Today, the Dutch philosopher Spinoza - father of the Enlightenment - is revered, but in the mid-17th century, he was branded a heretic by his Jewish congregation in Amsterdam. Recently, philosopher Steve Nadler was asked if Spinoza should be exonerated. He explains why he said no.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
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You've heard the saying, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." Journalist David Rieff thinks that's rubbish, and he says if you want peace, it's sometimes better to forget historical crimes than try to get justice.
The relationship between poets William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge is discussed by Steve Paulson and Adam Sisman.
Summer festivals are a huge part of the American music scene -- and of the music marketplace. Why do millions of people risk sunburn and dehydration when they could hear the same music better with earbuds? Music critic Maura Johnston unpacks the economics and the atavistic lure of the summer music festival.
Zach Helm wrote the screenplay for "Stranger than Fiction," in which Will Ferrell hears the voice of Emma Thompson apparently narrating his life.
Democracy, politics and Pakistani rock and roll.
Shulem Deen was a Skverer— a member of one of the most insular Hasidic sects in the U.S. Then he got curious about secular life and the world outside his small village in Rockland County, NY. The community branded him a heretic and expelled him. And his wife and five children renounced him.
Tyler Boudreau is a 12 year veteran of the Marine Corps who ultimately resigned his commission due to reservations over the legitimacy of the Iraq war.
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