In the U.S., copyright originally lasted only 14 years. These days, creative works could be protected for as long as the author's alive, plus an additional 70 years. Cultural historian Siva Vaidhyanathan explains the evolution of copyright law, and how it's affected artists.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Audio
Novelist and journalist William Vollmann has written a seven volume study of the moral calculus of violence. Vollmann talks with Steve Paulson about when violence is justified and when it isn’t.
Alena Graedon's debut novel is an intellectual thriller set in the near future. Print is dead, words have been monetized, and a "word flu" is running rampant. The book is called "The Word Exchange."
Starhawk is one of America’s best known witches. She tells Anne Strainchamps about the Pagan festival of Samhain and how the wiccan community celebrates it.
How does something as wet and gooshy as the brain produce consciousness, which is immaterial? Steve Paulson reports on the debate among scientists and philosophers.
Ever since the Cold War ended, we've largely forgotten about the threat of nuclear war. Ron Rosenbaum says that's a huge mistake. In fact, the threat is very real in today's world.
Native American writer Sherman Alexie talks with Steve Paulson about his stories, the film “Smoke Signals,” and being Indian in America.
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.
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