Historian Theodore Zeldin, author of “Conversation: How Talk Can Change Our Lives,” tells Steve Paulson that the old model of conversation was about hierarchy — one person laying down the law while others listened.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Audio
Jason Padgett was a hard-partying guy until a traumatic brain injury turned him into a math genius. Now, he sees complex geometric designs everywhere he looks.
The first stories in "Thousand and One Nights" were written down in the ninth century. They’ve been added to over the years. In some ways, it’s not so much a book as a living river of stories. Some of the most recent additions come from the celebrated novelist Salman Rushdie.
You can also hear many more interviews with Rushdie.
Ziauddin Sardar, a London based scholar and cultural critic, tells Steve what’s needed now is “an Islamic science” and explains what that is.
What's the best way to fight the homogenization of America?
Writer Stephen Kuusisto is blind and he says that among the many advantages —he gets eavesdrop on the rest of us, because most of the time, we don’t even notice he’s listening.
Film-maker Shu Kei tells Steve Paulson about his film, “A Queer Story.” It’s the story of a gay couple in Hong Kong, and created a lot of discomfort for its straight audiences.
Tom Matthews' first novel, “Like We Care,” tells what happens when some teenagers simply stop spending money on all the stuff that’s marketed to them.
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