Daniel Tammett loves numbers, can do calculations in his head into the millions, and can recite pi to more than 22,000 digits. But he has trouble telling right from left and looking people in the eye.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
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Could the Internet feel happy or depressed? That's a distinct possibility, according to Christof Koch. In this EXTENDED interview, he talks about computer consciousness, God, and just what it means that our brains have a hundred billion neurons and trillions of synapses. Koch wonders whether all matter might have consciousness.
Elizabeth George, author of the Inspector Lynley mysteries, talks about her new novel that tells the life story of the mixed race boy who's arrested for the fatal mugging of the Inspector's wife, which occurred in the previous novel in the series.
David Edmonds talks with Jim Fleming about Bobby Fischer’s infamous chess match with Boris Spassky for the World Chess Championship in 1972.
Bill Streever is an Alaskan biologist and a "cryophile" - someone who loves the cold. He describes what it's like to jump into freezing water as hypothermia starts to set in.
What is it exactly that we love about the movies? For Madelon Sprengnether, going to the movies prompted a journey of self discovery and helped her cope with the sudden death of her father. It all started with a Bengali film called "Pather Panchali."
Ethan Gilsdorf is the author of "Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks," a memoir about role players, online gamers and citizens of other imaginary realms
Doug here. I thought there was good back-and-forth between Chuck and myself in this conversation. I like how the interview went “meta” at the end, with Chuck speculating that if I’m right about his book being hailed as the “Moby Dick" of non-fiction in 300 years time. This interview belongs in a time capsule. At the very least, a “Best of” show. I also really enjoyed the fact that we heard the musical stylings of John Philip Sousa, Chuck Berry, KISS and Veruca Salt. Of course, if Chuck’s book taught me anything (and it actually taught me many things), I could be wrong.
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