SUMMARY: Dr. Danielle Sheypuk is attempting to derail the stigma around sex and people with physical disabilities. Born with Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type 2, Sheypuk knows what it's like to have a disability -- and a sex life. But she worries that popular culture tends to show only able-bodied individuals having sex in traditional ways. This is her Brief but Spectacular take on how “anything can be sexy.”
SUMMARY: With the nation tuning in for Super Bowl 50 this Sunday, many sports fans have football on the brain, especially Sports Illustrated editor Jon Wertheim. He recently co-wrote the book “This is Your Brain on Sports,” a look at the psychology and behavior of sports teams and their fans. Hari Sreenivasan sits down with him to learn more about how athletes think.
HARI SREENIVASAN (NewsHour): A TV audience of well over 100 million is expected to tune in to see the Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton go head-to-head with sentimental favorite Peyton Manning leading the Denver Broncos.
Both teams spent this week in preparations. The game caps a season of big rivalries, bigger setbacks and some surprise comebacks.
In a new book, “This Is Your Brain on Sports,” “Sports Illustrated” executive editor, Jon Wertheim, along with co-author Sam Sommers of Tufts University, explore the psychology and behavior of sports teams and their fans.
For a closer look, Jon Wertheim joins me now.
So, “This Is Your Brain on Sports,” why the book?
JON WERTHEIM, Co-Author, “This Is Your Brain on Sports”: We all love sports.
There is so much that goes on in sports, it seems irrational or counterintuitive. And we dismiss that these are just sort of — these are the rules of the road of sports. And we wanted to dig a little and say, what really explains — what are the underpinnings, everything from the crazy T-shirt cannon that we go crazy about, to the fact that teams seem to elevate when there’s a rivalry?
What is really going on here? What is the human behavior? What is the psychology? What is going on here?
HARI SREENIVASAN: Let’s talk a little bit about rivalries.
The likelihood is that this might be one of Peyton Manning’s last days. So, it’s not a Peyton vs. Cam rivalry. But, sometimes, when two teams get together at the Super Bowl, it’s a much bigger deal for entire cities and fans. Why is that?
JON WERTHEIM: Rivalry is one of these essential elements of sports.
And what the research says is that there really is a difference in performance a run-of-the-mill game vs. a rivalry team. Physiologically, athletes in a rivalry game, testosterone levels are different. Saliva levels are different. These scores tend to be closer.
I am Retired U.S. Navy (22yrs) and a Vietnam Veteran. After my Navy retirement I was in the computer related industry, now retired. In 2000 I was a registered Republican and voted for George W. Bush. Six months of having Bush in the Whitehouse forced me to re-evaluate my political stance. I had always thought of myself as a Moderate Republican, but was a Republican by "default" NOT because of close examination of the GOP. Due to what has happened in America since 2000, I now consider myself a progressive, and registered as a Non-Affiliated voter.
*Anti-First Amendment policies that attempt to turn America into a theocracy by enshrining ANY religious belief as law.
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