Neuro-psychologist Brian Butterworth tells Jim Fleming about his work with people who’ve lost their number sense. Butterworth thinks we’re all hard-wired to recognize and manipulate numbers.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
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Apocalyptic stories are more than just entertaining. Millions of Americans believe the world will soon end. Cultural critic Barry Vacker unpacks this end-of-world meme.
These days beauty’s got a complicated reputation. One professor of literature and aesthetics at Harvard is giving beauty a makeover.
“I learned virtually nothing about mortality when I was in medical school,” Dr. Atul Gawande says. “I was terrible at knowing how to have a successful conversation with people facing terminal illness.” Gawande, author of the bestselling “Being Mortal,” is now trying to get people talking about better ways to live out the final chapter.
Bill Welden, an expert on Tolkien’s Elvish languages, talks about Elvish derivations and vocabulary and remembers his visit to the set of the “The Lord of the Rings” movie.
People have gathered together to dance for centuries. Barbara Ehrenreich says we've become so obsessed with personal happiness, we often neglect the pleasures of collective joy.
Chris Thomas King played blues legend Tommy Johnson in the film “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” His tune on the soundtrack won 3 Grammy Awards. King sees his music as a bridge between the worlds of hip hop and the Blues.
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