Gaby Wood is the author of “Edison’s Eve: A Magical History of the Quest for Mechanical Life.” She talks about the many experiments with automata and early mechanical beings.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Audio
George Vaillant is a Harvard psychiatrist on a mission to reclaim spirituality and ground it in hard science.
Camus said there's only one truly serious philosophical question, and that's suicide. 35 years ago, that idea sparked the single most terrifying moment of Steve Paulson's life. Steve tells the story.
Hilla Medalia made a documentary for HBO called "To Die in Jerusalem." It's about a Palestinian suicide bomber and one of her victims.
Sleep may be an utterly common activity, but neuroscientist Giulio Tononi believes it's the greatest experiment in consciousness.
You can also listen to the EXTENDED interview, and read the extended transcript.
Hardeep Dhaliwal has an interesting take on “The Wizard of Oz.” She thinks it’s riddled with Yogic symbolism.
Charles Duhigg, a reporter for the New York Times, has been researching the scientific and social history of habits for his new book, The Power of Habit. In it, he discusses the unique ways that habits shape our lives, both neurologically and practically. He learned that habits are powerfully hardwired into your brain — and stored separately from your memories — making them rather easy to develop and very difficult to change.
Satirist George Saunders has been a Guggenheim Fellow and received a MacArthur Foundation "genius grant." For his essay on the dumbing down on American media, he created "Megaphone Guy."
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