Chris Nowinski (on CTE)

Episode overview

Chris Nowinski (Stop Hitting Kids in the Head, Head Games: Football's Concussion Crisis, Concussion Legacy Foundation) is an author, retired pro-wrestler, and neuroscientist. Chris joins the Armchair Expert to discuss never forgetting the culture shock of wealth while studying at Harvard, his stint wrestling on Monday Night Raw, and not having ever really been in a real fight. Chris and Dax talk about why the violence in football is actually worse than WWE, his first instance of REM behavior disorder, and learning the preciousness of brain cells. Chris explains the supposed causes and physiology of CTE, why we have selective framing for how to think about the mental health of athletes transitioning out of sports, and how wrestlers now really appreciate how much safer the industry is.

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Short transcript highlights

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1. 0:00Welcome, welcome, welcome to armchair expert experts on expert. I'm Dan Rather and I'm joined by Leslie Stall. And
2. 56:27"Yeah." I said, "All right, uh here's his mother's phone number. She's 88. You know, give her a call." And he goes, "No." And...
3. 1:54:06was very cool and nice. Yes. Yeah. Very cool. Um All right. Love you. Love you.