Unraveling the Mysteries of Dementia: Robert Kolker’s Deep Dive into Love, Loss, and the Vanishing Family
Barb, the youngest child by about ten years, notices something strange after her brothers and sisters leave for college: her still-young mother seemingly falls under a spell, changing into someone she doesn’t recognize: withdrawn, neglectful, uncaring. Could it be something like midlife finally catching up with her? An almost-empty nest? Or something else? The siblings learn that they are the carriers of a genetic mutation that causes dementia to set in as early as their 40s.
Award-winning journalist Robert Kolker joins us for a conversation about the search for a cure for dementia and Alzheimer’s disease in his deeply moving new book, The Vanishing Family: Love, Fate, and the Quest to End Dementia (Doubleday; Sept. 2026). Their story unfolds like a heartbreaking thriller, each turn growing darker and more pervasive than any of the siblings could have imagined.
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