Health & Medicine

Earlier this month, there was a national uproar when a Michigan state legislator was disciplined for using a clinical sexual term during a debate. According to linguist Geoff Nunberg, it was just one of many such incidents that reflect a trend he calls the New Reticence.

For decades, San Francisco DJ Cheb i Sabbah has explored numerous fusions and reconfigurations of North African, Middle Eastern and Indian music styles. He's now in the midst of a health crisis, and many of his musician friends are lending support through a benefit album.

In her new book, Breasts: A Natural and Unnatural History, Florence Williams offers her take on why breasts are getting bigger and developing earlier, why tumors seem to gravitate toward the breast, and how toxins from the environment may be affecting hormones and breast development.

Author and illustrator Maurice Sendak, whose book Where the Wild Things Are became a favorite for generations of kids, died at age 83. Fresh Air remembers Sendak with excerpts from several interviews.

The French Canadian film was one of five nominees for last year's Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. It's now opening in theaters around the country. It's about a sixth-grade teacher who struggles to connect with students in a Montreal school following a terrible event. (Recommended)

Researchers want to create a widely effective drug that targets viruses much in the same way that penicillin kills a wide range of bacteria. Science writer Carl Zimmer profiles the scientists who are developing these antiviral drugs, and the technology behind it, in his latest piece for Wired magazine.

The CBS News correspondent who became famous for his two-fisted interview style and hard-hitting interviews with politicians, celebrities and newsmakers died Saturday. He was 93. Fresh Air remembers Wallace with excerpts from a 2005 interview.

Writer Harry Crews had a hard life and didn't make it any easier for the characters in his novels. He died Wednesday at age 76. Fresh Air remembers the Southern novelist with excerpts from a 1988 interview.

The popular MSNBC host talks about her start in broadcasting, her life and her new book Drift: The Unmooring of American Military Power, in which she argues that America's national defense has become disconnected from public oversight.

Science writer Dick Teresi and transplant surgeon Richard Freeman discuss the ethics of transplant surgery and how doctors determine the point between life and death.

Peter Cameron's new novel about a young nurse is consummate English country home novel. Put the kettle on and settle in -- but don't get too comfortable: Cameron's writing is full of sharp angles an unanticipated swerves into the droll and the downright weird.

Journalist Craig Timberg, the former Johannesburg bureau chief for The Washington Post, says international AIDS organizations working in Africa went off in the wrong direction in fighting the spread of HIV across the continent.

The 83-year-old former poet laureate reflects on how life has changed as he's grown older. "My body causes me trouble when I cross the room, but when I am sitting down writing, I am in my heaven — my old heaven," he says.

Hilma Wolitzer's finely observed comedy of manners follows the romantic misadventures of recently widowed 62-year-old Edward Schuyler as he re-enters the dating pool with a splash.

The new Fox series Touch stars Kiefer Sutherland as the father of an 11-year-old boy with some significant disabilities -- and some significant abilities as well. TV critic David Bianculli says by the end of the first episode, you'll know you're watching something a little different.

Michelle Alexander says that many of the gains of the civil rights movement have been undermined by the mass incarceration of blacks in the war on drugs.

Jonathan Safran Foer's novel Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close has been adapted into a movie starring Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock. Critic David Edelstein says the end result doesn't fully mesh with the story it is trying to tell.

Tate made a string of hits in the '60s, but then disappeared from public view for more than 30 years. In 2003, he joined record producer Jerry Ragovoy on Fresh Air for a conversation about their collaborations.

This interview was originally broadcast on October 27, 2003.

Owners of aging dogs often struggle with their pets' dementia and incontinence — as well as navigating through end-of-life decisions. Veterinary behaviorist Nicholas Dodman talks about the best ways to care for your aging dog.

If you've seen the trailers-- or the cover of Entertainment Weekly -- you know the new romantic comedy is selling sex along with the laughs. But the "state-of-the-art zeitgeist sex comedy" also manages to deliver some strong satirical undertones.