Simon Winchester talks about the enormous volcanic eruption of Krakatoa in Indonesia in 1883. The tidal waves killed almost forty thousand people, and the resulting social chaos gave rise to the first incidents of Muslim clerics fomenting violent uprisings against Westerners.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
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Susan Burch teaches at Gallaudet University and is the author of “Signs of Resistance: American Deaf Cultural History, 1900 - 1942.” She talks about the “oralist” movement which required the deaf to learn sign language and lip reading.
There’s a Modern Caveman Movement afoot. And their inspirational leader is 76 year-old Arthur De Vany. A man who says we all should be mimicking our caveman ancestors.
Toni Morrison may be a Nobel Laureate, but she still gets labeled a “Black woman writer.” She talks about her childhood and how the Civil Rights Movement magnified class differences.
We know a lot about how slaves looked at books because of the hundreds of slave narratives they wrote. Scholar Cherene Sherrard-Johnson says a fundamental trope in those narratives is what’s called “the Talking Book.”
William La Fleur is the author of “Liquid Life: Abortion and Buddhism in Japan.” He tells Anne Strainchamps about the Japanese mizuko rituals which are a form of public apology addressed to aborted fetuses.
Teddy Atlas is famous in boxing circles as a coach. Atlas tells Steve Paulson about his journey from a violent and criminal youth to self-respect and maturity.
Siberia is vast... and writer Ian Frazier has crossed it all. He fell in love with the place he calls, “greatest horrible country.”
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