Before the Internet, a good memory wasn't just useful; it was prized as a sign of intelligence. And there were memory geniuses who developed mental tricks for storing information. Philosopher and novelist Simon Critchley delves into the fascinating history of the memory palace, which once promised almost God-like wisdom.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Audio
Stephen Long is the founder of Northern Woodlands Magazine. He takes us for a walk in his Vermont woods and teaches us how to "read" a forest.
In a HBO's hit series "True Detective" is an uncanny blend of police procedural and metaphysical inquiry, set in the Louisiani bayous. Creator and writer Nic Pizzolatto gives Steve Paulson the backstory.
To see Pizzolatto's website, click here.
Rupert Isaacson made a journey with his family to seek out shamans in horse-centered cultures to treat his autistic son.
Writer Terry Tempest Williams recommends the novel "Tracks" by Louise Erdrich. Erdrich, one of the great writers of the Native American Renaissance, is a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians.
We're celebrating National Poetry Month this year by reading some of our favorite poems. Here's Sara with Allen Ginsberg's "Sunflower Sutra."
A small warning, there are some explicit words in the poem.
Whose America is it? Writer Thomas King has strong feelings about that. He says Native Americans have been many things to white people. Slaves, stereotypes, savages. And always inconvenient.
Poet Christian Wiman says being diagnosed with cancer - and falling in love - spurred him to write.
In this conversation with Jim Fleming, he reads poems throbbing with life, and talks about finding future.
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