Walter Isaacson tells Steve Paulson that Einstein had a rebellious nature and that he didn't impress his teachers.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Audio
“Should Scotland be an independent country?” That was the question on the September 18th referendum across the nation of Scotland. The NO side won, with 55% against independence. But how do the YES voters feel?
Tony Rothman talks with Jim Fleming about Sangaku - the ancient tradition of Japanese temple geometry, which flourished during Japan’s period of isolation from the West.
William Langewiesche tells Anne Strainchamps about the underground rivers at Ground Zero and the extraordinary courage and leadership shown by all the volunteers who participated in the clean up, even as the firemen rejected the heroic language used in the media.
According to self-described "space dork" Andy Weir, he was just sitting around at home one day imagining a manned Mars mission — not with any goal in mind, but just as a thought experiment. Soon, he realized this would be a pretty good premise for a story. And boy was he right. His novel "The Martian" started as a series of blog posts and has become a blockbuster motion picture. In this interview, he reads excerpts from the novel and discusses the balance between pure fantasty and scientific accuracy in science fiction.
Acclaimed fiction writer - and guest producer of this hour - Nathan Englander talks about creative problem solving. He invited musicologist and composer Freddy Knop to create a soundscape of how it feels when the muse descends.
TTBOOK producer Charles Monroe-Kane is a great storyteller who's led an adventurous life. Here's a wild story from his memoir "Lithium Jesus" about smuggling mob money when he lived in Prague in the '90s.
Novelist Russell Banks tells Judith Strasser that the great American story is that of the African diaspora and the struggle of many races and cultures to live harmoniously together.
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