Audrey Smith

3 weeks ago | wunc.org | Audrey Smith |Anita Rao |Kaia Findlay |Amanda Magnus

What would you do if you knew your brain would stop functioning normally in just a decade? For brothers Ansel Dow, 31, and Cosmo Hinsman, 26, this isn't hypothetical. They carry a rare genetic mutation that makes almost inevitable by their mid-40s. It’s the same condition that has altered the lives and personalities of their mother and five of her siblings.

2 months ago | wunc.org | Audrey Smith |Anita Rao |Amanda Magnus

American men are in a friendship recession. Compared to a few decades ago, five times as many men have no close friends. So what’s going on? Anita talks with Mark Pagán, creator and host of the podcast Other Men Need Help, about what makes close friendships among men so fraught — and what we can do about it. They talk about everything from why Mark loves secret handshakes to his ongoing journey of making himself say the hard stuff out loud.