Thomas Groome tells Steve Paulson that, according to the Catholic Church, Hell is not an actual, fiery place. It's a state of eternal alienation and isolation resulting from our own moral choices.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Audio
Stephen Greenblatt tells the remarkable story of how the discovery of an ancient poem helped launch the Scientific Revolution. Also, an excerpt from Lucretius' poem "On the Nature of Things."
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.
Sam Harris says religious certainty is not only irrational, it's dangerous. He says believing in Allah or Jesus or the God of Abraham makes no more sense than believing in Zeus.
Steve Paulson visits award-winning children’s book author Paula Fox at her New York brownstone. Fox has just written a highly acclaimed memoir, “Borrowed Finery.”
Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne called their Wisconsin home Ten Chimneys. Jim Fleming takes us to visit the property.
Susan Burch teaches at Gallaudet University and is the author of “Signs of Resistance: American Deaf Cultural History, 1900 - 1942.” She talks about the “oralist” movement which required the deaf to learn sign language and lip reading.
Simon Winchester talks about the enormous volcanic eruption of Krakatoa in Indonesia in 1883. The tidal waves killed almost forty thousand people, and the resulting social chaos gave rise to the first incidents of Muslim clerics fomenting violent uprisings against Westerners.
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