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KQED's Forum

Kent Dunlap on the Biology, Evolution and Cultural History of the Neck

KQED's Forum

KQED

Politics, News, News Commentary

4.6656 Ratings

🗓️ 21 February 2025

⏱️ 57 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Far more than just a link between our heads and torsos, the neck is what biologist Kent Dunlap describes as “the ultimate multitasker.” The neck “flexes, senses, vibrates, transports, and secretes every second of our lives,” all while serving as a locus of beauty, grace and vulnerability. We talk to Dunlap about his new book “The Neck: A Natural and Cultural History.” Guest: Kent Dunlap, professor of biology, Trinity College Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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Support for Forum comes from Broadway SF, presenting Parade, the musical revival based on a true story.

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From three-time Tony-winning composer Jason Robert Brown comes the story of

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Leo and Lucille Frank, a newlywed Jewish couple struggling to make a life in Georgia. When Leo is

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accused of an unspeakable crime, it propels them into an unimaginable test of faith, humanity, justice,

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1:10.5

From KQED. From KQED.

1:30.1

From KQED in San Francisco, I'm Grace Wan in Fermina Kim.

1:33.6

Coming up on Forum, the neck is the body's superhighway.

1:37.3

It carries blood to the brain, air to the lungs, food to the gut.

1:45.0

It's got rest stops, lymph nodes, vocal cords, the thyroid, and it pivots to allow for the perfect selfie and can be adorned in all manners of scarves, necklaces, and ties to denote social class and style. In his new book, The Neck,

1:51.3

biologist Kent Dunlap considers the power, beauty, and vulnerability of necks in humans and

1:56.4

the animal kingdom. We talk to Dunlap. That's all coming up next after this news.

2:11.5

Welcome to Forum. I'm Grace Wan in Fermina Kim. The writer Nora Ephron once devoted an entire essay about how much she hated

2:20.5

her neck. It was the one part of her body that showed visible signs of aging and all its

2:25.4

crepey, wrinkled, and modeled glory, but she might have changed her mind about her neck after

2:31.2

reading biologists Kent Dunlap's new book, The Neck, a natural and

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