You might have already heard this piece called “Unconditional Love” that was broadcast on This American Life in 2006. It was re-broadcast on my local NPR affiliate last Sunday. Ira Glass, the host, is probably one of the very best story-tellers on radio. The piece starts with a description of the Harry Harlowe experiments with rhesus monkeys in the 1950’s in which baby monkeys were offered up a clothe “mother doll” and a wire mesh doll that dispensed food. The babies consistently flocked to the cloth doll, underscoring that primal need for comfort. The piece then moves onto the a story about a midwestern couple’s struggles with their adopted son from Romania, and their search for attachment therapies and parenting solutions. Several of their sources are cited in my book. The piece then ends with a similar story about another couple of an autistic boy. If you haven’t heard it it’s well worth a listen, or even a second listen.
