Timothy Ferris is the author of nearly a dozen books of popular science, including “Seeing in the Dark: How Backyard Stargazers Are Probing Deep Space and Guarding Earth from Interplanetary Peril.”
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Audio
When Asra Normani got an assignment to research Tantra - an ancient form of yoga - she thought she'd have an adventure. She ended up on a journey of the spirit and the heart.
We all love the feeling of getting lost in a good story and seeing the world through a character’s eyes. Recently, psychologists have been studying whether that experience actually changes readers. Novelist and cognitive psychologist Keith Oatley tells us about the latest research connecting fiction with empathy.
You've heard the saying, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." Journalist David Rieff thinks that's rubbish, and he says if you want peace, it's sometimes better to forget historical crimes than try to get justice.
The YA novel “Wolf Brother" is part of the Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series by Michelle Paver. The books are set 6000 years ago and follow the adventures of 12-year old Torak and his wolf companion as they battle great evil to save the world..
Thebe Medupe is an astrophysicist who grew up under apartheid. He talks about the stories he grew up hearing from his village elders and the astronomical legends of the Dogun people in Mali.
Summer festivals are a huge part of the American music scene -- and of the music marketplace. Why do millions of people risk sunburn and dehydration when they could hear the same music better with earbuds? Music critic Maura Johnston unpacks the economics and the atavistic lure of the summer music festival.
Sherman Alexie wrote a novel in response to 9/11. He thinks the fanaticism of flying planes into buildings is the end game of tribalism and he wanted to teach his sons something else.
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