Aug 19, 2010
Stress can make fairy tales turn to nightmares, and it can make an enemy of your own body. Producer Ellen Horne speaks with Linda Thompson, famous folk singer whose voice one day flew away. Thompson describes her rare condition, called Hysterical Dysphonia, and how she overcame her body's silence. Dr. Robert Sapolsky explains why certain rats get ulcers and others don't - coping mechanisms that work for humans too. Finally we learn that nice guys can finish first - in the baboon world that is. Alpha male baboons fight for years to maintain their social rank, all to get the girl. It's a stressful existence, to be sure, especially when the day finally comes that they get knocked off their pedestal by some young upstart and fall to the bottom of the ladder. Cruel cruel world. But here's the silver lining: researchers have discovered that some females, rather then sitting patiently in ringside seats, get bored with all the fighting and mate with – you guessed it - the nice guy sitting on the bench.