Steph Davis is a renowned rock climber who's considered one of the best in the world. But after the death of her husband, Mario Richard, nearly a decade ago, she discovered a new and potentially more dangerous career -- as a skydiver, BASE jumper and wingsuit flyer.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
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Sarah Vowell is obsessed by presidential assassinations.
Have you ever heard that space is a vaccuum? That space is totally silent? Well, neither of those things is exactly true. Thanks to the research of physicist Don Gurnett, we now know there are thin layers of gas in space that produce all kinds of interesting waves — including sound waves. In this segment, we talk with Gurnett about his research and listen to some downright strange and wondrous sounds from both near and deep space.
J.R. Thornton was once a serious tennis player on the junior circuit. Then he moved to China and spent a year training with the Beijing National Team, where he discovered just how different the life of an aspiring champion could be. His novel "Beautiful Country" reveals the incredibly difficult demands on young athletes in China.
<p>Climate experts are shocked by the rate at which greenhouse gases are rising. New US government figures show CO2 levels have already topped experts' worst-case scenarios. But if driving hybrids and switching to fluorescent bulbs isn't enough -- what is? William Powers presents a vision of truly sustainable living in an off-the-grid, 12x12 cabin.</p>
Sarah Lewis talks about her book, "The Rise: Creativity, The Gift of Failure, and the Search for Mastery."
Steven Pinker tells Steve Paulson that parents don’t really have much to do with shaping their children’s personalities.
There's a short story about a guy who's so afraid of other people reading his mind that he wears a tin foil hat to protect his thoughts. The tin foil part is crazy, but protecting your mind is maybe not such a bad idea. Academic psychologist Rob Brotherton says there are certain psychological traits that predispose people to believe in conspiracy theories. For example, there's an experiment done by a group of psychologists in Amsterdam. It involves a group of subjects and a messy desk.
FIND OUT HOW LIKELY YOU ARE TO BELIEVE IN CONSPIRACY THEORIES BY TAKING ROB'S QUIZ.
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