Shankar Vedantam
Shankar Vedantam is a national correspondent writing about science and human behavior for the Washington Post. He previously worked at the Philadelphia Inquirer, Knight-Ridder's Washington Bureau, and New York Newsday. Vedantam has a master's degree in journalism from Stanford University and an undergraduate degree in electronics engineering. He is interested in the history of conflict over the theory of evolution, the changes over time of religious theories concerning the creation of the universe, and the effects of religious faith on health. He has written about the interplay between neuroscience and spirituality, an area he would like to explore further.
| Article |
Forgive and Forget: Maybe Easier Said Than DoneWhen Lay was found guilty of conspiracy and fraud, Molinell cheered. Then, last Wednesday, before Lay could be sentenced to prison, he died.
Lay’s death has uncovered a world of hurt and anger among many victims of Houston-based Enron’s demise. And it brings to the fore an unusual challenge for those interested in the psychological nature of pain and forgiveness: What happens to victims when wrongdoers die before they are punished? |
| Article |
Science Confirms: You Really Can’t Buy HappinessWhen Warren Buffett announced last week that he will be giving away more than $30 billion to improve health, nutrition and education, people all over America reflected on his remarkable generosity, pondered all the noble things the gift would achieve and asked themselves what they would do if someone were to give them that kind of dough. Halt that daydream: Turns out the Oracle of Omaha is a wizard at more than investing. When it comes to money, giving may buy a lot more happiness than getting.
Buffett may have been thinking of his soul— |
Article & Discussion |
Eden and EvolutionReligious critics of evolution are wrong about its flaws. But are they right that it threatens belief in a loving God? 
Ricky Nguyen and Mariama Lowe never really believed in evolution to begin with. But as they took their seats in Room CC-121 at Northern Virginia Community College on November 2, they fully expected to hear what students usually hear in any Biology 101 class: that Charles Darwin's theory of evolution was true. As professor Caroline Crocker took the lectern, Nguyen sat in the back of the class of 60 students, Lowe in the front. Crocker, who wore a light brown sweater and slacks, flashed a slide showing a cartoon of a cheerful monkey eating a banana. An arrow led from the monkey to a photograph of an exceptionally unattractive man sitting in his underwear on a couch. Above the arrow was a question mark.  Live Online Post Magazine: Darwin v. God
Religious critics of evolution may be wrong about its flaws. But are they right that it threatens belief in a loving God? |
| Article Series |
Culture and Mind: Psychiatry's Missing DiagnosisPart 1: Modern psychiatry asserts that mental illnesses are basically organic disorders of the brain. But a growing number of psychiatrists, many of whom are racial minorities, say doctors are ignoring the role of ethnicity, gender, sex, nationality and religious beliefs in the origin and outcome of mental disorders. Part 2: A little-known study by the World Health Organization study discovered that the outcome of schizophrenia, a deadly mental illness involving hallucinations and disordered thinking, is better in poor countries with limited medical infrastructure than in developed countries like such as the United States. Scientists have struggled for decades to explain why. Part 3: Blacks and Hispanics in the United States are far more likely to be diagnosed with serious mental disorders than whites. Now, a group of experts who advocate cultural competence are asking whether bias may influence psychiatric diagnosis. |