Alix Spiegel
Alix Spiegel has worked on NPR's Science Desk for 10 years covering psychology and human behavior, and has reported on everything from what it's like to kill another person, to the psychology behind our use of function words like "and", "I", and "so." She began her career in 1995 as one of the founding producers of the public radio program This American Life. While there, Spiegel produced her first psychology story, which ultimately led to her focus on human behavior. It was a piece called 81 Words, and it examined the history behind the removal of homosexuality from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.
In January 2015, Spiegel joined forces with journalist Lulu Miller to co-host Invisibilia, a series from NPR about the unseen forces that control human behavior — our ideas, beliefs, assumptions, and thoughts. Invisibilia interweaves personal stories with fascinating psychological and brain science, in a way that ultimately makes you see your own life differently. Excerpts of the show are featured on the NPR News programs Morning Edition and All Things Considered. The program is also available as a podcast.
Over the course of her career in public radio, Spiegel has won many awards including a George Foster Peabody Award, a Livingston Award, an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award, a Scripps Howard National Journalism Award, and a Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award.
Originally from Baltimore, Maryland, Spiegel graduated from Oberlin College. Her work on human behavior has also appeared in The New Yorker magazine and The New York Times.
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Some mental health workers are using untested therapies in the wake of Hurricane Katrina -- and that is prompting concern. One such treatment is thought field therapy, in which tapping on a series of acupuncture-type points in the body is thought to free the sufferer from emotional pain.
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In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, almost half the residents of New Orleans are in need of mental health services. Health experts say African Americans experiencing emotional problems are not likely to seek care. This is the final of four reports in a series on mental health after the storm.
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First responders at the Biloxi police department are struggling with emotional distress of Hurricane Katrina's aftermath. They are experiencing flashbacks, waking up from nightmares and crying for no apparent reason. In the third installment of a four-part series on mental health after the storm, Alix Spiegel spoke with some of the officers who still struggle with the trauma of the storm.
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The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina has taken a heavy emotional toll on people throughout the Gulf Coast region. In Jefferson Parish, just outside New Orleans, an apparent increase in the number of suicide attempts is one sign of the psychological strain. We have the second of a series of reports on mental health after the storm.
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Residents in Port Arthur, Texas, are thankful there was not more destruction in their town, which took a heavy blow from Hurricane Rita. With an intact seawall assuring that a catastrophe would be avoided, there was still considerable damage in the town. -
At one Red Cross shelter in Baton Rouge, La., people who sought shelter from Hurricane Katrina are once again told they must gather a few items and leave as Hurricane Rita menaces the coast.
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An estimated 2 million Americans practice some form of self-injury, and there is a common misperception that -- like anorexia -- the problem afflicts mostly young women. But self-mutilation isn't exclusively a modern adolescent issue. The disorder is an ancient one, and it is best understood as an attempt to relieve rather than inflict pain.
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In the 1920s and '30s, Sigmund Freud's nephew Edward Bernays used his uncle's ideas -- sometimes to Freud's consternation -- to help create the new field of public relations. His influence can be felt today, including the very notion of a hearty breakfast.
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Long deployments make marriage especially difficult for military couples. In an effort to reverse the high divorce rate in the armed services, the Army has created a marriage-counseling program that teaches military couples basic relationship skills.
