2010-11-20-samantha-clemens.Mp3

Men are Mars and women are Venus, right? That’s what we ‘know.’ That’s what the research says. Men don’t ask directions. Women can’t do math as well. Men don’t talk about their feelings. All women want to do it talk.

It’s all in fun, until parents and teachers and Larry Summers make decisions that affect lives based on … the science.

Except, is that what the science actually says? How rigorous has the research been? Has the peer review system really worked?

Rebecca Jordan-Young, a Barnard College professor of women’s studies, joins us to discuss her book “Brain Storm,” where she sets out to debunk the proliferating “brain-organization” studies that attempt to explain in purely biological terms (since XX and XY seem not to be enough) why males and females differ in one way or another. Or, in some cases, fail to differ.

The book.

Reviews:

LA Times:

2010-06-19-samantha-clemens.Mp3

Who is apologizing to BP and why?

And Father’s Day – paternity leave in Sweden? Primate Dad’s strutting their stuff with babies? Should there be a presumption of joint custody when parents divorce? Sperm donors? Is this a good idea? How many half-siblings are out there who don’t know it?

What’s on your mind?

“…in The Atlantic, Don Peck reports that last November nearly a fifth of all men between 25 and 54 did not have jobs, the highest figure since the labor bureau began counting in 1948. We are either at or about to reach a historical marker: for the first time there will be more women in the work force than men.”

OK, I loved both columns. But, it’s just a little scary when both Maureen Dowd and Ben Stein are talking about love. And both articles are on the New York Times’ top ten most emailed list.

Maureen writes about a priest’s description of

Can it possibly be true?