The Human Climate: with Guest Mark Vonnegut

Mark Vonnegut, is a pediatrician, write and son of iconic author Kurt Vonnegut.Mark is a pediatrician who cares deeply about the availability of medical care for all. He was at a commune he started in Canada when he suffered his first mental breakdown. He wrote The Eden Express about the beginnings of falling apart. Then he became a pediatrician, attending the only school that accepted him, Harvard.He wrote Just Like a Person Without Mental Illness Only More So, about his successive mental breakdowns, and the book includes much about his personal life as well. His book The Heart of Caring is recent, and in it, Mark includes much of the wisdom he has gleaned from patients as well as stories of victory and defeat in his work. Always humanizing he speaks of journeys to Haiti and to Honduras, where he learned to value native authenticity. He cannot abide the current medical system which leaves out so many people in need.In addition Mark probes some of his history with his father Kurt, along with the price of fame in his father’s life.Mark is testament and gives testimony to the idea that one can be mentally ill and have a productive and passionate life.