The Daily Circuit

Why is that disgusting?

10:06 AM, January 23, 2012
9:06 AM, February 15, 2012
9:21 AM, February 20, 2011

LISTEN

Why do we watch horror movies and gross-out comedies? What is the best way to persuade someone to quit smoking? Why are we more likely to buy an item if an attractive person has just touched it? Rachel Herz joins Kerri to talk about how these questions are all tied to the feeling of disgust.

Herz is a professor of psychiatry and human behavior at the Brown University Medical School and the author of "That's Disgusting: Unraveling the Mysteries of Repulsion."

How easily disgusted are you? Take this quiz to find out.

comments powered by Disqus

Broadcast Dates

Listen Now

MPR News Radio

Hourly Newscast
On Air As It Happens

The Daily Circuit Blog

Economy, Business & Jobs:

Op-ed pick: The Senate’s guest worker program will provide a flexible workforce

"The size of the guest-worker program is designed to adjust automatically in response to changing U.S. labor needs, growing in good years when the economy needs more foreign workers and shrinking when more Americans are out of work."

News & Trends:

3 things to buy at the farmers market this weekend

After we taped the Friday Roundtable, I asked the panelists what we should pick up at the farmer’s market this weekend. Stephanie Meyer recommends morels. Amy Thielen says to buy dandelion greens if you can find them. Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl’s a fan of rhubarb: Here’s what you can do with rhubarb. I like to cook…