Dr. Ted Kaptchuk tells Steve Paulson about the work of some Danish researchers who have concluded that “the Placebo effect” is a myth.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
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Carrie Rickey is the film critic for "The Philadelphia Inquirer." She talks to Steve Paulson about how Marshall McLuhan's ideas influenced David Cronenberg's 1983 sci-fi/horror film, as chronicled in her essay, "Videodrome; Make Mine Cronenberg."
Bruce Watson tells Steve Paulson why Erector Sets were so huge. They reflected the spirit of America’s Industrial Age, and A.C. Gilbert marketed them directly to boys.
Ernie Cline talks to Anne Strainchamps about his novel, "Ready Player One," which revolves around a massively multi-player online game and '80s pop culture.
Coral reefs and many of the oceans' marvels may disappear before this century ends, according to a new scientific study. Science writer Elizabeth Kolbert says we're facing the sixth great extinction. She tells stories from the front lines of the fight against extinction, from Panama to Australia's Great Barrier Reef.
Could the Internet feel happy or depressed? That's a distinct possibility, according to Christof Koch. In this EXTENDED interview, he talks about computer consciousness, God, and just what it means that our brains have a hundred billion neurons and trillions of synapses. Koch wonders whether all matter might have consciousness.
David Mitchell talks about his latest novel, "The Bone Clocks," why he likes to jump between different literary genres, and how he became obsessed with questions about death and immortality.
Deborah Treisman is fiction editor of The New Yorker magazine. George Saunders is one of her star writers. Treisman and Saunders join Steve Paulson to talk about writing and publishing short stories.
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