Have you ever heard that space is a vaccuum? That space is totally silent? Well, neither of those things is exactly true. Thanks to the research of physicist Don Gurnett, we now know there are thin layers of gas in space that produce all kinds of interesting waves — including sound waves. In this segment, we talk with Gurnett about his research and listen to some downright strange and wondrous sounds from both near and deep space.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
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J.R. Thornton was once a serious tennis player on the junior circuit. Then he moved to China and spent a year training with the Beijing National Team, where he discovered just how different the life of an aspiring champion could be. His novel "Beautiful Country" reveals the incredibly difficult demands on young athletes in China.
The Canadian surrealist sketch comedy trio, The Vestibules, with their brilliant commercial parody, "Laurence Olivier for Diet Coke."
Stephen Hall is the author of critically-acclaimed histories of contemporary science, including “Merchants of Immortality: Chasing the Dream of Human Life Extension.”
Sarah Lewis talks about her book, "The Rise: Creativity, The Gift of Failure, and the Search for Mastery."
Colson Whitehead’s novel The Underground Railroad just won the 2016 National Book Award.
Steve Paulson spoke with him about this powerful, sweeping epic.
Toby Cecchini is part owner and bartender at Passerby, a bar in New York’s far West Chelsea neighborhood. He’s also the author of “Cosmopolitan: A Bartender’s Life.”
Stephen Prothero thinks it's imperative that Americans have a working knowledge of religious traditions at home and abroad to understand other peoples and our own politicians.
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