Andrew Sullivan says the real conflict after September 11th is between religious absolutists with a medieval mindset and the cultural values of the West - freedom and individuality.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
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When evangelical Christians say they talk to God, what do they mean? Anthropologist Tanya Luhrmann wanted to find out, so she spent two years as a participant observer in a Charismatic church, talking to the congregation and even praying herself. She says prayer involves cultivating the imagination. Luhrmann also describes her cross-cultural study of schizophrenics who hear voices.
The celebrated poet Edward Hirsch says the history of poetry is the history of poetic forms. And to prove it he wrote a 700-page compendium about all things poetry.
Alison Hawthorne Deming reads "Chauvet" - her poem about the French cave with ancient art painted on its walls.
Kevin Powers served as a machine gunner in Iraq in 2004 and 2005. His novel “The Yellow Birds” was a finalist for the National Book Award.
Allen Snyder tells Steve Paulson that he uses a device called the Medtronic Mag Pro to stimulate autistic-savant-like abilities in normal people.
Aaron was born female and lived the first 29 years of his life as a girl named Sarah. He then went through the hormone and surgical therapies to become male and lives now as a gay man.
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