Though names like Mother Ann Lee and Charles Fourier are not names that ring a bell for most today, they founded two of the most influential utopian movements in US history. 19th Century communes like the Shakers and Brook Farm are gone today their legacy – politically and culturally, are all around us. Chris Jennings is the author of “Paradise Now: The Story of American Utopianism.” Steve Paulson sat down with Jennings and asked him about what is now a dirty word, utopia.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Audio
Former Vice President Al Gore helped bring global warming into public consciousness. Despite the dire projections of rising temperatures, he says he's still an optimist.
Essayist Andre Aciman is fascinated by memory , though he says what we remember is rarely straightforward. He talks with Steve Paulson about memory and writing.
In the fourth episode of the story of Dan Pierotti's death, friends and family stay with Dan's body in the days before the funeral. Dan's wife Judy talks about her experience of the funeral and burial.
"Then it's final," Judy says. "There's no coming back from any of it. But just the first shovel full of dirt that hits that coffin... that's very hard to hear, very hard to experience."
What have the recent leaks about the NSA's surveillance program have revealed? Computer scientist and independent scholar Susan Landau gives us her perspective, and weighs in on the questions of inquiries, and checks and balances.
You can also hear our extended conversation with Landau.
Fairy tales are part of all our lives, whether it's Snow White or Cinderella of Little Red Riding Hood.
Amanda Craig tells Anne Strainchamps that children’s literature has a strong sense of story and that’s why it appeals to adults.
Writer and critic Alberto Manguel has assembled a personal library of some thirty thousand volumes which he houses in an old converted stone barn in a village in France.
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