"...being able to see what happens in the brain really helps us to understand certain things..."
—Jennifer Senior
Jennifer Senior knows whereof she speaks, and she brought the evidence with her. She arrived at KQED with her young son, who was every bit as engaging as his mother was, both on and off the pages of 'All Joy and No Fun: The Paradox of Modern Parenthood.'
We tromped up to the studio, and she had him sit in the control room with a cell phone playing (I believe) a Star Wars video game, while she and I spent a solid hour (perhaps, actually, a bit more) talking about the effect of his kind on our kind. He was entranced by the phone and a model of the results of excellent parenting.
To my mind, Senior's book is itself a model for a new kind of science that gets practiced on the page. She spent a lot of time gathering data, letting it swim around in her mind as she began to look for patterns. The page was her Petri dish, the book her experiment, and our reading experience the results. If you re engaging in social science, you needs must be social.
Senior had all sorts of great stories to tell about her experience, particularly with the ECFE, which itself was a great place for her to do her studies. Her masterful charter arcs, and her engjoyable prose make this a really great reading experience no matter what your plans or experiences are vis a vis being a parent. This book is all joy and fun to read.
02-22-15 UPDATE:Podcast Update: Time to Read Episode 197: Jennifer Senior, 'All Joy and No Fun: The Paradox of Modern Parenthood'
Click image for audio link.
Here's the one-hundred ninety-seventh episode of my series of podcasts, which I'm calling Time to Read.
I've been working for more of a live format lately, and to this end in this Time to Read "lightning round," I've included some of the banter beforehand, to give a feel for the atmosphere when we run these little mini-interviews. The bottom line: They're a fun way to finish off the gig.
My hope is that in under four (or maybe twice as many!) minutes I can offer readers a concise review and an opportunity to hear the author read from or speak about the work. I'm hoping to offer a new one every week.
08-21-15: Agony Column Podcast News Report : Senator Claire McCaskill is 'Plenty Ladylike' : Internalizing Determination to Overcome Sexism [Incudes Time to Read EP 211: Claire McCaskill, Plenty Ladylike, plus A 2015 Interview with Senator Claire McCaskill]
Agony Column Podcast News Report : Emily Schultz Unleashes 'The Blondes' : A Cure by Color [Incudes Time to Read EP 210: Emily Schultz, The Blondes, plus A 2015 Interview with Emily Schultz]
07-05-15: Commentary : Dr. Michael Gazzaniga Tells Tales from Both Sides of the Brain : A Life in Neuroscience Reveals the Life of Science
Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Michael Gazzaniga : "We made the first observation and BAM there was the disconnection effect..."
04-21-15: Commentary : Kazuo Ishiguro Unearths 'The Buried Giant' : The Mist of Myth and Memory
Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Kazuo Ishiguro : ".... by the time I was writing this novel, the lines between what was fantasy and what was real had blurred for me..."
Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Marc Goodman : "...every physical object around us is being transformed, one way or another, into an information technology..."
Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 199: Marc Goodman : Future Crimes: Everything Is Connected, Everyone Is Vulnerable and What We Can Do About It
