Tariq Ali is a historian, activist and writer. He talks with Steve Paulson about the history of the Ottoman empire, and the Islamic clergy’s rejection of modernism.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Audio
Roberta Gregory writes and draws the comic strip featuring the mis-adventures of Midge McCracken, AKA "Bitchy Bitch."
Susan Friedman maintains an e-mail correspondence with a colleague in Iraq whose messages describe the hardships and terror of life in Iraq...
Thug Kitchen is a wildly popular, foul-mouthed vegan food blog. The formerly anonymous writers have just come out with a cookbook and revealed their identities. Michelle Davis and Matt Holloway are a white couple from L.A. Now they're fielding questions about the racial politics of the way they write about food.
Many recent conversations about the Wisconsin Idea have focused on the politics and controversies around it, but all the negative attention ignores the fact that at its core, it's an aspirational vision commited to truth and public education. Wisconsin poet laureate Kimberly Blaeser joined Anne Strainchamps to talk about the beauty behind the Wisconsin Idea, and how it reflects the natural world.
Physicist Alan Lightman likes living in a universe filled with mystery. He finds it in the unanswered questions about the cosmos and also in his personal life, including a remarkable interspecies encounter with two ospreys.
Film-maker Walter Williams created the “Mr. Bill” character for “Saturday Night Live.” He was born and raised in New Orleans and has thought a lot about the natural history of his hometown.
Sharon Ghamari-Tabrizi explores one of the Cold War's most controversial figures in her book "The Worlds of Herman Kahn: The Intuitive science of Thermonuclear War."
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