Ruth Padel is an acclaimed British poet and a direct descendent of Charles Darwin. She’s now written “Darwin: A Life in Poems,” having grown up hearing stories about her famous ancestor.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
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The common wisdom is that we’re getting more violent all the time. Witness the genocides and world wars of the last century. But cognitive psychologist Steven Pinker says we have it all wrong. And in his 800 page book “The Better Angels of Ourselves” he makes the case for how violence has declined.
Doug Gordon found Steve Nieve in Chicago and talked with him about his music and his collection of sounds.
Sharon Salzberg tells Steve Paulson that you don’t have to believe in God to have faith and that it should be about trust, not obedience.
Michael Paterniti travels to the highlands of Spain to track down one of the world's greatest cheesemakers.
Terry Tempest Williams reads from her book, "Red," and talks about the desert with Steve Paulson.
One place that new music’s finding audiences is in galleries and museum. One piece in particular has won the hearts of people across the world. It’s called Forty Part Motet. Sound artist Janet Cardiff uses 40 speakers to play "Spem in Allium," a 40-part Renaissance motet written by Thomas Tallis. Think of it as Renaissance surround-sound.
Samuel Clemens was an energetic and passionate man who traveled the world and created a new American idiom.
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