Chad Harbach is a cofounder and coeditor of the literary magazine N+1. A few years ago, he penned a widely circulated essay looking at the rise of creative writing MFA programs in the US. He believes they're creating a distinctly new literary culture, with its own set of motivations and goals.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Audio
James Kakalios tells Jim Fleming that without quantum physics, we wouldn't have ipods or CD players or laptops.
Recent medical breakthroughs mean we can sometimes halt and even reverse death. This has led science into a domain traditionally relegated to theology and philosophy. Steve Paulson hosts a panel discussion on the difficult questions that come up during medical crises.
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.
Leigh Ann Henion was a young mother when she felt her world closing in. So she did something unconventional: she set off on a "wonder pilgrimage" to see some of the world's most astonishing natural phenomena. She tells us about juggling motherhood with swimming in bioluminescent oceans, standing at the edge of active volcanoes, and witnessing vast animal migrations.
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.
J.J. Murphy talks about his book, "The Black Hole of the Camera: The Films of Andy Warhol."
Pages
