Where to Listen Find the nearest NPR station closest to you.
Taboos often seem to have some evolutionary purpose.
But there's more to the rules that govern how we eat, sleep, and have sex - or, rather, how we don't. We'll explore emerging prohibitions in contemporary society as well as persistent rules that have their roots in times past. Host Dr. Fred Goodwin begins the show with a discussion of the history of taboo. He ponders how these seemingly superstitious rules could exist in secular culture. Next, Irvin James talks about some Navajo taboos regarding the forces of nature.