Robert Sapolsky on the toxic intersection of poverty and stress

Ezra Kleins interview with Robert Sapolsky. This is not my content. All rights to Ezra and Vox. Robert Sapolsky is a Stanford neuroscientist and primatologist. Hes the author of a slew of important books on human biology and behavior. But its an older book he wrote that forms the basis for this conversation. In Why Zebras Dont Get Ulcers Sapolsky works through how a stress response that evolved for fast fight-or-flight situations on the savannah continuously wears on our bodies and brains in modern life. But stress isnt just an individual phenomenon. Its also a social force applied brutally and unequally across our society. If you want to see an example of chronic stress study poverty Sapolsky says. I often say on the show that politics and policy need to begin with a realistic model of human nature. This is a show about that level of the policy conversation: Its about how poverty and stress exist in a doom loop together each amplifying the others effects on the brain and body deepening their harms. And this is a conversation of intense relevance to how we make social policy. Much of the fight in Washington and in the states is about whether the best way to get people out of poverty is to make it harder to access help to make sure the government doesnt become in Paul Ryans memorable phrase a hammock. Understanding how the stress of poverty acts on peoples minds how it saps their will and harms their cognitive function and hurts their children exposes how cruel and wrongheaded that view really is. Sapolsky and I also discuss whether free will is a myth why he believes the prison system is incompatible with modern neuroscience how studying monkeys in times of social change helps makes sense of the current moment in American politics and much more. This ones worth your time.,

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