Terry Tempest Williams reads from her book, "Red," and talks about the desert with Steve Paulson.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
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American Wendy Doniger holds two doctorates in Sanskrit and Indian studies from Harvard and Oxford. She’s the author of numerous books on Hinduism and has translated several Sanskrit texts. She’s widely considered one of the most important scholars on Indian religion in the world. So it might surprise you that there is one country in the world she can’t visit: India.
Doniger’s books have been targeted by Hindu Nationalists and by India’s ruling right-wing BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party). Her latest, “The Hindus: An Alternative History,” was the subject of a major lawsuit in India, and its publisher, Penguin Books India, not only pulled the book from circulation but destroyed all remaining copies. Since then, Doniger has received many death threats inside of India and no longer feels safe visiting there. But as she told Steve Paulson, her writing about Hinduism hasn’t changed in over 40 years. What has changed is India.
In this EXTENDED interview, Steve Paulson talks about his stacks of books, hunger for knowledge. He also explores the difference between data, information, knowledge and... wisdom!
Tom Bollestorff is an anthropologist at UC Irvine and author of "Coming of Age in Second Life."
Zorba Paster tells Jim Fleming that many of the practices outlined in his book “The Longevity Code” grow out of his Buddhist practice and belief.
Wendy Doniger says sexual positions are just a small part of the Kamasutra, and that the British taught the Indians to be ashamed of this book, and their bodies.
Sherry Turkle discusses the ways in which we are already developing relationships with personal robotic devices from cellphones and iPods to toys like the Furby and My Real Baby.
Physicist Ronald Mallet tells Anne Strainchamps why he thinks he can use light to bend the fabric of space and achieve time travel.
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