Erik Vance Interview with Radio West

Researcher Jeffrey Anderson says Karl Marx wasn’t far off when he likened religion to opium. Anderson is a neuroradiologist at the University of Utah, and he’s been studying how the brain reacts to religious experiences.

What he’s found is that religion works like love, gambling, drugs, and music: they all light up the brain’s reward center.

On Radio West, Anderson discusses his findings with Pulitzer Center grantee Erik Vance, whose cover article for this month’s National Geographic looks at faith and healing.