New Group on Facebook
I just started a new group on Facebook called Alabama Podcasters. I am using the Birmingham Podcasting logo because I hope this group will help us find more local podcasters both from around Birmingham and the rest of Alabama.
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Friday, August 10, 2007
FINAL TAXI : Charles Lane -The Face Is Familiar
Charles Lane, the prolific character actor whose name was little known but whose crotchety persona and roles in hundreds of films made him recognizable to generations of moviegoers took his Final Taxi at 102.
Mr. Lane’s voice was heard in Disney’s 1970 animated feature “The AristoCats.” He was an admiral in “The Winds of War” TV miniseries and appeared in the movie “Murphy’s Romance” with Sally Field in 1986.
He also acted in TV episodes of “Soap,”"The Flying Nun,” “Bewitched” and “The Beverly Hillbillies” and showed up on “L.A. Law,” “St. Elsewhere” and “Lou Grant.”
Mr. Lane had small parts in “The Music Man,” “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World” and “The Carpetbaggers,” among his many films. His acting résumé included roles as a judge, gambler, priest, bank examiner, military officer, customs and immigration official and Western lawman.
Thursday, August 9, 2007
Brain Science Podcast #18: Interview with Dr. Elkhonon Goldberg
Brain Science Podcast #18 is an interview with Dr. Elkhonon Goldberg, PhD.
Listen to Brain Science Podcast #18 Now
Show Notes:
- I apologize for the uneven sound quality of this episode. If any one out there has any suggestions please drop me an email.
- Dr. Goldberg shared a little bit about the breadth of his work as a neuropsychologist.
- We talked about his rather unique perspective on the difference between the right and left brain hemispheres. He explained why he feels that as we get older we move from reliance on the right hemisphere, which he feels is the novelty hemisphere, to a reliance on the left hemisphere, where our lifetime store of patterns enables us to use pattern recognition as a short cut in problem solving.
- We talked about the importance of constant mental challenge, and Dr. Goldberg gives his advice about how we can keep our brains healthy through out our lives.
Links:
The following are two companies that Dr. Goldberg is working with to provide information to the public and also tools for cognitive enhancement:
- SharpBrains-this is a clearing house for information and they evaluate many of the products currently being offered.
- HeadStrong Cognitive Fitness-this Australian company offers a net-based program for cognitive enhancement based on Dr. Goldberg's research. I am hoping to test their products in the near future.
Listen to Brain Science Podcast #18 Now
The Brain Science Podcast feed is available here.
Subscribe to Brain Science Podcast with Dr. Ginger Campbell by Email
Visit the new Brain Science Podcast Forum
Friday, August 3, 2007
Books and Ideas #13: Harry Potter with guest co-host, Patrick Pricken
Even if you haven't finished reading Book 7, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, by JK Rowling you can enjoy this podcast, which features guest co-host Patrick Pricken, from Germany. Patrick's blog, which features movie and book reviews can be found at http://www.p-pricken.de/. (The blog is in German, but translation to English is available from Google.)
We talked about what why JK Rowling's work has international appeal, even among adult readers. We explore our favorite characters and talk about whether Book 7 lived up to our expectations.
The episode is spoiler-free up to the 17 minute mark. The last 15 minutes does contain specific material from the last book, so if you haven't read it yet you will want to stop listening at 17:00, until you finish the book.
If you would like to talk about the podcast or share your favorite Harry Potter memories, please join us in the the special section with in the Brain Science Podcast Discussion Forum.
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Brain Science Podcast #17: The Wisdom of the Aging Brain
This week we discuss another book by Elkonon Goldberg, Ph.D. I highly recommend this book to everyone because it is an excellent review of many of the topics we have discussed over the last several months including memory, emotion, and neuroplasticity. In this episode we continue our discussion of the role of the pre-frontal lobes in intelligence, as well as what happens to our brain as we age.
Show Notes
Episodes that are referred to in this episode:
Note: You should have no problem listening to episode to #17 first, but I have provided these references for those who want to review or go back for more details.
