Nov 27th, 2008 · Though we often blame the turkey, nutritionists say virtually all meats, tofu, dairy products and nuts have tryptophan. The Thanksgiving Day snooze may have more to do with other things, like overeating, wine and dealing with social interactions.
Nov 20th, 2008 · With the U.S. economy's current troubles, many people assume a crime wave is just around the corner. But criminologists say that's just an American myth.
Nov 18th, 2008 · Why do Asian kids outperform American kids in math? How did Bill Gates become a billionaire computer entrepreneur? Malcolm Gladwell takes on these questions and more in his book Outliers. He argues that the "self-made man" is a myth.
Oct 22nd, 2008 · Opinion polls show Barack Obama leading John McCain. But some analysts think surveys don't accurately measure the support for black candidates because of the "Bradley effect." It's also called the "Wilder effect," after L. Douglas Wilder, elected the first black governor of Virginia.
Oct 16th, 2008 · As technology allows people to do more tasks at the same time, the myth that humans can multitask has never been stronger. But researchers say it's still a myth — and they have the data to prove it. Jon Hamilton, NPR science correspondent, explains.
Sep 5th, 2008 · Think the feminists who protested the 1968 Miss America pageant in the name of women's liberation burned their bras? Think again. No bras were set aflame that September day. But the idea that they were helped launch the movement onto the national stage.
Jul 25th, 2008 · The myth of the pirate — that swashbuckler standing on the bow of a boat with a wooden leg and a parrot on his shoulder — can be irresistible, but these books prove that the truth behind the fabled eyepatch is infinitely more interesting.
Jul 5th, 2008 · During a brief, but incredibly productive year at the end of the 18th century, British poets William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge joined forces to launch a literary revolution: the English Romantic movement. The story of their partnership "cuts so directly against the myth of the solitary artistic genius," reports Wisconsin Public Radio's Steve Paulson, who goes to the Quantock Hills of Somerset, to follow in the steps of those poets. Wordsworth and Coleridge fed off each other's enthusiasm and intoxicating ideas, according to Paulson. Coleridge was only 24 — and known mainly for his fiery political speeches; Wordsworth was 26 — and completely unknown as a poet. Somehow, they convinced each other they could launch a revolution.