James Watson, one of the discoverers of DNA's double-helix structure, talks with Steve Paulson about making the discovery and what sort of environment produces scientific breakthroughs.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
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Leigh Ann Henion was a young mother when she felt her world closing in. So she did something unconventional: she set off on a "wonder pilgrimage" to see some of the world's most astonishing natural phenomena. She tells us about juggling motherhood with swimming in bioluminescent oceans, standing at the edge of active volcanoes, and witnessing vast animal migrations.
James Bradley tells what happened on the next island over from Iwo Jima, where eight American airmen were captured and beheaded.
Recent medical breakthroughs mean we can sometimes halt and even reverse death. This has led science into a domain traditionally relegated to theology and philosophy. Steve Paulson hosts a panel discussion on the difficult questions that come up during medical crises.
J.G. Ballard’s futuristic 1975 novel, “High Rise, is about a group of people living in a luxury high-rise apartment building where neighbors organize themselves according to their respective social classes. Literally. The lower class lives on the lower floors, the middle class in the middle and the upper class occupies the most luxurious apartments on the highest floors. Tribal-class warfare ensues. Here’s an excerpt.
If you’re looking for the model of a compassionate doctor, you could start with James Orbinski. As a former member – and president – of Doctors Without Borders, also known as MSF, he’s served in some of the world’s desperate places. He writes about his experiences in the book “An Imperfect Offering.”
Conventional wisdom holds that the founding fathers were a group of esteemed gentlemen who peacefully united under a common cause. Historian Paul Aron tells a different story. In his book "Founding Feuds," Aron follows the bitter rivalries and intense conflicts in the early days of the republic. He says our nation's founders could be just as vicious and scathing as politicians today.
So-called "outsider art" has been hot for a while now. What the art crowd calls it has changed, from l'art brut to self-taught art to vernacular art.
Whatever you call it, the work of some these artists will join the cream of the contemporary art crop at the Venice Biennale this summer.
One of the largest collections of vernacular art is right here in Wisconsin. Producer Sara Nics talks with the woman who helped create the collection: Ruth Kohler.
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