BRAINLAND

Leading ethicist/philosopher Jonathan D. Moreno makes a welcome return to Brainland to discuss his recently published and compelling book 'ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL: Bioethics and the Rules-based Order'. We talk about the history of clinical and bioethic and outline their main components in application to humans. Topics discussed include the Nuremberg trials and why it took 20 years before a consensus in the medical profession, the currently accepted 'ethical principles' and how long term and ethically flawed studies on syphilis triggered them. Jonathan also talks about the notion of 'invisible colleges', the relatively recent requirement for medics to fully inform patients of their diagnosis and prognosis, and the importance of invitro-fertilisation, plus more recently CRISPR gene editing, in reshaping guidelines and policy. We also discuss the wider application of ethics to the biosphere, including the growth of the anti-vivisection movement in the late 19th century. To conclude Jonathan reads the closing, summing up, paragraph of his book. Essential listening! Participants:Jonathan D. Moreno is the David and Lyn Silfen University Professor of Medical Ethics and Health Policy, of History and Sociology of Science, and of Philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania.https://pikprofessors.upenn.edu/sites/default/files/2021-10/moreno-cv.pdfKen Barrett is an artist, writer and former neuropsychiatristhttp://www.kenbarrettstudio.co.ukJonathan's book 'Absolutely Essential: Bioethics and the Rules Based Order'.:https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262553377/absolutely-essential/Also discussed on the podcast:DARPA: https://www.darpa.mil/Jonathan's earlier book on military and intelligence funding of neuroscience: MIND WARS: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mind-Wars-Science-Military-Century/dp/193413743XJonathan's last visit to Brainalnd to talk about Mind Wars: https://shows.acast.com/brainland/episodes/mind-wars Musical extract: Prelude from Act 1 of Brainland, composed by Stephen Brown.Brainland the opera website: www.brainlandtheopera.co.ukportrait sketch by KB

In this episode Christine Daigle, a leading figure in posthumanist philosophy and material feminism, begins by defining those terms before unpacking some of the ideas in her recent book 'Posthumanist Vulnerability: An affirmative ethics'. The humanist and Christian traditions both privilege the human, particularly the male human, in the sense of having 'dominion' over the rest of nature and, too often, women. Posthumanism breaks away from this and material feminism is concerned with the physical and material/economic constraints on women (really oversimplifying - listen to Christine's version). We move on to discuss the unusual structure of the book which, in addition to philosophy includes nine 'meanderings', more personal glimpses of her life, interactions with nature and trauma. Christine talks about her word 'transjective' used to highlight the permeability of the supposedly objective and subjective views and the origin of the term 'vulnerability' (the Latin word for wound). After brief diversion into Deleuze and Guattari, and 'joyful affirmation' we conclude with a reading of from the closing chapter of "Posthuman Vulnerability'. In short, a complex subject made digestible!Participants: Christine Daigle, professor of philosophy, Brock University, Ontario, Canada. https://brocku.ca/humanities/philosophy/christine-daigle/Ken Barrett, visual artist, writer and retired neuropsychiatrist: http://www.kenbarrettstudio.co.ukChristine's books:Posthumanist Vulnerability: https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/posthumanist-vulnerability-9781350302884/Opening and closing music: Prelude to the opera Brainland, composed by Stephen Brown. Brainland the opera website: www.brainlandtheopera.co.ukPortrait sketch by KB.

Mark Solms is a neuroscientist and psychoanalyst fluent in German, which is why in the 1990s, he agreed to take on the daunting task of collating and translating Freud's 23 years of writing on the brain and neurology pre-psychoanalysis. In this episode Marks talks in detail about Freud's early work in neuroscience, and explains how this transitioned into his theories of the mind and how to help the mentally troubled. After discussing something of his own family life, we move on to his very difficult first case as an analyst and from that to an understanding of why psychoanalysis became so prone to squabbling and factions. We discuss the way Freud's notion of the unconscious and preconscious map onto current understanding of memory - short term/long term, declarative/non-declarative ('declarative' being memories that can be put into words, a function, interestingly, that gradually develops after the age of 2; 'non-declarative' that can't be put into words, including those powerful early life experiences. Mark also talks about the things Freud got wrong before moving on to the conditions that can benefit from long term therapy (certain personality disorders and major depression in the context of early childhood loss and trauma) but emphasises that symptomatic treatments (antidepressants) may be necessary to enable a person to use therapy. We conclude with a question anout his boob's title, and an entertaining answer!Participants: Mark Solms, Professor, Department of Neuropsychology, University of Capetown, SA. https://neuroscience.uct.ac.za/contacts/mark-solmsKen Barrett, visual artist, writer and retired neuropsychiatrist: http://www.kenbarrettstudio.co.ukMark's books:'The Only Cure': Freud and the neuroscience of mental healing. https://www.weidenfeldandnicolson.co.uk/titles/mark-solms-2/the-only-cure/9781399623377/Also available as an audiobook, read by Mark, and incuded in Spotify Premium.'The Hidden Spring': https://profilebooks.com/work/the-hidden-spring/'The Neuropsychology of dreams: https://www.karnacbooks.com/product/the-neuropsychology-of-dreams-a-clinico-anatomical-study/94585/?If you are interested in Freud and his contemporaries as portrayed at the movies (including Meynert and Jung) check out Season 2 episode 20, a great conversation with Prof Ian Christie:https://open.acast.com/networks/6452b6516dd22500113dc7d2/shows/6452b6516dd22500113dc7ca/episodes/68ad6fccef1a5f8b369a2316Opening and closing music: Prelude to the opera Brainland, composed by Stephen Brown. Brainland the opera website: www.brainlandtheopera.co.ukIllustration 'Young Freud observed...' by KB.

