Anne Strainchamps sat down with the great Turkish writer Elif Shafak. Her latest novel, “The Architect’s Apprentice,” is an epic tale set in the height of the Ottoman Empire. It has bloodshed. It was palace intrigue. It has romance. And, yes, it has architecture.
Shafak’s tale centers around a 16th century mosque architect named Mimar Sinan. Though a character in her novel, Sinan was also a real person – considered to be the greatest architect in the Islamic World.
Jazz pianist and cognitive scientist Vijay Iyer just won a MacArthur "genius" award. He's also landed a job at Harvard teaching music. He tells Anne Strainchamps how he incorporates science into his music.
Sarah Flannery talks about how her father taught her to excel at math by giving her puzzles and she gives a few examples. Sarah won the Young Scientist of the Year Award in Ireland and in Europe in 1999.
Psychologist Alison Gopnik is changing the way we think about babies. Her lab at UC-Berkeley has found evidence of empathy and scientific thinking in children as young as 14 months.
Rodney Rothman tells Jim Fleming why he decided to "retire" at age 28 and go to live in a retirement community in Florida.
Neuroscientists say that about a quarter of our mental energy is dedicated to maintaining our narrative identities. Julian Keenan says there's got to be an evolutionary benefit for all that "self".
Neuro-biologist Steven Rose says that new research and new therapy techniques raise new ethical questions that we should address now.
Shaun Alexander tells Steve Paulson what chess does for him and why he thinks it’s good for inner city youth.
