Stephen Hall is the author of critically-acclaimed histories of contemporary science, including “Merchants of Immortality: Chasing the Dream of Human Life Extension.”
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Audio
In Super Senses, psychiatrist Bessel van der Kolk talked about how trauma disrupts people's relationship with their body. This extended interview includes more on studies into how trauma rewires the brain, and how yoga can help people heal.
Terry Tempest Williams reads from her book, "Red," and talks about the desert with Steve Paulson.
Louisa May Alcott was no "little woman". Biographer Harriet Reisen uncovers the fierce feminist behind "Little Women".
American Wendy Doniger holds two doctorates in Sanskrit and Indian studies from Harvard and Oxford. She’s the author of numerous books on Hinduism and has translated several Sanskrit texts. She’s widely considered one of the most important scholars on Indian religion in the world. So it might surprise you that there is one country in the world she can’t visit: India.
Doniger’s books have been targeted by Hindu Nationalists and by India’s ruling right-wing BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party). Her latest, “The Hindus: An Alternative History,” was the subject of a major lawsuit in India, and its publisher, Penguin Books India, not only pulled the book from circulation but destroyed all remaining copies. Since then, Doniger has received many death threats inside of India and no longer feels safe visiting there. But as she told Steve Paulson, her writing about Hinduism hasn’t changed in over 40 years. What has changed is India.
This week in Watch This! we talk about "Salinger" and "Shakespeare Uncovered."
John Linnel and John Flansburgh comprise the alternative rock duo They Might Be Giants. Their first album for children, "No!" is quite different.
Steven Johnson tells Anne Strainchamps how television storytelling has become more sophisticated with mutiple plots lines extending over several episodes.
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