Cultural critic Cintra Wilson thinks American’s fascination with fame is a grotesque, crippling disease. She tears into it in her book “A Massive Swelling.”
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Audio
Brian Turner was an average young American who volunteered for military service in Iraq. At night he wrote poetry by flashlight.
Douglas Coupland says only twenty percent of people are hard-wired to “get” irony and the rest take everything at face value.
And what about our social future? Family life has seen a lot of change in the past 50 years. What might the future hold?
Professor of history and family studies, Stephanie Coontz weighs in on the forces shaping American families.
You can also check out her recent New York Times articles about the true history of American families and working mothers.
Ben Greenman is the author of a book called “Superbad: Stories and Pieces.” One of the stories it contains is called “Blurbs” which is nothing but a collection of blurbs.
American spiritual teacher Antoinette Varner - also known as Gangaji - says it's possible to transcend our stories about ourselves. She tells Steve Paulson that to truly know yourself, just drop who you think you are, and pay attention to the "I". You can also hear the UNCUT version of this interview here.
Avital Ronell has been called “the foremost thinker of the repressed conditions of knowledge.” She gives Jim Fleming an inspired take on stupidity.
John Cheever wrote hundreds of short stories and kept an extensive private journal, fabricated his accent and was primarily gay despite siring three children and remaining in a long marriage. We hear about his life from Blake Bailey, who wrote a biography on the great author.
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