Siberia is enormous, but Ian Frazier has crossed it all, from the Baltic Sea to the Pacific Ocean, in a barely functioning van.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Audio
Jack Zipes tells Steve Paulson why he’s not a big fan of the Harry Potter Books, what great children’s literature should do, and how he fights with his daughter about her books and music.
The 18th century was not only the Age of Enlightenment. It was also the age when many cities conquered darkness by installing public lighting. Dartmouth historian Darrin McMahon says it's no accident that cities lit up at the same time as the Enlightenment values of rationality and progress flourished.
What separates your mind from an animal's? It's a question we've all asked, but renowned primatologist Frans de Waal says there's no point trying to rank who's smarter or dumber in the animal world. In fact, he believes there's no clear dividing line between humans and the rest of the animal world.
James Gleick's "The Information" is a sweeping history of information, going back to the invention of writing and the African tradition of talking drums. He tells Steve Paulson that the invention of information technologies has changed the very nature of consciousness.
Cary Sudler returns to his ancestral home to apologize to the black members of his family for the injustice of slavery
Jack Gottschalk tells Steve Paulson that piracy is alive and well on the high seas, from crews who hi-jack tankers and container ships to well-armed bandits who prey on boat people.
James WIlliam Gibson talks about ways in which people are seeking to reconnect with the natural world and to protect it, rather than simply exploit it as a resource.
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