David Grubin

During childhood, the brain is a magnificent engine for learning, and nowhere is learning more dramatic than in the way a child learns language. Most children learn to speak as easily as a bird learns to sing, but Michael Blankenship did not. At five, by the time most children have mastered grammar, Michael has trouble speaking in complete sentences. How is his brain different from other children his age? What can Michael teach us about the brain's capacity for language? Also learn about what happens if during childhood the left hemisphere of the brain is compromised by disease. Questionnaire: 13 multiple choice, true/false and fill-in questions.… (mer)

Two and a half millennia ago, a new religion was born in northern India, generated from the ideas of a single man, the Buddha, a mysterious Indian sage who famously gained enlightenment while he sat under a large, shapely fig tree. The Buddha never claimed to be God or his emissary on earth. He said only that he was a human being who, in a world of unavoidable pain and suffering, had found a kind of serenity that others could find, too. This documentary by award-winning filmmaker David Grubin tells the story of his life, a journey especially relevant in our own bewildering times of violent change and spiritual confusion. Richard Gere narrates.… (mer)