Psychologist and journalist Lauren Slater, who suffers from depression and bipolar disorder, has first-hand experience with psychotropic drugs; she’s been taking medication for 35 years. “As a nation, we’re consuming them; we’re gobbling them down,” Slater tells Terry Gross. “And we don’t really know what we’re taking into our bodies.” Her new book, in part about the science and history of mood-altering drugs, is titled ‘Blue Dreams.’ Also, Kevin Whitehead reviews two new compilations of Nina Simone’s early singles.