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Before the answers to life’s questions fit in our pocket, you used to have to turn a dial. If you were lucky, Phil Donahue would be on, ready to guide you toward enlightenment. In a stroke of deluxe good fortune, Dr. Ruth Westheimer might have stopped by to be the enlightenment. He was the search engine. She was a trusted result.
Donahue hailed from Cleveland. The windshield glasses, increasingly snowy thatch of hair, marble eyes, occasional pair of suspenders and obvious geniality said “card catalog,” “manager of the ’79 Reds,” “Stage Manager in a Chevy Motors production of ‘Our Town.’” Dr. Ruth was Donahue’s antonym, a step stool to his straight ladder. She kept her hair in a butterscotch helmet, fancied a uniform of jacket-blouse-skirt and came to our aid, via Germany, with a voice of crinkled tissue paper. Not even eight years separated them, yet so boyish was he and so seasoned was she that he read as her grandson. (She maybe reached his armpit.) Together and apart, they were public servants, American utilities.
Donahue was a journalist. His forum was the talk show, but some new strain in which the main attraction bypassed celebrities. People — every kind of them — lined up to witness other people being human, to experience Donahue’s radical conduit of edification, identification, curiosity, shock, wonder, outrage, surprise and dispute, all visible in the show’s televisual jackpot: cutaways to us, reacting, taking it all in, nodding, gasping. When a celebrity made it to the “Donahue” stage — Bill Clinton, say, La Toya Jackson, the Judds — they were expected to be human, too, to be accountable for their own humanity. From 1967 to 1996, for more than 6,000 episodes, he permitted us to be accountable to ourselves.
What Donahue knew was that we — women especially — were eager, desperate, to be understood, to learn and learn and learn. We call his job “host” when, really, the way he did it, running that microphone throughout the audience, racing up, down, around, sticking it here then here then over here, was closer to “switchboard operator.” It was “hot dog vendor at Madison Square Garden.” The man got his steps in. He let us do more of the questioning than he did — he would just edit, interpret, clarify. Egalitarianism ruled. Articulation, too. And anybody who needed the mic usually got it.
The show was about both what was on our mind and what had never once crossed it. Atheism. Naziism. Colorism. Childbirth. Prison. Rapists. AIDS. Chippendales, Chernobyl, Cher. Name a fetish, Phil Donahue tried to get to its bottom, sometimes by trying it himself. (Let us never forget the episode when he made his entrance in a long skirt, blouse and pussy bow for one of the show’s many cross-dressing studies.) Now’s the time to add that “Donahue” was a morning talk show. In Philadelphia, he arrived every weekday at 9 a.m., which meant that, in the summers, I could learn about compulsive shopping or shifting gender roles from the same kitchen TV set as my grandmother.
Sex and sexuality were the show’s prime subjects. There was so much that needed confessing, correction, corroboration, an ear lent. For that, Donahue needed an expert. Many times, the expert was Dr. Ruth, a godsend who didn’t land in this country until she was in her late 20s and didn’t land on television until she was in her 50s. Ruth Westheimer arrived to us from Germany, where she started as Karola Ruth Siegel and strapped in as her life corkscrewed, as it mocked fiction. Her family most likely perished in the Auschwitz death camps after she was whisked to the safety of a Swiss children’s home, where she was expected to clean. The twists include sniper training for one of the military outfits that would become the Israel Defense Forces, maiming by cannonball on her 20th birthday, doing research at a Planned Parenthood in Harlem, single motherhood and three husbands. She earned her doctorate from Columbia University, in education, and spent her postdoc researching human sexuality. And because her timing was perfect, she emerged at the dawn of the 1980s, an affable vector of an era’s craze for gnomic sages (Zelda Rubinstein, Linda Hunt, Yoda), masterpiece branding and the nasty.
