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To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Making Democracy Fun

Correction: This interview refers to a survey finding that only 22% of Americans trust government at all levels. The actual survey was limited to trust in the federal government, and found that 22% of Americans trusted the government in Washington "almost always or most of the time".

We all know it's important to be involved in local government, but can political participation also be fun? Josh Lerner thinks so. He believes local governments could boost the fun factor in the political process by borrowing a few ideas from game design.

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Jennifer Cohen on “Lying Together"

Jennifer Cohen flew off to Russia to be a journalist and live with the man of her dreams.  Things didn’t quite work out the way she planned

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Richard Hell - Punk

Sometimes when musicians break the mold, they end up creating new genres. Richard Hell didn't study music as a kid, but he loved how rock and roll let him experiment with self-expression.

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Robert Bellah on "Religion in Human Evolution"

How did religion ever get started in the first place?  We talked to renowned sociologist Robert Bellah shortly before he died.  He said religion isn't about belief in God.  Its origins go back to the rituals of our ancient ancestors, and ultimately to play.

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John Freyer on All My Life for Sale

John Freyer decided to sell everything in his apartment on E-Bay. He tells the story in a book called “All My Life for Sale.”

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Mario Vargas Llosa on the dictator Trujillo

Mario Vargas Llosa is one of the godfathers of Latin American fiction. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2010.  He also once ran for president of his native country, Peru.  Politics and literature are the driving forces in his life.

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Patti Smith

Punk legend Patti Smith.  40 years ago, she came out with the seminal punk album Horses –with cover photo by her friend and lover Robert Mappelthorpe.

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Lan Samantha Chang on "All Is Forgotten, Nothing Is Lost"

Chang's new novel follows the lives of students and one particular professor in a creative writing program in the Midwest.

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