Human Strength

You Are Here: July 22, 2012

In this hour of You Are Here — in light of the upcoming summer Olympics — reporters speak with people who have built strength from a variety of situations and circumstances.

How does one define strength and weakness? There are so many little idioms  that we say almost thoughtlessly like, “there’s strength in numbers” and “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,” but what do they really mean? Is there strength in holding back or pushing forward? Working hard or resting?

You’ll hear from young gymnasts who are dedicated to training for olympics in the far-off future and the physical therapists and coaches who advise them on just how to build the strength they need, clergymen who find strength in faith and experts on faith who find the logic behind belief to be a pattern of sociology, amputees who run ultra marathons on prosthetic limbs and those who advocate for survivors of domestic violence. We also find those who have strength in patience as they work with the partygoers of Massachusetts’ Allston neighborhood.

LISTEN: Human Strength
Introduction to the various stories we will hear throughout the hour on perceptions of strength and weakness.

LISTEN: Olympians in Training
Young kids dedicating hours a day to train in gymnastics. We hear about their injuries, their perseverance, and their time-management skills that have been honed at such a young age. (Reporter Abigail Collins)

LISTEN: Strength in Faith
Clergymen who discuss the strength their faith gives them when enduring turbulent times and experts who elaborate on scientific explanations for that faith. (Reporter Victoria Bedford)

LISTEN: Prosthetic Limbs
Semi-professional athletes who lost limbs and work to overcome their injury with prosthetics and determination. (Reporter Dillon Rand)

LISTEN: Making Others Strong
Advocates, therapists, and psychologists who work with survivors of domestic violence and refrain from telling them what to do. (Producer Emma-Jean Weinstein)

LISTEN: Strength in Patience
Those who work at night in Allston, MA and have to exert strength in patience as they work with rowdy clientele. (Reporter Brendan Mattox)

LISTEN: Exclusive Interview with Frank Wilczek
Frank Wilczek won the Nobel Prize for physics in 2004 as part of his teamwork in discovering asymptomatic freedom in atoms.

Producer Emma-Jean Weinstein