Hers was the age of Mapplethorpe and Madonna, of Prince, Skinemax and 2 Live Crew. On her radio and television shows, in a raft of books and a Playgirl column and through her promiscuous approach to talk-show appearances, she aimed to purge sex of shame, to promote sexual literacy. Her feline accent and jolly innuendo pitched, among other stuff, the Honda Prelude, Pepsi, Sling TV and Herbal Essences. (“Hey!” she offers to a young elevator passenger. “This is where we get off.”) The instructions for Dr. Ruth’s Game of Good Sex says it can be played by up to four couples; the board is vulval and includes stops at “Yeast Infection,” “Chauvinism” and “Goose Him.”
On “Donahue,” she is direct, explicit, dispelling, humorous, clear, common-sensical, serious, vivid. A professional therapist. It was Donahue who handled the comedy. On one visit in 1987, a caller needs advice about a husband who cheats because he wants to have sex more often than she does. Dr. Ruth tells Donahue that if the caller wants to keep the marriage, and her husband wants to do it all the time, “then what she should do is to masturbate him. And it’s all right for him to masturbate himself also a few times.” The audience is hear-a-pin-drop rapt or maybe just squirmy. So Donahue reaches into his parochial-school-student war chest and pulls out the joke about the teacher who tells third-grade boys, “Don’t play with yourself, or you’ll go blind.” And Donahue raises his hand like a kid at the back of the classroom and asks, “Can I do it till I need glasses?” Westheimer giggles, maybe noticing the large pair on Donahue’s face. This was that day’s cold open.
They were children of salesmen, these two; his father was in the furniture business, hers sold what people in the garment industry call notions. They inherited a salesman’s facility for people and packaging. When a “Donahue” audience member asks Westheimer whether her own husband believes she practices what she preaches, she says this is why she never brings him anywhere. “He would tell you and Phil: ‘Do not listen to her. It’s all talk,’” which cracks the audience up.
But consider what she talked about — and consider how she said it. My favorite Dr. Ruth word was “pleasure.” From a German mouth, the word conveys what it lacks with an American tongue: sensual unfurling. She vowed to speak about sex to mass audiences using the proper terminology. Damn the euphemisms. People waited as long as a year and a half for tickets to “Donahue” so they could damn them, too. But of everything Westheimer pitched, of all the terms she precisely used, pleasure was her most cogent product, a gift she believed we could give to others, a gift she swore we owed ourselves.
I miss the talk show that Donahue reinvented. I miss the way Dr. Ruth talked about sex. It’s fitting somehow that this antidogmatic-yet-priestly Irish Catholic man would, on occasion, join forces with a carnal, lucky-to-be-alive Jew to urge the exploration of our bodies while demonstrating respect, civility, reciprocation. They believed in us, that we were all interesting, that we could be trustworthy panelists in the discourse of being alive. Trauma, triviality, tubal ligation: Let’s talk about it! Fear doesn’t seem to have occurred to them. Or if it did, it was never a deterrent. Boldly they went. — And with her encouragement, boldly we came.
Wesley Morris is a critic at large for The New York Times and a staff writer for the magazine.
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Potentially deadly sepsis may be more likely in certain patients due to problems in the gut.
Researchers from the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology’s Infectious Disease Research Center used female mouse models to investigate why sepsis outcomes can vary so dramatically.
The study, published in the journal Nature, looked at genetically similar mice with different gut microbiomes. The mice were infected with Acinetobacter baumannii — a highly resilient bacterium that can lead to sepsis.
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The researchers compared groups of mice with higher and lower survival rates, examining differences in their gut microbiomes, the amount of bacteria in their blood and organs, and other cellular markers, according to the study press release.
Gut health could signal severe sepsis prior to infection, the study suggests. (iStock)
Measures of risk
Although some mice were genetically similar, the more vulnerable mice had a higher concentration of Muribaculaceae bacteria in the gut. In one comparison, these bacteria made up about 28% of the microbiome in poor surviving mice, but only 0.15% in better surviving mice.
Mice with worse survival showed an early and strong inflammatory response, which later led to more bacteria in the blood, lungs and spleen. This suggests that the microbiome causes the immune system to be more reactive, according to the researchers.
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In the microbiome of mice with worse survival, the researchers also noticed that one strain of bacteria — Sangeribacter muris KT1-3 — was most prominent. The mice that typically survived at high rates fared much worse when housed with KTI-3 mice, with their survival falling to 10%.
