Can shame also be used for public good? There’s a judge in Texas who’s famous for his creative – and controversial – shame-based sentences. To hear how they work, let’s go back to Thanksgiving evening, 1996. Houston, Texas. More
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Interviews By Topic
Maybe shame – painful as it is – has some value. Maybe it’s not just an emotion, but a social tool. Jennifer Jacquet thinks that there’s an upside to shame. More
Robin Rinaldi was mid-life, mid-career and mid-marriage when she placed that ad. It launched her wild oats project – a year spent exploring sex.More
Think there's a renaissance of public shaming online? You're right. There's something about the anonymity of social media has people who probably seem perfectly nice in person, posting vicious, scathing, humiliating comments online.More
Talking about diversity is not always easy, but poet and writer Sofia Samatar believes it's crucial. She believes institutions should focus less on meeting quotas, and instead foster open and nuanced conversations about difference.More
Bioethicist Julian Savulescu says we have a moral obligation to use new technology to create the best possible children.
Free speech advocate Greg Lukianoff believes universities are coddling students in the name of emotional well-being, with damaging effects to students' mental health.More
Anthropologist Nina Jablonski believes we could reduce implicit bias in the future by teaching children about the evolutionary origins of humans and why we look different.More
For most of her life Debby Irving was largely unaware of race. Then, when she was in her 40s, she enrolled in a course on race and cultural identity, and overnight became hyperaware of the privileges she'd been afforded throughout her life as a result of her white skin color.More
Philosopher Naomi Zack believes that if your goal is to fight racism, a good first step is to stop talking about your own privilege. She says we should instead focus the conversation on violations of rights. More
Rock climber Alex Honnold burst onto the scene a few years ago with some breathtaking solo climbs in Zion and Yosemite, and he’s pushed the limits for what climbers thought possible.More
Poet David Whyte finds inspiration in everyday words. In his book "Consolations," Whyte examines the deeper, often surpising meanings of 52 ordinary words.More
Writer David Morris explains why "Solo Faces" by James Salter is one of his favorite books.More
Psychiatrist Michael Bennett and his daughter, comedy writer Sarah Bennett, say it's time we stopped thinking about our feelings and instead focused on our actions.More
Historian Darrin McMahon traces ideas around happiness from classical antiquity to the modern age. He says the Founding Fathers equated...More
Music journalist Charles R. Cross shares one of his favorite forgotten bands: The Sonics.
Charles R. Cross: This...More
Charles R. Cross on the Young Fresh Fellows album “The Fabulous Sounds of the Pacific Northwest.”More