The Western. The 2nd Amendment. Guns are a part of our national DNA - like apple pie and baseball. Pamela Haag says not so fast. In her book "The Gunning of America," she argues that early gun barons --with iconic names like Colt and Remington -- created the American culture.
She told Charles Monroe-Kane to look no further than the Rifle King himself, the manufacturer of the Winchester Repeater Rifle, Oliver Winchester.
Since her creation in 1941, Wonder Woman has become one of the most popular superheroes of all time, as well as an beloved icon of second-wave feminism. It also turns out she has a fascinating origin story that intersects with the Women's movement of the early 20th century, the lie detector, and even involves the founders of Planned Parenthood. Historian Jill Lepore tells Steve Paulson about these connections, and talks about Wonder Woman's eccentric creator.
Jason Padgett was a hard-partying guy until a traumatic brain injury turned him into a math genius. Now, he sees complex geometric designs everywhere he looks.
The first stories in "Thousand and One Nights" were written down in the ninth century. They’ve been added to over the years. In some ways, it’s not so much a book as a living river of stories. Some of the most recent additions come from the celebrated novelist Salman Rushdie.
You can also hear many more interviews with Rushdie.
What's the best way to fight the homogenization of America?
The legendary German filmmaker Werner Herzog talks about his career, truth in documentaries, and his constant quest for "the ecstatic truth."
Before the airplane was invented, ballooning was all the rage, and many people thought this was the future of air travel. Cultural historian Richard Holmes describes the remarkable history of the hot air balloon.
Writer Stephen Kuusisto is blind and he says that among the many advantages —he gets eavesdrop on the rest of us, because most of the time, we don’t even notice he’s listening.
