"On Second Thought" For Tuesday, April 16, 2019

In the late 19th Century, Lulu Hurst transfixed audiences as the "Georgia Wonder." An electrical storm supposedly gave the teenager supernatural powers to catapult grown men from chairs. She performed on stages from Cedartown, Georgia, to the East Coast and Midwest.

Hurst appeared in front of members of congress and government scientists. She was tested by Alexander Graham Bell, the faculty at Mercer University and the Medical College of Georgia - all baffled by mysterious force of the "electric maid."

 On Second Thought for Tuesday, April 16, 2019

Atlanta-based author Jessica Handler's new novel, The Magnetic Girl illustrates America's attraction to cons, bamboozlers and magical thinking. Handler spoke with On Second Thought host Virginia Prescott about her fictional story. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expects the number of people over age 65 to double by 2030, and the Alzheimer’s Association projects the disease will increase by nearly 27% in Georgia by 2025. Meanwhile, the number of people trained to care for those with cognitive and physical degeneration is not keeping up.

The Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregiving is working to fill that gap.

We revisited a conversation between Political Rewind host Bill Nigut and astronaut Scott Kelly. Kelly discussed his 340 days aboard the International Space Station, which was the subject of his 2017 memoir “Endurance: A Year in Space, a Lifetime of Discovery.”

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