Olivia Laing says John Cheever's "The Swimmer" is one of the finest short stories every written.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Audio
Are political beliefs predetermined at birth? Encoded in our genes? Political scientist John Hibbing does fMRI studies of liberal and conserative brains and says there are significant biological differences. His message: stop yelling at the other party. They can't help what they think.
Stephen Marche is the author of "How Shakespeare Changed Everything." He tells Anne Strainchamps why he thinks Shakespeare is the most important figure in history.
Rupert Sheldrake may be the most famous scientific heretic in the modern world. On the 50th anniversary of Thomas Kuhn’s landmark book “The Structure of Scientific Revolutions,” Sheldrake does his own paradigm busting. In this UNCUT interview, he tells Steve why he believes scientific dogmas are preventing real intellectual inquiry.
Woody Tasch is the author of "Inquiries into the Nature of Slow Money: Investing as if Food, Farms and Fertility Mattered."
Scientists are combing the universe for signs of exoplanets -- planets that orbit a star other than our sun. They're finding them in record numbers. Most believe it's only a matter of time before they find an exoplanet that can -- and perhaps does -- suppport life. Sara Seager is a planetary scientist at M.I.T. and one of the pioneers of the field.
Thug Kitchen is a wildly popular, foul-mouthed vegan food blog. The formerly anonymous writers have just come out with a cookbook and revealed their identities. Michelle Davis and Matt Holloway are a white couple from L.A. Now they're fielding questions about the racial politics of the way they write about food.
Tony Rothman talks with Jim Fleming about Sangaku - the ancient tradition of Japanese temple geometry, which flourished during Japan’s period of isolation from the West.
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