The kind of people who live in places like Jackson, Kentucky often get characterized as poor, white and angry. And worse, as redneck and racist – hillbilly white trash. J.D. Vance knows them well. They’re his people. He grew up in Kentucky coal country and the Ohio rust belt - places he left behind when he went to Yale Law School. Today he practices in Silicon Valley, but he’s just written a book called “Hillbilly Elegy," which should be required reading for this election year. Welcome to Jackson, Kentucky.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
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A lot of people dismiss fashion as frivolous, but Media Studies professor Minh-Ha Pham says it's a great lens through which to study race, gender and class politics. "Fashion and so many other kinds of culture and practices that are traditionally associated with women... are often seen as frivolous," she says, and "that dismissal of fashion is linked to a larger, a broader sexism in our culture."
Sleep may be an utterly common activity, but neuroscientist Giulio Tononi believes it's the greatest experiment in consciousness.
You can also listen to the EXTENDED interview, and read the extended transcript.
Hardeep Dhaliwal has an interesting take on “The Wizard of Oz.” She thinks it’s riddled with Yogic symbolism.
Satirist George Saunders has been a Guggenheim Fellow and received a MacArthur Foundation "genius grant." For his essay on the dumbing down on American media, he created "Megaphone Guy."
Henry Raddick is an enthusiastic contributor of reviews to the Amazon.com website. He tells Steve Paulson that he reads all the books he reviews, and only says good things about them.
Comic-book creator Gary Spencer Millidge talks to Anne Strainchamps about his book, "Alan Moore: Storyteller." The book proiles one of the most influential creative forces in the history of comic books.
Is it actually possible to give a truly selfless gift? Anthropologist David Graeber says it's not only impossible, the entire idea of a "free gift" is nothing but a construct born in opposition to impersonal market economies. In other words, it’s you know, complicated.
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