3/23/2011 Listening Lounge

CHEMICAL CHANGE

Out of Chaos by Shannon Heffernan
Shannon has had trouble staying focused her whole life because she has Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder. A few months ago, she finally decided to try to do something about it. She kept an audio diary of her fears of how the medicine might change her and lets us listen in on the process.

Reinventing Fun by Hillary Frank
Sam chose Augsburg College because it was near his cocaine dealer. But Augsburg is also home to one of the few on-campus recovery programs in the country, StepUP. Eventually, (rock bottom came first of course) Sam decided to get himself clean and join. But then came the hard part: sobering up while still living with his party-animal roommates. He had to find something to replace all the drugs, pills, and booze -- fun.

Cancer Anxiety Study by Ben Adair
Pamela was anxious and depressed. After years of intensive chemotherapy, Pamela was told her Stage 4 cancer was terminal, and her death would likely be painful. After losing hope she was living out her remaining days in fear. Her doctors prescribed antidepressants, but they didn’t do any good. So, Pamela volunteered for an experimental depression treatment hoping to ease the pain and trauma of a terminal illness. She took psilocybin -- a hallucinogen better known as "magic mushrooms."