What would a world without national borders look like? There's a good chance it'd look very similar to the one we have today. Parag Khanna is a global strategist who believes borders are becoming irrelevant in an increasingly connected world. More than national boundaries, he believes what matters are the connections between cities.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
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American Wendy Doniger holds two doctorates in Sanskrit and Indian studies from Harvard and Oxford. She’s the author of numerous books on Hinduism and has translated several Sanskrit texts. She’s widely considered one of the most important scholars on Indian religion in the world. So it might surprise you that there is one country in the world she can’t visit: India.
Doniger’s books have been targeted by Hindu Nationalists and by India’s ruling right-wing BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party). Her latest, “The Hindus: An Alternative History,” was the subject of a major lawsuit in India, and its publisher, Penguin Books India, not only pulled the book from circulation but destroyed all remaining copies. Since then, Doniger has received many death threats inside of India and no longer feels safe visiting there. But as she told Steve Paulson, her writing about Hinduism hasn’t changed in over 40 years. What has changed is India.
Olivia Laing talks about her book, "The Trip to Echo Spring: On Writers and Drinking."
Tom Brokaw, former anchor and managing editor of NBC News, talks with Anne Strainchamps about the polarizing effects of the sixties.
Physicist Ronald Mallet tells Anne Strainchamps why he thinks he can use light to bend the fabric of space and achieve time travel.
One way to live dangerously is to stand up for your principles, especially if it means challenging those closest to you. Documentary filmmaker Kendall Wilcox and feminist activist Kate Kelly both exposed themselves to enormous risk when they pushed for change within the LDS Church and community.
Salman Rushdie tells Steve Paulson that he loved the movie, “The Wizard of Oz” and that he sees it as a parable about home and homelessness.
Stephen Bloom tells Jim Fleming about a group of Orthodox Jews who moved from Brooklyn to Postville to run a kosher slaughterhouse.
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