Middle children know their place in the birth order can sound uninspiring: Stuck in the middle, middle of the road, middle of nowhere. But there are suggestions the middle kids aren't content to remain second best. Pierre Trudeau, Charles Darwin, David Letterman -- all in-betweeners who did a lot more than just "middle through."

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Part Two of The Current

In Praise of the Middle Child - Catherine Salmon

Poor Jan Brady is destined to remain the poster child for middle child syndrome. Overshadowed by her beautiful older sister Marcia, Jan is jealous, bitter, lonely, selfish and ridiculously difficult. But Jan believes she's entitled to all those feelings because she's stuck in the middle; overlooked and under appreciated. Jan of course is just a TV character. But she resonates with many real middle kids. Brianne Price believes her siblings got more attention from her parents while she was growing up near Toronto. We heard from her.

Fortunately for middle children everywhere, many of the negative stereotypes may not actually hold up. In fact, some of the people at the heart of history, centre of politics, and hub of culture are proud middle men and middle women.

In Dr. Catherine Salmon's new book, she has first borns and babies sweating over their positions in the family hierarchy. Dr. Salmon is an associate professor in psychology at the University of Redlands and co-author of The Secret Power of Middle Children. She was in Beaumont, California.

In Praise of the Middle Child

You don't have to tell Steve Burgess about the truth behind the family pecking order. The humourist and author of Who Killed Mom is celebrating a birthday today. He was the last one out in his family and he shared his thoughts about who puts baby in the corner.

Other segments from today's show:

• Keystone XL Pipeline