Did you know national parks intended for the masses are a 19th century invention and a distinctly American one?
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Audio
Tom Wolfe reads the opening to "The Postman Always Rings Twice" and explains why it's his favorite.
Zach Helm wrote the screenplay for "Stranger than Fiction," in which Will Ferrell hears the voice of Emma Thompson apparently narrating his life.
Neuroscientist Sebastian Seung takes us inside the "connectome": the audacious project to create a detailed map of the human brain.
You can also listen to the EXTENDED interview, and read the extended transcript.
Senator Russ Feingold is a Democrat from Wisconsin who sits on the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Robert Zubrin explains how he thinks we should go about colonizing Mars, and how settling a new world will save this one. And he describes how NASA’s using his ideas.
There are many ways to react to the tragedies of the past. Politically. Historically. And even… musically.
Philosopher and novelist Umberto Eco wrote a history of beauty. A few years later, he followed it up with a study of ugliness. Here’s what he found
Pages
