With the Carolina Panthers facing off against the Denver Broncos in Superbowl 50, football is on our minds this week. And for many of the millions of fans who tune in every Sunday to watch their favorite teams compete, football is little more than a weekly ritual. For English professor Mark Edmundson, the football field is a staging ground for some of life's most important lessons. In his book "Why Football Matters," Edmundson looks back to his own high school years playing the sport and reflects on how it taught him courage, resilience, determination, and other values he'd draw on as an adult.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
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Sherman Alexie is a celebrated fiction writer who is also Spokane, and who has strong opinions about what it means to be a real Indian.
The Reduced Shakespeare Company bring their latest production into our studio. They provide a whirlwind tour of the great books of literature.
John Brockman talks smarts, "third culture" intellectuals, and our web-y world in this NEW and UNCUT interview.
Salman Ahmad is a Pakistani rock star. His group is Junoon, and they're the most popular rock group in South Asia.
Xinran hosted a call-in radio program in Beijing which for eight years told the heart-rending true stories of women’s lives in China.
The 1967 Ice Bowl is one of football's legendary showdowns, when the wind chill dipped to 50 below zero. Commentator Bill Povletich remembers this historic game.
For others, football is sacred. In fact, William Dean says the game is part of "American spiritual culture." He talks with Jim Fleming about the way religious beliefs crop up in American popular culture.
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