In this episode Laura Spinney talks about the background to her book 'Proto', an extraordinarily wide ranging and engaging account of the origin and archeology of Indo-European languages. We discuss the source of ancient DNA that is uncovering the extraordinary migration west of nomads from the Ukranian and Russian steppe along with their language, the ancestor of the most spoken languages in the world. Early philology, copper smelting (5000 years ago), pottery decoration of lactose intolerance ( among those nomad herdsmen and women) all get a mention. We also discuss before we discuss the origins of celtic languages and the various forms of English. All the above just a sample fo the stories in Laura's very readable guide. Participants:Laura Spinney, science journalist and writer https://www.lauraspinney.com/Ken Barrett, visual artist, writer and retired neuropsychiatrist: http://www.kenbarrettstudio.co.ukLaura's book 'Proto': https://www.lauraspinney.com/More on 'proto-indo-european': https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proto-Indo-European_languageThe other proto language groups: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proto-languageLaura's book, very well read, on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/69CajLdpTI4HQZvuzs0LcB?si=2d84b5b6e3074875Opening and closing music: Prelude to the opera Brainland, composed by Stephen Brown. Brainland the opera website: www.brainlandtheopera.co.ukPortrait sketch by KB

In this podcast we discuss 19th century French novelist, dramatist and memoirist George Sand. In a wide-ranging conversation, based on Fiona's very readable and recent biography, we talk about Sand's great literary success in an era in which she was a political progressive abolitionist, early feminist and even ecologist. Her unusual origins, unhappy marriage, rapid literary success and famous relationship with/patronage of the composer Chopin get an airing. We talk about her first novel, 'Indiana', which contains critiques of arranged marriage and slavery, insightful reflections on language and the politics of her era and influenced the later Bronte sisters, George Elliot and others. We also discuss how her reputation rapidly faded after her death, outside France, such that she is more remembered as Chopin's partner/patron, her love affairs and cross-dressing, than her great literary output and influence on her time. Fiona also reads an extract. A fascinating book and conversation.Participants:Fiona Sampson, poet, biographer, Professor Emerita, University of Roehampton; Senior Research Fellow, Harris Manchester College University of Oxford. https://www.fionasampson.co.uk/Ken Barrett, visual artist, writer and retired neuropsychiatrist: http://www.kenbarrettstudio.co.ukFiona's biography 'Becoming George' : https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/460324/becoming-george-by-sampson-fiona/9781529924336George Sand's novel 'Indiana': https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiana_(novel)Her autobiography 'Histoire de Ma Vie': https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Histoire_de_ma_vie_(George_Sand)Opening and closing music: Prelude to the opera Brainland, composed by Stephen Brown. Brainland the opera website: www.brainlandtheopera.co.ukPortrait sketch by KB

