Thebe Medupe is an astrophysicist who grew up under apartheid. He talks about the stories he grew up hearing from his village elders and the astronomical legends of the Dogun people in Mali.
Thebe Medupe is an astrophysicist who grew up under apartheid. He talks about the stories he grew up hearing from his village elders and the astronomical legends of the Dogun people in Mali.
Larry Brilliant is a doctor, co-founder of the digital social network the Well, and he was the first executive director of Google.org. But back in the Sixties, he was a hippie doctor who joined Wavy Gravy's traveling bus caravan and then landed in an Indian ashram in the Himalayas, where his guru told him his destiny was to help cure smallpox. Miraculously, his U.N. team of doctors eradicated the world's remaining cases of this terrible disease. He tells Steve Paulson about a remarkable moment in history when anything seemed possible.
When the last of the infamous Chicago Public Housing buildings were demolished Audrey Petty asked herself a few questions, “Where did everybody go?” And, “what are their memories?”
In this look behind the scenes, producer Veronica Rueckert and Anne Strainchamps remember our interview with Amy Wallace-Havens, the sister of the late David Foster Wallace.
Sherman Alexie wrote a novel in response to 9/11. He thinks the fanaticism of flying planes into buildings is the end game of tribalism and he wanted to teach his sons something else.
Steve Paulson loves the idea of personal library. For all the digital data out there, Paulson says there's nothing quite like a book. He tells producer Sara Nics about data, knowledge, and To the Best of Our Knowledge.
Looking for the EXTENDED conversation? Find it here.
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Sy Montgomery tells Jim Fleming about Christopher Hogwood - not the musician, but her beloved pet pig.
Olivia Laing talks about her book, "The Trip to Echo Spring: On Writers and Drinking."