Before the airplane was invented, ballooning was all the rage, and many people thought this was the future of air travel. Cultural historian Richard Holmes describes the remarkable history of the hot air balloon.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Audio
Thomas Hine is the author of “I Want THAT: How We All Became Shoppers.” He tells Anne Strainchamps how our culture grooms men and women to behave differently as shoppers and exploits the traits of both sexes.
Scott Weidensaul talks with Jim Fleming about several animals that have turned up after their species was thought to be extinct.
Novelist T. Coraghessan Boyle talks with Jim Fleming about his latest. “Drop City” is set in a California commune in the 1970s, and concerns the activities at one of America’s many private little Utopias.
Olivia Laing says John Cheever's "The Swimmer" is one of the finest short stories every written.
Simon Montefiore is the author of “Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar.” He says Stalin was more complex than we thought, but still a monster.
In the run-up to this show, many of you sent in your stories of wonder. Here they are, crafted into an eight-part soundscape with the voices of Michael Arnold, Cynthia Woodland, Caryl Owen, and Peter Sobol. Thanks for sharing your stories!
Steve Paulson filed this report on his experience at Cambridge University with comments from Ken Wilber, E.O. Wilson, Karen Armstrong, and Richard Dawkins.
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