. On the agenda? A California court is expected to rule on the controversial ballot initiative Proposition 8 that barred gay marriage. The court will decide whether the initiative is legal and the fate of those couples already married in California. And President Obama is expected to announce his pick for the U.S. Supreme Court this week. Also this week Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbass and the U.K.'s Prince Harry will be in the U.S. Abbass will talk about Mideast peace, while Harry is likely to play polo.
North Korea is claiming it test fired a trio of nuclear missiles yesterday. Such claims haven't always turned out to be true, but there are indeed reports of seismic activity in the area. The official North Korea news agency said these explosions were more powerful than the previous tests in October 2006. The claimed tests are raising tensions in the region and Japan has already called for a UN Security Council meeting to discuss the situation. For more we turn to the BBC's Jonathan Marcus.
"If North Korea is seen to be able to do this kind of thing with impunity than other countries around the world who are wanting to perhaps to develop their nuclear capabilities are going to take their cues from the North Koreans." —The BBC's Jonathan Marcus on the global implications of North Korea's nuclear test
Although there is no calculator that can compute our national attention deficit, it is clear there are too many stimuli competing for our precious brain time. In a world where the temptations to twitter and text are 24/7, is there hope for our multi-tasked minds? Writer Winifred Gallagher says yes. In her new book, Rapt: Attention and the Focused Life, Gallagher reviews the latest developments in the psychology and neuroscience of attention. She joins us in our studio to discuss the benefits of training yourself to focus.
"Multi-tasking is a myth ... When you think you're doing two skillful activities at once, what you're actually doing is switching rapidly back and forth between them, which makes you more error-prone, takes you longer, so at the end of the day you've actually been less efficient." —Winnifred Gallagher on staying focused
Today is the 150th anniversary of the birth of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the British writer who created the detective Sherlock Holmes. Holmes and his sidekick Dr. Watson are two of the best known characters in fiction, and they are still alive and well—a new film called “Sherlock Homes” starring Robert Downey Jr. as Holmes and Jude Law as (a very attractive) Dr. Watson is coming out at the end of the year. Charles Rzepka, a Professor of English at Boston University who studies detective fiction and is co-editing the Blackwell Companion to Crime Fiction, joins The Takeaway with a look at Conan Doyle's best known character.
For a sneak peek at the new adventures of an old friend, here's the trailer for the film Sherlock Holmes:
Princeton University Professor Uwe Reinhardt is an expert on health care policy and an adviser to President Obama. In today’s Economix blog in the New York Times, he makes the case for why employment-based health insurance is a deeply flawed system. He joins The Takeaway to spell out his argument.
During the Vietnam War, the directors of the museum in Hanoi decided to hide their nation's valuable art work to keep it safe from the war. But they wanted to maintain their cultural pride. So they came up with an ingenious plan: hide the originals and fill the museum with well-crafted copies or forgeries. Now, curators at the Museum of Fine Arts in Hanoi have found that their walls are still covered with fakes. Where are the originals? We turn to Lawrence Pollard, BBC arts correspondent.
President Obama delivered a strong speech on national security yesterday. And then, so did former Vice President Dick Cheney, who harshly critcized the current commander in chief. Meanwhile the liberal wing of the Democratic party is lambasting Obama as well. Pitting the extremes against each other while sliding through the middle -- "triangulation" -- is a political strategy that former President Bill Clinton came to rely on. Peter Baker, White House correspondent for The New York Times, joins The Takeaway to discuss how Obama seems to be developing a triangulation strategy of his own.
The four men accused of planning a terror attack on two synagogues in the Bronx and on military planes on a nearby air force base were arraigned in Federal Court in upstate New York yesterday. They had been under investigation by the FBI, the joint terrorism task force and by the New York City Police Department. The NYPD has been working hard for several years to sharpen its approach to uncovering home-grown terrorist plots. Joining The Takeaway is Lydia Khalil, she served as a counter terrorism analyst for the NYPD from 2006 to 2008 and is an International Affairs Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.
For New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's comments on the work of the NYPD, watch the video below.
The King of Pop says "This is It." That's what Michael Jackson is calling a 50-consecutive-night comeback he's planning for London this summer. It's been more than a decade since Jackson, now 50, has performed on stage. Despite rumors that he'll appear for only 12 minutes each night -- and questions about whether the show will even come off at all -- fans are already scrambling for the pricey tickets. For more, The Takeaway turns to Britain's Chris Hawkins, a presenter on the BBC's 6Music radio station. He hasn't been able to score a ticket yet himself.
Vice President Joe Biden travels to Lebanon today to meet with Lebanese President Michel Suleiman in Beirut. The meeting is a show of U.S. support for a leader facing tough elections in two weeks. Lebanon's militant Shiite group Hezbollah is expected to make electoral gains.
