The common wisdom is that we’re getting more violent all the time. Witness the genocides and world wars of the last century. But cognitive psychologist Steven Pinker says we have it all wrong. And in his 800 page book “The Better Angels of Ourselves” he makes the case for how violence has declined.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Audio
What does your name say about you? Psychoanalyst Mavis Himes helps clients uncover the invisible family legacies hidden in names. She talks about what it means to truly own and inhabit your name.
"Welcome to the Voice" is a new opera, available on CD. Steve Nieve - long time keyboard player for Elvis Costello - composed the music, and Muriel Teodori wrote the libretto.
How do you get an atheist neuroscientist interested in spirituality? For Sam Harris, it started with LSD and other psychedelic drugs. They got him interested in mindfulness, meditation and consciousness. With a new book out called Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion, he talked with TTBOOK about atheism and mystery. Here are some of the interview highlights, and the audio of the complete conversation.
Susannah Cahalan talks about her book, "Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness."
Falling in love is easy. Staying in love for 30 or 40 years takes some skill. Social psychologist Arthur Aron identifies some of the techniques devoted couples use to keep the spark alive. Aron's the psychologist who figured out how to build intimacy in just 36 questions. He gives us some more lab-tested tips for keeping the love you find.
In John Hunter's 4th grade classroom, kids don't just do arithmetic and spelling. They save the world. John's epic "World Peace Game" is the subject of a book and documentary.
Ron Powers tells Jim Fleming that today’s teens may turn to violence to express their individuality since all the traditional means for signaling coolness have been co-opted by corporate consumer culture.
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