Explore Barb’s stories
Articles, radio, and podcasts about “Bringing Ben Home”
Articles, radio, and podcasts about “Life Reimagined”
Articles, radio, and podcasts about “Fingerprints of God”
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Quit Your Job
A midlife career shift can be good for cognition, well-being, and even longevity.
April 2016 Issue | The Atlantic
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Photo: Luci Guitiérrez
Can an Ex-President Be Happy?
A midlife career shift can be good for cognition, well-being, and even longevity.
April 2016 Issue | The Atlantic
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Photo: Luci Guitiérrez
Can You Prove Your Innocence Without DNA?
Benjamine Spencer is serving a life sentence for a violent crime he insists he didn’t commit. But he lacks biological evidence—and old-fashioned detective work may not be enough to clear his name.
January/February 2018 | The Atlantic
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Photo: Nathan Bajar
An “Awful” Mistake May Soon Be Fixed – Finally
Benjamine Spencer is the luckiest of the unlucky.
January 2021 | The Atlantic
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Photo: Nathan Bajar
What I learned helping free an innocent man
My reporting forced me to confront some bigger lessons about life, truth, and faith.
August 6, 2024 | The Atlantic
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Photo: Harmon Li
When Your Child Is A Psychopath
The condition has long been considered untreatable. Experts can spot it in a child as young as 3 or 4. But a new clinical approach offers hope.
Photo: Lola Dupre
Scientists Develop New Treatment Strategies For Child Psychopaths
NPR's Audie Cornish speaks with writer Barbara Bradley Hagerty about her piece in The Atlantic on the children who are psychopaths, new treatment strategies and the brain science driving it.
Photo: Freepik.
Can Children Be Persuaded to Love a Parent They Hate?
When one parent in a divorce has worked to prejudice the kids against the other parent, the last-ditch solution for some judges is to send the children to “reunification camp” with the mom or dad they can’t stand.
Parental Alienation: How Parents Use Their Children As Weapons
NPR's Mary Louise Kelly talks with Barbara Bradley Hagerty, a contributor for The Atlantic, about parental alienation, which can happen when one parent uses a child to get back at the other parent.
Photo: Freepik.
An Epidemic of Disbelief
What new research reveals about sexual predators, and why police fail to catch them
Photo: Paul Spella/Katie Martin.
The Campus Rapist Hiding In Plain Site
A university student assaulted multiple women before he faced any consequences for his actions. Why didn’t they come forward sooner?
July 15, 2019 | The Atlantic
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Photo: Ken Wolter/Shutterstock.
8 Ways You Can Survive — And Thrive In — Midlife
One secret to midlife happiness is being a rookie at something. Trying new things and failing keeps you robust. Also, to revive a midlife marriage, mix things up: Hike, go dancing or set out in an RV.
March 17, 2016 | NPR
Photo: retrorocket.
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Part 1: Forget The Red Sports Car. The Midlife Crisis Is A Myth
The midlife crisis is entrenched in American popular culture, but mostly, it doesn't exist in more than a mere 10 percent of the population. Here, five ways we misunderstand midlife.
March 14, 2016 | NPR
Photo: David Whittle
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Part 2: Forget About It: Your Middle-Aged Brain Is Not On The Decline
You forget someone's name, or why you ran downstairs. Your brain is getting older, and the connections are weakening. But research shows the middle-aged brain is actually operating at its peak.
March 15, 2016 | NPR
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Part 3: Midlife Friendship Key To A Longer, Healthier Life
People between 45 and 65 may be the loneliest segment in the U.S. And researchers are using brain scans to show that friendships are vital to staying healthy and engaged in your middle years.
March 16, 2016 | NPR
Photo: Unsplash.
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Part 4: Boomers Face A 'Divorce Revolution,' But Some Can Learn From Happy Couples
Baby boomer marriage is in such crisis that researchers call it the Gray Divorce Revolution. Author Barbara Bradley Hagerty talks about why so many couples split, and why others have healthy marriages.
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Part 1 | The God Chemical: Brain Chemistry And Mysticism
For much of the 20th century, mainstream science shied away from studying spirituality. Sigmund Freud declared God to be a delusion, and others maintained that God, if there is such a thing, is beyond the tools of science to measure. But now, some researchers are using new technologies to try to understand spiritual experience. I spent a year exploring the emerging science of spirituality for my book, Fingerprints of God. One of the questions raised by my reporting: Is an encounter with God merely a chemical reaction?
May 18, 2009 | NPR
Photo: Unsplash.
Part 2 | Are Spiritual Encounters All In Your Head?
According to polls, there's a 50-50 chance you have had at least one spiritual experience — an overpowering feeling that you've touched God, or another dimension of reality. So, have you ever wondered whether those encounters actually happened — or whether they were all in your head? Scientists say the answer might be both.
Photo: Unsplash.
Part 3 | Prayer May Reshape Your Brain ... And Your Reality
Scientists are making the first attempts to understand spiritual experience — and what happens in the brains and bodies of people who believe they connect with the divine. The field is called "neurotheology," and although it is new, it's drawing prominent researchers in the U.S. and Canada. Scientists have found that the brains of people who spend untold hours in prayer and meditation are different.
Photo: iStockphoto.com
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Part 4 | Can Positive Thoughts Help Heal Another Person?
Ninety percent of Americans say they pray — for their health, or their love life or their final exams. But does prayer do any good? For decades, scientists have tried to test the power of prayer and positive thinking, with mixed results. Now some scientists are fording new — and controversial — territory.
May 21, 2009 | NPR
Photo: Unsplash.
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