Stefan Kanfer tells Jim Fleming that Groucho Marx flaunted authority his whole life, and that the price of his comedic genius was a tormented private life.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Audio
Sarah Winchester (born 1840) was the heiress to the Winchester Estate with a 50% holding of the Winchester Repeating Rifle Company. She used her vast fortune to construct a mansion for 38 consecutive years.
Popular legend held that she was cursed by all those who were killed by Winchester rifles. The only way to alleviate her suffering was to continue to add on to her mansion, filling it with strange sealed rooms and staircases and corridors leading nowhere. Pamela Haag tells her tale and gives it some meaning beyond a mere ghost story.
Sudha Koul is a Kashmiri Hindu living in the United States. Koul says her homeland is the most beautiful place on Earth.
Sherwin Nuland tells Steve Paulson that Leonardo’s driving passion was anatomy and that his painting aimed to capture a particular moment in time.
Neuroscientists say that about a quarter of our mental energy is dedicated to maintaining our narrative identities. Julian Keenan says there's got to be an evolutionary benefit for all that "self".
Suprabha Beckjord runs as a spiritual practice. She's a follower of Sri Chinmoy, who believed athletics could enhance spiritual enlightenment. So he set up various weightlifting, swimming, and distance running events. His most famous - and most grueling - is the annual Sri Chinmoy Self-Transcendence 3100 Mile Race. The race, which exceeds the distance from Boston to Los Angeles, takes place around a half- mile loop in Queens, New York. Suprabha Beckjord ran those 3100 miles for 13 years in a row. Her fastest race was 49 days and 14 hours, an average or more than 63 miles a day. Rehman Tungekar talks with her.
Tom Wolfe is back on the bestseller list with his new novel “Back to Blood.” In this NEW and EXTENDED interview, Wolfe ranges from why he picked Miami as the location for his novel; his critique of modern fiction; the early days of New Journalism; and his satirical take on the contemporary art world.
Sara Lorimer tells Jim Fleming about the Chinese woman who ran an empire of six fleets and eighty thousand pirates, and the Irish pirate who gave birth during a battle.
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