Celebrated jazz pianist Vijay Iyer has a Ph.D in music cognition and a penchant for asking big questions - like, what is music? And what does it do for us? Steve Paulson caught up with Vijay backstage before a recent concert, where they talked about improvisation and the parallels between jazz and basketball.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
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Afghan-born writer Khaled Hosseini, author of "The Kite Runner," reads from his latest novel, "And the Mountains Echoed."
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.
Ziauddin Sardar, a London based scholar and cultural critic, tells Steve what’s needed now is “an Islamic science” and explains what that is.
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.
“Should Scotland be an independent country?” That was the question on the September 18th referendum across the nation of Scotland. The NO side won, with 55% against independence. But how do the YES voters feel?
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.
Steven Kaplan is an American and an expert on bread. So expert, that he tells the French what they’re doing wrong and they love him for it!
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