More vulnerable mice had a higher concentration of Muribaculaceae bacteria in the gut. (iStock)
This bacterial strain also appeared to worsen inflammation during certain infections, making sepsis more severe.
These findings suggest that the gut microbiome can signal how the immune system will react before an infection begins.
The microbiome’s surprising influence
Andrew Fleming, MD, section chief of Infectious Diseases & Immunology at NYU Langone Hospital, Brooklyn, said it has been “known for years” that gut bacteria and bacterial toxins can be released into the bloodstream during sepsis.
This worsens the inflammatory response to the initial infection, according to Fleming, who was not involved in the study.
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“This process is particularly important in septic shock, where the intestinal wall becomes more permeable to translocation (or leaking) of bacterial products,” Fleming said.
Interactions between the gut microbiome and the immune system are “complex and variable from person to person,” the doctor described.
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“But there is mounting evidence that a diverse and healthy gut microbiome – the community of bacteria that lives in a person’s gut – is protective in some ways against severe sepsis,” he went on. “And a dysregulated microbiome – for example, one severely altered by antibiotics – can impair or worsen the immune system’s response during sepsis.”
Interactions between the gut microbiome and the immune system are “complex and variable from person to person,” a doctor described. (iStock)
Scientists are starting to think of the gut microbiome “almost as a living organ,” according to Fleming, much like the heart, kidneys or liver, all serving “multiple functions” to keep the body healthy.
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An unhealthy microbiome can have “detrimental effects across a range of health issues,” he added – including how the body responds to infections.
“Compared to our other organs, we currently have fewer readily available tests in the doctor’s office to measure the health of our microbiome,” Fleming said. “However, this should not prevent us from thinking about our gut microbiome and how to keep it healthy.”
The role of antibiotics
The use of antibiotics has “major and long-lasting effects” on the microbiome, Fleming noted. Up to 80% of adults in the U.S. are prescribed an antibiotic every year, while 30% are estimated to be unnecessary, according to the CDC.
“Antibiotics deplete the diversity of the microbiome and create a void in the gut microbial community that can be filled by harmful bacteria from the environment,” the doctor told Fox News Digital.
Antibiotics “deplete the diversity of the microbiome and create a void in the gut microbial community that can be filled by harmful bacteria from the environment,” the doctor said. (iStock)
“We must begin to think much more critically about our antibiotic use and overuse, both to maintain our gut health and to reduce the spread of antibiotic resistance.”
The study findings are an “intriguing starting point to further research,” Fleming said, although there were some key limitations.
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“Sangeribacter muris is not typically found in humans, so the exact mechanism of this bacterial strain worsening sepsis that is demonstrated in this study cannot be directly extrapolated to people,” he said. “Well-designed clinical trials should be conducted to explore how similar gut microbiome effects may play out in sepsis in humans.”
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Despite these limitations, the doctor said he supports the hypothesis that maintaining a healthy gut microbiome can help keep the immune system well-regulated while reducing the risk of developing severe sepsis.
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The old saying that laughter is the best medicine may be true, according to new research that suggests it is also a vital catalyst for children’s development.
Laughter and play are fundamental to healthy brain growth, emotional well-being and social bonding, according to Jacqueline Harding, Ph.D., an early childhood expert at Middlesex University in London.
In her book, “The Brain That Loves to Laugh,” Harding argues that joy is a complex biological phenomenon that helps children navigate stress and build more resilient, receptive minds, news agency SWNS reported.
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“When we see children laugh, we witness the brilliance of the brain in action: learning, connecting and growing,” Harding told SWNS.
“Hope and humor, it seems, are not just the seasoning of life, but foundational to a recipe for healthy development.”
Laughter alters internal chemistry by decreasing stress hormones and boosting feel-good chemicals like serotonin, experts say. (iStock)
Laughter activates broad brain networks, including motor regions and the prefrontal cortex, long before children learn to speak. By helping the brain resolve conflicting ideas, it boosts creativity and engages working memory, acting as a “mental workout,” experts say.
