Robin Marantz Henig's Blog, page 5
February 8, 2014
Imagining the Best Way to Die
The evening after attending a panel discussion on "Confronting Mortality" at the New York Academy of Sciences, I took a tip from one of the speakers, Lani Leary, who had urged us to talk to our families about what they would want at the end of life. She suggested phrasing the question as: "What would be the ideal death FOR YOU?"
January 28, 2014
What Really Goes on in the Aging Brain?
I had carefully chosen the movie to take my mother to last weekend: subtitled, with a gentle tone and an easy-to-follow yet provocative plot. So I was surprised what she said to me when the movie ended and the lights went on.
What Really Goes On in the Aging Brain?
I had carefully chosen the movie to take my mother to last weekend: subtitled, with a gentle tone and an easy-to-follow yet provocative plot. So I was surprised what she said to me when the movie ended and the lights went on.
January 23, 2014
Who Succeeds, Who Stays in the Background?
The background singers in the film "20 Feet From Stardom" were amazing singers, and a couple of them wanted to break out from the background and become solo successes. They made some recordings, gave some concerts, appeared on some TV shows — and then, almost to a woman, they flamed out. Why?
Who Succeeds, Who Stays In the Background?
The background singers in the film "20 Feet From Stardom" were amazing singers, and a couple of them wanted to break out from the background and become solo successes. They made some recordings, gave some concerts, appeared on some TV shows — and then, almost to a woman, they flamed out. Why?
January 20, 2014
No More Generation Gap? Dream On
Do Baby Boomers get along with our kids better than our parents got along with us? Most of us seem to think so. But most of us would probably be wrong.
December 20, 2013
Young Americans Are Sicker Than Ever
A sobering article on the Atlantic web site suggests that this generation of young people are encountering more chronic illnesses, at younger ages, than at any time in recent history. This increase in morbidity and mortality among the young holds true even for young people who are college-educated and upper-class.
December 18, 2013
Tired of Living?
A few years ago at the fish counter at a grocery store in Delaware, I stood next to an elderly woman who surveyed the fish with irritation, muttering to herself. Finally she couldn't take it anymore. "But I've already TASTED all of these," she wailed—a poignant complaint coming from somewhere deep inside a woman who knew the pain of having lived too long.
December 13, 2013
Bright Light, Tunnel, Life Review
Things got a bit testy at the the New York Academy of Sciences last week, as scientists debated whether near-death experiences exist and what they might teach about the process of dying -- and about the possibility of coming back from death.
December 5, 2013
What Do You Regret?
Regret is a bitter emotion, so painful that the urge to avoid it often drives decision-making strategies. Regret avoidance can be a reason to forestall any kind of commitment—to a job, a girlfriend, a religion, a place to live—out of fear that you’ll want to revisit one of those options the instant it disappears.
