The Life of Herbert Hoover

07/03/12 • 61 min

The public image of Herbert Hoover is a paradox. For much of his career, he was considered a visionary, but today he is largely seen as a villain. He was scorned by the public during his time as the thirty-first president of the United States. In 1948, Life magazine named him one of the 10 worst U.S. presidents. Time magazine ran a similar list only last year and President Herbert Hoover was included, blamed for not doing enough to end the Great Depression. But is Hoover's stained reputation deserved? A supporter of organized labor, Hoover first proposed plans for social security, old-age pensions and medical care in the 1920s. He passed tax hikes for the wealthy and established public works projects, such as the Hoover Dam, during the Depression. However, Hoover was cautious of overspending because he felt that habitual deficit spending would evolve into the norm, he said. "Once a program was inserted into government”, he believed, “it would be impossible to extract.” He also saw the addictive nature of welfare, and also how such policies could end up becoming a political plum for votes. The Life of Herbert Hoover, by Glen Jeansonne sweeps away the cobwebs of neglect from Hoover's presidency and his lively prose humanizes and evokes greater understanding of our thirty-first president. Join the conversations live or send your thoughts ahead of time to [email protected]

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Use Your Body to Heal Your Mind

As much as 89 percent of negative side effects of prescription medications have no detectable medical cause, according to a report in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The culprit is the “nocebo” effect, the placebo’s evil twin. Just as with the placebo effect we feel better even if the medicine has no active ingredients, under the nocebo effect, having learned the potential side effects we actually manifest them. The negative state of mind does far more than increase our pain. An article in New Scientist magazine cites episodes of the nocebo effect causing serious, long-lasting heart damage. Dr. Henry Grayson, author of USE YOUR BODY TO HEAL YOUR MIND, says that most people are unaware of how they may be contributing to their own suffering. “Negative thoughts that foster self-criticism, judgments, fearful reactions, guilt, and feelings of inadequacy all increase the flow of stress hormones, which decreases immune response,” says Dr. Grayson. “And if we don’t identify and clear out the barriers that are lodged in our limbic system, many of which are not conscious, then placebos, positive thoughts, exercise and taking medications and supplements may do us little good.” Join the conversations live or send your thoughts and comments ahead of time to [email protected].

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The Forever Fix

THE FOREVER FIX is the first book to tell the fascinating story of gene therapy: how it works, the science behind it, how patients (mostly children) have been helped and harmed, and how scientists learned from each trial to get one step closer to its immense promise, the promise of a "forever fix," a cure that, by fixing problems at their genetic root, does not need further surgery or medication. Told through the voices of the children and families who have been the inspiration, experimental subjects, and successes of genetic science, THE FOREVER FIX is compelling and engaging narrative science that tells explores the future of medicine as well as the families and scientists who are breaking new ground every day. Join the conversations live or send your thoughts and questions to TheArtofRelating.com