Health & Medicine

Romano recently picked up a Peabody Award for his TNT show Men of a Certain Age, which co-stars Scott Bakula and Andre Braugher. Romano explains why he returned to TV after taking a few years off when his hit sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond ended in 2005.

In his new book, The Compass of Pleasure, neuroscientist David Linden maps out the brain's relationship with pleasure and addiction. From junk food to sex to gambling, Linden explains that addictions are actually rooted in the brain's inability to feel pleasure.

Dr. David Ansell's experiences treating patients at Chicago's public hospital for 17 years turned him into a strong advocate for national health care reform. He details what it was like to work with Chicago's uninsured patient population in a new memoir and social history.

The movie Beginners stars Ewan McGregor as a young man who learns that his 75-year-old father, played by Christopher Plummer, is gay. The movie is based on filmmaker Mike Mills' own life. Mills explains what happened when his own dad came out.

Rachel DeWoskin's novel follows a gutsy 16-year-old girl navigating her way at a new performing arts high school. The book is a distinctive addition to the already packed library of coming-of-age stories.

The veteran journalist's new novel takes place in an old-school print newsroom, not unlike the one where he worked. Hamill, a longtime columnist, reflects on changes in the news industry, and explains how columnists of his day differed from today's media bloggers.

Anesthesiologist Emery Brown explains what physicians know — and what they don't know — about the effects of anesthesia. Unlocking its mysteries, he says, will help scientists better understand consciousness and sleep — and could lead to better treatments for pain, sleep disorders and depression.

Oncologist Siddhartha Mukherjee chronicles how our understanding of cancer has evolved in his new book The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer.

This interview was originally broadcast on Nov. 17, 2010. Siddhartha Mukherjee recently received the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction for 'The Emperor of all Maladies.'

Combat photographer Joao Silva is at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where he's recovering after losing his legs in an explosion in October. Greg Marinovich is a Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer who was shot four times while covering conflicts. Silva and Marinovich talk about life as war photographers with Fresh Air's Terry Gross.

During the 1898-1904 pox epidemic, public health officials and policemen forced thousands of Americans to be vaccinated against their will. Historian Michael Willrich examines that epidemic's far-reaching implications for individual civil liberties in Pox: An American History.

Fresh Air's critic-at-large John Powers was raised to dislike Elizabeth Taylor. But he soon fell for her charms. He remembers the legendary actress who was a siren on-screen -- and a committed supporter of HIV/AIDS research.

Are doctors rationing health care? Health policy analyst Gregg Bloche says doctors routinely compromise the principles of the Hippocratic Oath when they decided which expensive tests and treatments they can and can't provide, in order to please lawmakers, lawyers and insurance companies.

Neurologist V.S. Ramachandran, a pioneer in the field of visual perception, explains how his simple experiments in behavioral neurology have changed the lives of patients suffering from a variety of neurological symptoms in The Tell-Tale Brain.

Reynolds Price, the acclaimed writer known for his evocative novels and stories about rural North Carolina, died in Durham on Thursday. He was 77. Fresh Air remembers the writer with excerpts taken from several interviews he gave over the past 20 years.

After a routine mammogram, brest cancer specialist Dr. Marisa Weiss was diagnosed with a breast tumor. The founder of breastcancer.org discusses her diagnosis and treatment -- and how she feels about new mammography guidelines.

Novelist Walter Mosley explains how watching his mother's experience with dementia helped him craft his latest novel, The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey, which asks: Would you repair your failing memory if it meant your life span would also be significantly shortened?

Oncologist Siddhartha Mukherjee chronicles how our understanding of cancer has evolved in his new book The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer.

In 1972, Congress launched an experimental program that covered all medical expenses for anyone diagnosed with kidney failure. Investigative journalist Robin Fields shares her findings on the U.S. dialysis experiment -- and the lessons it holds for the future of health care reform.

Before it was called PTSD, soldiers traumatized in war were described as "shell-shocked" or "battle-fatigued." The new HBO documentary Wartorn, directed by Ellen Goosenberg Kent and Jon Alpert, chronicles the history of PTSD on the American battlefield from the Civil War to the present.

The rate of Army suicides has doubled since 2004. But treating suicidal soldiers is difficult because many don't seek help. Psychologist Craig Bryan, who works with returning vets, discusses the combat stresses that lead to PTSD and suicide -- and what the military is doing to help.