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Severed

(via CC) Vincenzo Danti; bronze; Museo dell Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore
"The Beheading of St John the Baptist"

Recent beheadings committed by radical Islamist militants have evoked almost universal disgust and revulsion, and that’s exactly the point, says anthropologist Frances Larson. She calls decapitation “the ultimate tyranny,” and in a new book she examines the cultural and political fixation on heads severed from the body. Larson joins us Monday to discuss the psychological power of the detached human head. We’ll also explore what can be learned about our common humanity from a most inhumane act.

Frances Larson is an honorary research fellow in anthropology at Durham University. Her new book is called Severed:  A History of Heads Lost and Heads Found [Amazon|Indiebound].

Doug Fabrizio has been reporting for KUER News since 1987, and became News Director in 1993. In 2001, he became host and executive producer of KUER's RadioWest, a one hour conversation/call-in show on KUER 90.1 in Salt Lake City. He has gained a reputation for his thoughtful style. He has interviewed everyone from Isabel Allende to the Dalai Lama, and from Madeleine Albright to Desmond Tutu. His interview skills landed him a spot as a guest host of the national NPR program, "Talk of the Nation." He has won numerous awards for his reporting and for his work with RadioWest and KUED's Utah NOW from such organizations as the Society of Professional Journalists, the Utah Broadcasters Association, the Public Radio News Directors Association and the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.