According to historian Thomas Laqueur, neither sanitation nor the soul fully explain the rang of rituals we've developed for caring for dead bodies. For him, there is a deeper anthropological truth at work: caring for the dead marks the human transition from nature into culture.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Audio
Cultural scientist Alana Conner believes we all navigate different identities, and not just along racial or ethnic lines. She finds many cultural conflicts boil down to two competing types of selves.
Dr. Catherine Lord tells Anne Strainchamps that there is a ten fold reported rise in the incidence of autism but no one knows what accounts for the dramatic rise.
I dunno, but it seems kind of extreme, not to mention risky, to bio-engineer a mass mosquito die-off. So Steve Paulson tracked down the world’s greatest living entomologist to see what he has to say. E. O Wilson is sometimes called “the ant man” – that’s the insect he studied most – but he’s best known as the evolutionary biologist and a champion of biodiversity. He’s 86 years old now, and has just finished what is probably his last book – called “Half Earth”. It’s a passionate plea to save humanity by dedicating half the planet to nature. You’d assume that Wilson would be happy to let mosquitos live in that half… but that’s not what he told Steve.
Alastair Bonnett's Dangerous Idea? Let's change our cities to promote urban biodiversity.
Chris Bachelder is the author of "Bear v. Shark: The Novel." He reads excerpts and talks with Anne Strainchamps about the wacky future world he's created.
Bill Ayers was a member of the Weather Underground, which set off a series of bombs around the country in protest against the Vietnam War. Ayers insists he was not a terrorist, since his objective was never to kill people. He believes his own actions showed restraint in comparison with the enormity of the harm he believed the Vietnam War was causing.
Brent Silby teaches philosophy in Christchurch, New Zealand and is the author of an article in "Philosophy Now" magazine called "The Simulated Universe."
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