Hey, it's NPR's Book of the Day. I'm Andrew Limbaugh. Before we get to the meat of the show,

I want to give a shout out to you, our listeners, who keep us going every day. You know,

real talk, since the pandemic, reading has become a real important part of my daily routine

and getting the chance to do this podcast and bring you new books,

interesting authors, and interviews about books I never would have given a second glance

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long way. Again, the link is at donate.npr.org slash books. Really, truly, thank you. Okay,

on to today's show. The stats about loneliness, depression,

and suicide are looking grim. It appears as if most of us are operating under this weight

of stress, and it's leading to what experts call deaths of despair. And while that's our

every day, this is not normal. And we should stop pretending like

it is. That's the argument posed by today's author, physician Gabor Motté. He talked to

here and now as Peter O'Dowd about his book, The Myth of Normal, and how this life cycle of trauma

and stress actually starts in utero, and how a major contributing factor to it is capitalism.

In the U.S., national security news can feel far away from daily life.

Distant wars, murky conflicts, diplomacy behind closed doors on our new show, sources and methods.

NPR reporters on the ground bring you stories of real people helping you

...