Show 1000: Celebrating Home Remedies and Common Sense Health Advice

This is the thousandth episode of The People’s Pharmacy, and we are celebrating. We invited local listeners who support our host station, North Carolina Public Radio, WUNC, to join us for a live performance of the show. Adding to the celebratory mood, we were joined by noted NPR composer BJ Leiderman, who played our theme live for the audience in the Friday Center’s Grumman Auditorium. And noted radio personality Frank Stasio, host of The State of Things, joined us for the first part of the show.

With Frank, we reminisced about how the show got started. We also discussed some of the favorite home remedies that we have learned from listeners. Occasionally a remedy that sounds entirely improbable, such as putting a bar of soap under the bottom sheet to prevent nighttime leg cramps, turns out to work surprisingly well for many people.

We also took questions and comments from our live audience. They offered testimonials about home remedies and asked questions about confusing health headlines. We also summarized our best advice about avoiding whiplash from flip-flops in health advice: stick with what your (great) grandmother told you. Science is now proving what your grandma knew all along. You should eat your vegetables, go out and play, get a good night’s sleep and, most importantly, visit your grandma (or just stay well in touch with your loved ones and friends). Join us for this joyful celebration of wacky remedies and common sense!

This Week’s Guests:

Frank Stasio, a long time NPR correspondent, is host of The State of Things from North Carolina Public Radio. [link] http://wunc.org/people/frank-stasio

BJ Leiderman has composed the themes for some of NPR’s outstanding shows, including Morning Edition, Weekend Edition, Wait, WaitÉDon’t Tell Me and Science Friday, as well as The People’s Pharmacy. Watch for his debut album this fall: Natural Public Leiderman.