Persi Diaconis was a stage magician before he discovered probability theory and became one of the world's leading mathematicians. He tells us about some very powerful formulas derived from card shuffles and magic tricks.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
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Science journalist Harriet Brown says the medical establishment has demonized fat and misrepresented the science behind dieting and weight loss. She unpacks the four most toxic medical myths about weight and health.
<p>Climate experts are shocked by the rate at which greenhouse gases are rising. New US government figures show CO2 levels have already topped experts' worst-case scenarios. But if driving hybrids and switching to fluorescent bulbs isn't enough -- what is? William Powers presents a vision of truly sustainable living in an off-the-grid, 12x12 cabin.</p>
The saddest music of all to many people is Samuel Barber’s “Adagio for Strings.”
Journalist and poet Ruben Martinez tells Steve Paulson that there are powerful economic incentives for Mexicans to cross the U.S. border to find work.
Stephen Prothero thinks it's imperative that Americans have a working knowledge of religious traditions at home and abroad to understand other peoples and our own politicians.
In Sara Gruen's new novel "Ape House," a family of bonobo apes are captured to be the main attraction in a reality TV show.
Legendary showman P.T. Barnum once owned a slave named Joice Heth. Barnum claimed she was 161 years old and a former nanny to George Washington. Benjamin Reiss tells the story in his book "The Showman and the Slave: Race, Death, and Memory in Barnum's America."
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