Anne Strainchamps sat down with the great Turkish writer Elif Shafak. Her latest novel, “The Architect’s Apprentice,” is an epic tale set in the height of the Ottoman Empire. It has bloodshed. It was palace intrigue. It has romance. And, yes, it has architecture.
Shafak’s tale centers around a 16th century mosque architect named Mimar Sinan. Though a character in her novel, Sinan was also a real person – considered to be the greatest architect in the Islamic World.
Psychologist Alison Gopnik is changing the way we think about babies. Her lab at UC-Berkeley has found evidence of empathy and scientific thinking in children as young as 14 months.
Would televised football be the same without the announcer? They give us background, commentary and insight.Listen as Allen St. John talks about the Fox game coverage strategy that has made the broadcast iconic, and recalls some of the greatest televised moments of Superbowls past.
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.
Philosopher Rebecca Goldstein says philosophy is still evolving, and continues to shape our values. She talks about her long fascination with the granddaddy of all philosophers, Plato.
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.
Composer Stephen Paulus sits at the piano keyboard and talks with Jim Fleming about how he developed the music for a group of six poems he set for the Festival Choir of Madison.