Definitions used in this episode:
attractor: a cognitive template that enables pattern recognition. An attractor is thought to be a concise set of neurons with strong interactions among themselves. A unique and important quality of attractors is that a broad range of inputs activate the same set of neurons. This is thought to be the mechanism of pattern recognition.
cognitive competence: the ability to relate the old to the new so as to recognize the similarities between a new problem and one that has been previously solved
cognitive wisdom: an enhanced capacity for problem solving
generic memory: memory for patterns
Brief List of topics discussed in this episode:
- Review of important ideas about the prefrontal lobes from #16
- An hypothesis about the differing roles of the right and left hemispheres
- How the brain changes in normal aging
- Mechanisms that protect the brain from degenerative changes
- generic memory-why this type of memory is more robust
- pattern expansion-how parts of the cortex expand with use
- effortless experts-why familiar tasks are less demanding
- Why vigorous mental activity is important throughout life
For more links related to Dr. Goldberg's work see the show notes for episode 16.
The Brain Science Podcast feed is available here.
Subscribe to Brain Science Podcast with Dr. Ginger Campbell by Email
Visit the new Brain Science Podcast Forum
Friday, July 20, 2007
Books and Ideas #12 Explores Free Will
I have posted episode 12 of Books and Ideas. It is my response to The Myth of Free Will (2007), which was edited by Cris Evatt.
This is a very controversial subject. I hope that you will listen and then submit your comments to the new Brain Science Podcast Discussion Forum, which is at http://brainscienceforum.com.
Friday, July 13, 2007
Brain Science Podcast Update
Announcements
- Thanks to Rob Walch of Podcast 411 for helping me resolve my feed problems. You can here us discuss the details of what happened on Item #205 of Podcast 411.
- Visit the new Brain Science Podcast Forum at http://brainscienceforum.com.
The Brain Science Podcast #16 is a discussion of The Executive Brain: Frontal Lobes and the Civilized Mind (2002)
by Elkhonon Goldberg.
The Brain Science Podcast feed is available here.
Subscribe to Brain Science Podcast with Dr. Ginger Campbell by Email
Visit the new Brain Science Podcast Forum
Show Notes
This episode is an introduction to the role of the pre-frontal lobes in decision-making, and the other "executive" functions of our brain. The functions of the pre-frontal lobes are not only the keys to what makes us human, but also the keys to our individual personality.
In this episode, using Dr. Goldberg's book, we discuss how the frontal lobes relate to the other structures of the brain. We also, discuss some ideas about why the left and right sides of the brain differ, as well as several important ways in which the cortex, and especially the pre-frontal lobes differ from some of the older parts of the brain.
We discuss briefly the vulnerability of the frontal lobes to damage and disease, and we consider the implications of frontal lobe dysfunction. Questions are introduced that will be considered in more detail in future podcasts.
Links:
- Phineas Gage-constructor worker who suffered severe frontal lobe injury in 1848
- Herbert Simon-won 1978 Nobel Prize in economics (short autobiography) He did pioneering work on decision-making.
- Dr. Elkhonon Goldberg:
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
FINAL TAXI: Last Voyage of Sinbad's Kerwin Mathews
Direct Download: Kerwin Mathews
Kerwin Mathews, who earned a niche in film history as the handsome hero who battled a Cyclops, a dragon and a sword-wielding skeleton in the 1958 fantasy classic “The 7th Voyage of Sinbad,” has taken his Final Taxi. Mathews was also in “The Devil at 4 O’clock” with Spencer Tracy and Frank Sinatra and in b-movies “Octoman” and “The Boy Who Cried Werewolf.” He was 81.
Friday, July 6, 2007
FINAL TAXI: Stevens & McCorkle
Direct Download MP3: Stevens & McCorkle
On this weeks Final Taxi podcast Ron talks about Art Stevens, who was a Disney animator who worked on the 1940 classic “Fantasia” and later co-directed “The Fox and the Hound” and “The Rescuers.” Among Stevens’ credits as an animator are “Peter Pan,” “101 Dalmatians,” “Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day,” “Robin Hood,” “Mary Poppins” and the underwater sequence in “Bedknobs and Broomsticks.”
George McCorkle was a founding member of the Marshall Tucker Band and author of Southern rock anthem “Fire on the Mountain.”
Thursday, June 21, 2007
FINAL TAXI: Mr. Wizard
Mr. Wizard was Don Herbert, who unlocked the wonders of science for youngsters of the 1950s and ’60s on television and then in the 80’s on Nickelodeon . Mr. Wizard took his Final Taxi at the age of 89.
Listen to this week’s podcast.
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