Social psychologist Jonathan Haidt says despite what we believe, our political beliefs aren't always as well reasoned as we think.
Social psychologist Jonathan Haidt says despite what we believe, our political beliefs aren't always as well reasoned as we think.
Ashley Lynn Hlebinsky is the curator of the Cody Firearms Museum (the most comprehensive collection of American firearms in the world) in Cody, Wyoming. She says we should strip away the politics and the myth around guns and also view them as important historic objects.
Stephen Thompson is the founder of the A.V. Club, the arts section of the satirical newspaper, "The Onion," originally based in Madison, Wisconsin. Thompson eventually left Madison for Washington DC, to work at NPR as an editor and reviewer at NPR Music. In this interview, Thompson tells Steve Paulson about the forces that drew "The Onion" staff to New York, and what it means to be an artist in the Heartland.
David Gessner discovered the American West as a young man, and the huge mountains and wide open spaces changed his life. He recently took a road trip through the West, following in the footsteps of two literary heroes, Edward Abbey and Wallace Stegner. Gessner says their books help us see the West in all its complexity.
Sticky Fingers is a tribute band whose members impersonate The Rolling Stones. Steven Kurutz spent a year with them and wrote about it in a book called "Like A Rolling Stone: The Strange Life of A Tribute Band."
Shane Harris tells Steve Paulson that our government is collecting masses of data on ordinary people in its efforts to catch terrorists.
Screenwriter Charlie Kauffman (“Being John Malkovich”) made himself a character in his adaptation of Susan Orlean’s book “The Orchid Thief”. The movie is called “Adaptation,” and is up for several Academy Awards, including one for Meryl Streep who plays the author.
Marion Nestle is a long-time food industry activist and the author of "Soda Politics: Taking on Big Soda (and Winning)." She explains why sodas are about race and class in America.