Timothy Ferris is the author of nearly a dozen books of popular science, including “Seeing in the Dark: How Backyard Stargazers Are Probing Deep Space and Guarding Earth from Interplanetary Peril.”
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Audio
Film director Rodney Ascher recommends Paul Schrader's 1988 movie, "Patty Hearst."
When Asra Normani got an assignment to research Tantra - an ancient form of yoga - she thought she'd have an adventure. She ended up on a journey of the spirit and the heart.
You've heard the saying, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." Journalist David Rieff thinks that's rubbish, and he says if you want peace, it's sometimes better to forget historical crimes than try to get justice.
We all love the feeling of getting lost in a good story and seeing the world through a character’s eyes. Recently, psychologists have been studying whether that experience actually changes readers. Novelist and cognitive psychologist Keith Oatley tells us about the latest research connecting fiction with empathy.
Ry Cooder made history with the record album “Buena Vista Social Club.” He’s been back to Cuba several times to make music and has a new album called “Mambo Sinuendo.”
Summer festivals are a huge part of the American music scene -- and of the music marketplace. Why do millions of people risk sunburn and dehydration when they could hear the same music better with earbuds? Music critic Maura Johnston unpacks the economics and the atavistic lure of the summer music festival.
Thebe Medupe is an astrophysicist who grew up under apartheid. He talks about the stories he grew up hearing from his village elders and the astronomical legends of the Dogun people in Mali.
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