According to historian Thomas Laqueur, neither sanitation nor the soul fully explain the rang of rituals we've developed for caring for dead bodies. For him, there is a deeper anthropological truth at work: caring for the dead marks the human transition from nature into culture.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Audio
Media theorist Douglas Rushkoff's Dangerous Idea? Open source currency as the next money model.
I dunno, but it seems kind of extreme, not to mention risky, to bio-engineer a mass mosquito die-off. So Steve Paulson tracked down the world’s greatest living entomologist to see what he has to say. E. O Wilson is sometimes called “the ant man” – that’s the insect he studied most – but he’s best known as the evolutionary biologist and a champion of biodiversity. He’s 86 years old now, and has just finished what is probably his last book – called “Half Earth”. It’s a passionate plea to save humanity by dedicating half the planet to nature. You’d assume that Wilson would be happy to let mosquitos live in that half… but that’s not what he told Steve.
Welcome to the wonderful, wild mind of Monty Python's Terry Gilliam, who went on to direct the acclaimed films "Brazil," "Time Bandits" and "12 Monkeys." In an interview that can only be described as "Gilliamesque," Doug Gordon talks to the comedy legend.
Are humans hard-wired to forgive? Psychologist Michael McCullough's research traces the evolutionary roots of forgiveness and revenge.
Frank Kermode tells Steve Paulson that Shakespeare revolutionized the English language and worked within a culture that got most of its information from listening.
Brian Turtle tells Steve Paulson how he came up with the game "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" and plays a few rounds with Steve.
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