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."
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
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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.
Charles Duhigg, a reporter for the New York Times, has been researching the scientific and social history of habits for his new book, The Power of Habit. In it, he discusses the unique ways that habits shape our lives, both neurologically and practically. He learned that habits are powerfully hardwired into your brain — and stored separately from your memories — making them rather easy to develop and very difficult to change.
Satirist George Saunders has been a Guggenheim Fellow and received a MacArthur Foundation "genius grant." For his essay on the dumbing down on American media, he created "Megaphone Guy."
Comic-book creator Gary Spencer Millidge talks to Anne Strainchamps about his book, "Alan Moore: Storyteller." The book proiles one of the most influential creative forces in the history of comic books.
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.
Maybe feminism is a moot point. According to journalist Hanna Rosin, in the rapidly changing world we live in, women are far outpacing men. She writes about the trend in her book "The End of Men."
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