This is the second visit to Lebanon by an American official. (Secretary of State Clinton was there a few weeks ago.) Why is Washington so concerned about this Lebanese vote? The Takeaway turns to Rami Khouri, Director of the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut. He is also the editor-at-large for The Daily Star newspaper in Beirut.
The Atlantic hurricane season starts June 1st, with forecasters predicting a near-normal hurricane season. Statistically speaking, "normal" translates into a 70 percent chance of four to seven hurricanes occurring, including as many as three major ones. For a closer look at what hurricane season means for those people who live in a storm's path, we check in with Mark Schleifstein, the environmental reporter for the Times-Picayune in New Orleans and Terry Coleman, a tugboat captain and a lifetime resident of New Orleans.
After an elaborate sting operation by the FBI, four men were arrested in an alleged plot to bomb two synagogues in the Bronx and to use Stinger missiles against military planes at Stewart Air Force base in Newburgh, New York. In our continuing coverage of the plot, we turn to Bob Ayers, a defense and security expert.
The Takeaway is continuing its coverage of the foiled New York City terror plot. Four men were arrested in an alleged plot to bomb two synagogues in New York City and shoot down military planes in Newburgh, N.Y. According to law enforcement officers, the plan was "aspirational" -- that is, it wasn't close to being realized. How did operatives infiltrate the group and quash their plans? And how did they decide when to bust the would-be bombers? To help answer those questions we turn to Bob Hennelly, a reporter at WNYC, and to Bruce Hoffman, a terrorism expert at the RAND corporation.
Terminator Salvation, the fourth installment of the Terminator franchise, hits theaters today. The film takes place in 2018, an apocalyptic world where humans are outnumbered by machines— hulking robots, the size of skyscrapers, with a penchant for wiping out mankind. And don't even get us started on SkyNet. But what about year 2009? For a reality check on human-robot relations, we are joined Sherry Turkle. She is a professor of Science, Technology and Society and MIT, where she is also the founder and director of the MIT Initiative on Technology and Self. She is an author of numerous books, among them is her latest title, Simulation and Its Discontents.
Tyler Bradt took his kayak off a 186-foot waterfall this month. For fun. After plunging approximately 20 feet underwater and being submerged for about seven seconds, Bradt surfaced from his dive off of Palouse Fall with little more than a sprained wrist and the wind knocked out of him. This successful dive allowed Bradt to reclaim the world record. He is off to conquer the waterfalls of Norway and Iceland, but before he goes, he is stopping by The Takeaway.
Wonder what extreme kayaking looks like? Here's a peek:
Lawmakers have touted the credit card reform bill heading to the president's desk as "a victory for every American who holds a credit card." But Donna Rosato, a senior writer at Money Magazine, says consumer behavior is unlikely to change. She cites studies that say the mere act of carrying a card (credit or debit) increases the likelihood that you’ll spend more money, pay more for a specific item, and lose track of what you've spent. She also says this new bill will force credit card companies to raise fees and even add annual fees to make a profit. Ms. Rosato joins The Takeaway to talk about the reform bill — and how you should reform your own habits.
This morning President Obama will deliver what the White House is calling a major national security speech. At least part of his speech will detail his plan to close the Guantanamo Bay Detention Center. But with Congressman, Senators and even FBI Director Robert Mueller lining up against the closure of Guantanamo, what can Obama possibly say? The Takeaway talks to Jonathan Mahler. He’s a contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine and author of the book The Challenge: Hamdan v. Rumsfeld and the Fight over Presidential Power.
"It's a diplomatic challenge. It's a political challenge. It's a national security challenge. And it's really an almost impossible situation for him." —Writer Jonathan Mahler on the closing of Guantanamo Bay
In advance of President Obama's speech on national security, a report has leaked out that may strengthen opposition to closing the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The report indicates that 74 of the 534 prisoners released from Guantanamo so far have returned to terrorism or militant activity. Joining The Takeaway is Elizabeth Bumiller, a reporter for the New York Times who has been following this story.
New York Times' Police Bureau Chief Al Baker joins The Takeaway with an update on the unfolding terrorism story in New York City. Four men were arrested Wednesday night in what the authorities said was a plot to bomb two synagogues in the Bronx and shoot down military planes at an Air National Guard base in Newburgh, N.Y. Three of the men are American citizens. Officials say that local citizens were not at risk because the group was infiltrated by law enforcement early on, long before the plot could come to fruition.
, Gallagher reviews the latest developments in the psychology and neuroscience of attention. She joins us in our studio to discuss the benefits of training yourself to focus.
