The kind of people who live in places like Jackson, Kentucky often get characterized as poor, white and angry. And worse, as redneck and racist – hillbilly white trash. J.D. Vance knows them well. They’re his people. He grew up in Kentucky coal country and the Ohio rust belt - places he left behind when he went to Yale Law School. Today he practices in Silicon Valley, but he’s just written a book called “Hillbilly Elegy," which should be required reading for this election year. Welcome to Jackson, Kentucky.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Audio
Literary critic Geoff Dyer goes to Algeria on a Camus pilgrimage, looking for traces of the great writer and some insight into his own life.
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.
Hardeep Dhaliwal has an interesting take on “The Wizard of Oz.” She thinks it’s riddled with Yogic symbolism.
Greg Critser is a veteran science and medical journalist. He's the author of three critically acclaimed books, most recently, "Eternity Soup: Inside the Quest to End Aging."
Henry Raddick is an enthusiastic contributor of reviews to the Amazon.com website. He tells Steve Paulson that he reads all the books he reviews, and only says good things about them.
Gene Santoro tells Anne Strainchamps that Louis Armstrong is one of the most influential musical figures of all time and that you can hear echoes of his style in everything from country to hip hop. And we hear samples to prove it.
Is it actually possible to give a truly selfless gift? Anthropologist David Graeber says it's not only impossible, the entire idea of a "free gift" is nothing but a construct born in opposition to impersonal market economies. In other words, it’s you know, complicated.
Pages
