City planner and urban historian Tom Martinson tells Steve Paulson why the suburbs are a great place to live.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Audio
Before the Internet, a good memory wasn't just useful; it was prized as a sign of intelligence. And there were memory geniuses who developed mental tricks for storing information. Philosopher and novelist Simon Critchley delves into the fascinating history of the memory palace, which once promised almost God-like wisdom.
In her new novella, "Sleep Donation," Karen Russell mentions a documentary called "Is Sleep Going Extinct?" That got us wondering what this fictional documentary would sound like. Chances are it would NOT sound anything like this.
Celebrated jazz pianist Vijay Iyer has a Ph.D. in music cognition and the rare ability to describe the interplay between music and the brain. We talk with Vijay and listen to his music.
A big cat biologist goes on a blind date. It doesn't go well. Writer Ben Hoffman reads from a work in progress.
Stephen Long is the founder of Northern Woodlands Magazine. He takes us for a walk in his Vermont woods and teaches us how to "read" a forest.
There’s a Modern Caveman Movement afoot. And their inspirational leader is 76 year-old Arthur De Vany. A man who says we all should be mimicking our caveman ancestors.
Reinhold Messner is arguably the world’s greatest living mountaineer. He’s climbed 14 of the world’s tallest peaks, and if that isn’t impressive enough, he was the first to climb Mt. Everest alone and without supplemental oxygen. He recounts some of these adventures in a new book called “Reinhold Messner: My Life at the Limit.” Steve Paulson caught up with him and asked how he got hooked on climbing.
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