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579
February 12, 2016

My Damn Mind

The brain! It's powerful! Two stories of the brain working for and against its owners.

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Alan Pean, with a scar from the bullet wound. Photo by Chad Batka for The New York Times.

Prologue

A staffer at St Joseph Medical Center in Houston finds a patient shot on the floor of his room. He is unarmed, and has been shot by the cops in the hospital. (3 minutes)

Act One

When Your Hospital-Borne Infection Is a Bullet

We tell the story of that patient, Alan Pean, and how his delusions lead him to a situation that's just as strange as the worst thoughts his mind is cooking up. This story is a collaboration with the New York Times. (40 minutes)

By

Ira Glass

Song:

“No Time for Dreaming” by Menahan Street Band
Act Two

Don’t Need to Know Basis

In this act, writer Michael Kinsley describes harnessing the power of his own mind to deal with his Parkinson's diagnosis. Michael Kinsley is a contributing columnist for Vanity Fair and the Washington Post. His articles on denial and living with Parkinson's are here and here. (11 minutes)

By

Michael Kinsley
Nancy Updike

Song:

“Formation” by Beyoncé & “Where Is My Mind” by Vanilla Fudge

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Act Two

Nancy Updike follows up on a Haaretz newspaper story about a sting operation against a medical marijuana supplier in Israel—a case where being giving was not the best idea.
54: Sinatra
Feb. 21, 1997

Act Four: Sinatra Has A Cold

Gay Talese reads from his classic 1966 Esquire article, in which he followed around Sinatra at the height of Sinatra's power.

Staff Recommendations

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352
Mar. 14, 2008

The Ghost of Bobby Dunbar

In 1912, a four-year-old boy went missing in Louisiana. Eight months later, he was found. But two grief-stricken mothers both claimed the same boy as their own.

192
Aug. 31, 2001

Meet the Pros

The story of one man's journey from obscurity to international professional celebrity.

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