In this episode Stefan Sorgner, a leading academic in the growing field of transhumanist philosophy defines and talks about his route to the subject before drawing a distinction, elaborated in his upcoming book, on the difference between 'classical' and 'Euro' varieties. He stresses that, in a sense, we have been augmented humans ('cyborgs'), since we acquired the ability to create and use language, tools, clothes, fire, writing, herbs etc. all of which enable us to go beyond our basic physical and mental limitations. He talks about the importance of Nietzsche's philosophy importance for the subject and defends him against accusations of proto-fascism. He distances himself and the Euro tradition from the utopian and immortality obsessed transhumanism of Silicone Valley billionaires and from those who consider transhumanism 'the devil's work', including a leading Russian Orthodox religious leader, Steve Bannon and others. We touch on transhumanism in culture then Stefan concludes by emphasising Euro-transhumanism's aim as promoting human flourishing, safety, protection from disease and starvation for the majority, rather than more power and longevity for the few.Participants:Stefan Lorenz Sorgner, Associate Professor of Philosophy, John Cabot University, Rome, Director and co-founder of the Beyond Humanism Network, Fellow at the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies www.sorgner.deKen Barrett is an artist, writer and retired neuropsychiatrist http://www.kenbarrettstudio.co.uk/Stefan's upcoming book: Euro-Transhumanism: Twisting truth, Goodness, Beauty https://bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/euro-transhumanismHis book 'We have always been cyborgs': https://bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/we-have-always-been-cyborgsFor Stefan's other publications and work consult his website: www.sorgner.deMusic: Prelude to Act 1 of the opera Brainland composed by Stephen Brown www.brainlandtheopera.co.ukSketch by KB.

In this episode novelist and playwright Alice Jolly talks about her latest novel, 'The Matchbox Girl'' about a neurodiverse girl and then young woman who is referred to Asperger's clinic in Vienna in the 1930s. Alice talks about her decision to use a female patient/narrator and how the book 'felt like a radio you couldn't properly tune in' until she found Adelheid, her narrator's voice. We discuss other members of the clinical team including Annie Weiss and George Frankl, both of who had to leave the clinic because they were Jewish and migrated to America. We discuss revelations about Asperger's child referrals to the clinic where the disabled were killed, a practice that wasn't public at the time but seems to have been widely known - an action at odds with the clinic sheltering a Jewish boy througout the war and the way he emphasises the social value of the patients he describes in his paper on 'autistic psychopathy'. We also touch on the appalling and discredited 'refrigerator mother' theory from the 1950s, an idea dismissed by Asperger in his 1944 paper. Great insights into the backgorund to an engaging novel.Participants:Alice Jolly, novelist and playwright https://alicejolly.com/wp/Ken Barrett is an artist, writer and retired neuropsychiatrist http://www.kenbarrettstudio.co.uk/Alice's novel ‘The Matchbox Girl’: https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/matchbox-girl-9781526681034More on Hans Asperger: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_AspergerMore on Annie Weiss and Georg Frankl: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/337935440_The_Forgotten_Pioneers_The_Life_and_Work_of_Anni_Weiss_and_Georg_Frankl_updatedMusic: Prelude to Act 1 of the opera Brainland composed by Stephen Brown www.brainlandtheopera.co.ukSketch by KB.

For the first episode of season 3 your host travelled to North London to record a conversation with Dame Uta Frith whose translation of Hans Asperger’s now famous paper was published 35 years ago. After discussing her reasons for moving to the UK, Uta talks about Lorna Wing’s work and influence before discussing the innovative and multidisciplinary clinic in which Asperger worked in the 1930 and 40s and the structure of his paper - four detailed case descriptions of children with what best translates as ‘autistic psychopathology’. We discuss origin of the term ‘autistic’ and how the concept has evolved since the 1960s, from a narrow and severely disabling non-verbal condition to a spectrum and the difficulties inherent in a condition of varying severity. The episode concludes with three short extracts from Dame Uta’s translation. In the next episode, with novelist Alice Jolly, we will discuss Asperger’s world in more detail, including recent evidence of complicity with Nazi eugenic practices. Check out Alice’s novel ‘The Matchbox Girl’.Participants:Dame Uta Frith FRS is Emeritus Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at University College, London.Ken Barrett is an artist, writer and retired neuropsychiatrist http://www.kenbarrettstudio.co.uk/ http://cornwallcomposers.com/stephen.htmMore on Dame Uta and her research : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uta_FrithAnd on the BBC's "Life Scientific: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b017w65rA review of Two Heads is here: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/mar/29/two-heads-by-uta-frith-chris-frith-alex-frith-and-daniel-locke-reviewAlice Jolly's novel ‘The Matchbox Girl’: https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/matchbox-girl-9781526681034More on Hans Asperger: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_AspergerRead extract from Uta's translation of Asperger's paper (with the permission of the translator) from: Chapter 2, 'Autism and Asperger Syndrome, Edied by Uta Frith, Cambridge, 1991.Alice Jolly's novel 'The Matchbox Girl': https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/matchbox-girl-9781526681034/Music: Prelude to Act 1 of the opera Brainland composed by Stephen Brown www.brainlandtheopera.co.ukSketch by KB.