Stress

The body has a system for getting out of trouble. Back when trouble meant being chased by a tiger, that system gave us a real survival edge. But these days, "trouble" is more likely to mean waiting in traffic — and "the system" is more likely to make us sick. Stanford University neurologist (and part-time "baboonologist") Dr. Robert Sapolsky takes us through what happens on our insides when we stand in the wrong line at the supermarket and offers coping strategies such as: gnawing on wood, beating the crap out of somebody, and having friends.

Learn more about this week's episode of Radiolab.