Karen Armstrong tries to explain where the Buddha came from and how Prince Siddharta could be a compassionate man yet abandon his family to become the Buddha.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Audio
Sir Ian McKellen is heard first, reading from the novel "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver. It's part of her "Chronicles of Ancient Darkness" series, set 6000 years ago.
Linda Greenlaw tells Anne Strainchamps that fishing for lobsters is mostly a matter of hard work and persistence, and that for the fishermen, lobster is cheap eating.
Anthropologist Jeremy Narby went to the Peruvian Amazon to study the Ashaninca Indians. The experience transformed his outlook on life, especially once he tried their powerful hallucinogen ayahuasca.
With mounting concerns over student debt, we're thinking about higher education this week. Christopher Newfield teaches literature and American Studies at the University of California at Santa Barbara. He believes rising tuition and reduced state funding are threatening the nation's public universities.
Anthropologist Richard Wrangham tells Jim Fleming that he thinks cooking contributed to human evolution and is far older than most people think.
Ken Eklund is the creator of the alternate reality game "World Without Oil." He describes the game and we hear the comments of several game bloggers.
Mamak Khadem talks with Anne Strainchamps about "Good Night Songs of the Revolution" – music she created for an art installation to mark the Iranian Revolution 30 years ago.
Pages
