Stephen Thompson is the founder of the A.V. Club, the arts section of the satirical newspaper, "The Onion," originally based in Madison, Wisconsin. Thompson eventually left Madison for Washington DC, to work at NPR as an editor and reviewer at NPR Music. In this interview, Thompson tells Steve Paulson about the forces that drew "The Onion" staff to New York, and what it means to be an artist in the Heartland.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Audio
As a young man, Russell Razzaque was recruited by a militant Islamic student group. He left and today he's a psychologist and authority on suicide bombers.
Sarah Vowell is obsessed with presidential assassinations. She talks with Steve Paulson about the lingering mystery and drama surrounding the murder of Abraham Lincoln.
William Powers wrote "Hamlet's Blackberry: A Practical Philosophy for Building A Good Life in the Digital Age" because he feared people were getting lost in their electronic worlds.
Rebecca Dopart was working as a Peace Corps volunteer in Poland, in the mid-90s. While there, she fell in love and got married. Just three weeks after her wedding, her father-in-law died. In this story, Dopart recalls how her husband tended to his father’s body.
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.
Sharon Lovejoy tells Anne Strainchamps about sunflower houses, the giant’s garden, and why she sends kids into the garden with stethoscopes.
Late in lafe, former Defense Secretary Robert McNamara admitted the Vietnam War was a huge mistake, but he always avoided questions of personal responsibility. Docmentary filmmaker Errol Morris reflects on McNamara's struggle with his own conscience.
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