At a molecular level, laughter alters the internal chemistry by decreasing stress hormones like cortisol and epinephrine. It also increases “happiness chemicals” like dopamine, serotonin and endorphins.
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Additionally, laughter is known to boost oxytocin, which deepens emotional bonds between parents and children.
Prolonged stress does the exact opposite: It impairs learning, suppresses immune function and alters the developing limbic system, which governs emotion and long-term memory, according to SWNS.
Prolonged stress can negatively impact not only children’s mental well-being, but their physical state as well. (iStock)
“Stated simply, the emotional state of young children directly influences how they navigate their way through the world,” Harding said.
Parents can foster these benefits through moments of spontaneous play and joyful connection, the expert advised.
“Spontaneous, joyful play is an antidote to stress.”
These interactions do more than spark laughter — they help children develop emotional regulation, strengthen feelings of safety and connection, and support social and cognitive development, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.
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“Spontaneous, joyful play is an antidote to stress, as it increases levels of endorphins released by the brain,” Harding said. “Creative, happy play does its most brilliant work at a molecular level, especially at a time when the human brain is at its most receptive.”
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This shared joy also establishes “co-regulation,” where a child learns to manage their own stress by drawing on a biological store of positive early experiences.
Spontaneous, joyful play is an antidote to stress, as it increases levels of endorphins released by the brain, the expert said. (iStock)
Harding advocates for integrating humor directly into classrooms to reduce cognitive load and improve how children retain key concepts.
By uplifting the nervous system, joy creates an optimal environment for information absorption, as the SWNS piece noted.
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“Safe relationships and non-stressful play environments promote learning,” she added.
“The curriculum must never be prioritized over those two fundamental factors.”
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People who incorporate strength training into their weekly routines may be more likely to live longer, according to a new study.
Researchers from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health analyzed data from 147,374 adults and found that people who engaged in moderate amounts of resistance training had a lower risk of dying from several major causes, including heart disease and neurological disease.
The findings were published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
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People who performed between 90 and 119 minutes of resistance training per week had a 13% lower risk of death from any cause compared to those who did no strength training.
The same group also experienced a 19% lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease and a 27% lower risk of death from neurological diseases, most of which were related to dementia.
A new study found that adults who regularly engage in moderate strength training may live longer. (iStock)
Researchers found that the greatest benefit occurred when resistance training was combined with aerobic exercise.
Adults who regularly participated in both forms of exercise had up to a 45% lower risk of death than those who did little aerobic activity and no resistance training.
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However, more exercise was not necessarily better.
The study found no additional reduction in mortality risk beyond about 120 minutes of resistance training per week.
The research followed participants for up to 30 years and repeatedly tracked their exercise habits over time, giving researchers a more complete picture of long-term behavior.
Researchers found that the greatest health benefits were seen among people who combined weightlifting with aerobic exercise. (iStock)
Josephine Hunt, an educational leader, former group fitness instructor and founder of The Resilience Revolution based in New Jersey, who was not involved in the study, said the findings support a growing body of research linking strength training to healthy aging.
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“The conversation about longevity often focuses on living longer, but I believe the more important goal is maintaining the strength, mobility, independence, and vitality to fully participate in life as we age,” Hunt told Fox News Digital.
Hunt said resistance training helps preserve muscle mass and bone density, improves balance and supports overall physical function as people get older.
For women, she noted, strength training becomes especially important after menopause, when muscle mass and bone density can decline more rapidly.
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“Resistance training is not about bodybuilding, appearance, or achieving a certain physique,” Hunt said.
Experts say longevity is not just about living longer, but staying strong, mobile and independent with age. (iStock)
“It is about preserving the ability to live life on your own terms.”
She added that strength training can help people remain independent, recover from illness or injury, travel more easily and stay active later in life.
Researchers noted that the study has limitations.
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While the findings suggest a connection between strength training and a lower risk of death, the study cannot prove that lifting weights was the reason participants lived longer.
The study also relied on self-reported exercise habits and primarily included white, middle-aged and older health professionals, which may limit how broadly the findings apply to the general population.
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