Larry Brilliant is a doctor, co-founder of the digital social network the Well, and he was the first executive director of Google.org. But back in the Sixties, he was a hippie doctor who joined Wavy Gravy's traveling bus caravan and then landed in an Indian ashram in the Himalayas, where his guru told him his destiny was to help cure smallpox. Miraculously, his U.N. team of doctors eradicated the world's remaining cases of this terrible disease. He tells Steve Paulson about a remarkable moment in history when anything seemed possible.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Audio
Our inaugural edition of "Watch This!" comes on the heels of the Academy Awards, with a nominee and the winner of the full-length documentary award.
Steve Paulson loves the idea of personal library. For all the digital data out there, Paulson says there's nothing quite like a book. He tells producer Sara Nics about data, knowledge, and To the Best of Our Knowledge.
Looking for the EXTENDED conversation? Find it here.
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Olivia Laing talks about her book, "The Trip to Echo Spring: On Writers and Drinking."
Why are Cuba and the U.S. restoring diplomatic relations? Journalist Ann Louise Bardach says Cuba desperately needs to open up its economy now that its patron, Venezuela, can no longer play the role of sugar daddy. And Raul Castro is finally stepping out of the shadow of his ailing brother Fidel.
Rudolph Bell tells Jim Fleming that Italian parents of 500 years ago had some very modern ideas about child rearing. And a few wacky ones about pre-determining the sex of your baby.
Sara Gruen tells Anne Strainchamps why she chose an elephant as a main character for her story of love, avarice and power.
Scott Topper's a poet, but that doesn't mean he's not conflicted about the twin powers of reading and writing.
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