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To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Making Democracy Fun

Correction: This interview refers to a survey finding that only 22% of Americans trust government at all levels. The actual survey was limited to trust in the federal government, and found that 22% of Americans trusted the government in Washington "almost always or most of the time".

We all know it's important to be involved in local government, but can political participation also be fun? Josh Lerner thinks so. He believes local governments could boost the fun factor in the political process by borrowing a few ideas from game design.

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Kurt Hoelting on Living Local

A commercial fisherman and wilderness guide in the Pacific Northwest, he set out to spend a year living within 60 miles of his home.

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PEN World Voices Festival Chairman on Charlie Hebdo Controversy

The French satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo, was presented with a Freedom on Expression award from the PEN American Center this week.  Six high-profile writers boycotted the awards ceremony at PEN's big annual gala.  Hundreds more protested, while others gave the magazine's editors a standing ovation.  The chariman of the PEN World Voices Festival is Colm Toibin, the celebrated Irish novelist.  Toibin shares his thoughs on the controversy.

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Mario Vargas Llosa on the dictator Trujillo

Mario Vargas Llosa is one of the godfathers of Latin American fiction. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2010.  He also once ran for president of his native country, Peru.  Politics and literature are the driving forces in his life.

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Lendol Calder on Debt

Lendol Calder says being in debt is a good thing.  He tells Steve Paulson that consumer credit drives the world economy.

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Karen Armstrong on "The Spiral Staircase"

Karen Armstrong talks with Anne Strainchamps about her tangled path back to God after leaving the convent.

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New Environmental Paradigm - Bill McKibben

Environmentalist Bill McKibben believes it's time for a new environmental paradigm:  small and local.

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Jason Zinoman on "Shock Value"

Jason Zinoman talks to Jim Fleming about his book, "Shock Value: How a Few Eccentric Outsiders Gave Us Nightmares, Conquered Hollywood, and Invented Modern Horror."

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