Desperate times may call for desperate measures. But do we really want to put space mirrors into clouds to deflect the sun's rays? Economist Clive Hamilton outlines the promise and perils of geoengineering.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Audio
So maybe there are some changing ideas about gender in parts of North America. But around the globe, it’s pretty much still just male and female, right? Not so, says Evelyn Blackwood. Turns out, some cultures have an array of gender categories.
Harry Boyte is co-founder of the Center for Democracy and Citizenship at the University of Minnesota. He tells Steve Paulson about his work teaching children the tools of social activism.
Gaby Wood is the author of “Edison’s Eve: A Magical History of the Quest for Mechanical Life.” She talks about the many experiments with automata and early mechanical beings.
George Vaillant is a Harvard psychiatrist on a mission to reclaim spirituality and ground it in hard science.
Camus said there's only one truly serious philosophical question, and that's suicide. 35 years ago, that idea sparked the single most terrifying moment of Steve Paulson's life. Steve tells the story.
A lot of people dismiss fashion as frivolous, but Media Studies professor Minh-Ha Pham says it's a great lens through which to study race, gender and class politics. "Fashion and so many other kinds of culture and practices that are traditionally associated with women... are often seen as frivolous," she says, and "that dismissal of fashion is linked to a larger, a broader sexism in our culture."
Sleep may be an utterly common activity, but neuroscientist Giulio Tononi believes it's the greatest experiment in consciousness.
You can also listen to the EXTENDED interview, and read the extended transcript.
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