You know that the first settlers called Manhattan "New Amsterdam"? But the Dutch didn't just bring their sailing prowess and placenames with them. Russell Shorto thinks that liberal Dutch ideas about politics and society came too, and shaped the New World.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Audio
We made some particular choices about the music in hour four. Here's a note from Charles about the thinking that went into the score, and a Spotify playlist to explore.
So maybe you're not going to be the next Richard Pryor.
Even if you don't get many more laughs, you can laugh more. Katie West tells us how.
Chandra McCormick and Keith Calhoun have been photographing life in the Louisiana State Penitentiary for 30 years. They talk about the conditions in the prison - nicknamed Angola, for the plantation that was formerly on the site - and how they've changed over time. When they see the inmates working in the fields, they say, it looks a lot like slavery.
"Everything You Know About Indians Is Wrong"
Anthropologist Tanya Luhrmann's Dangerous Idea? To be better adjusted, change the way you think about thinking.
Michael Perry is a writer and volunteer fireman who lives in the small town of New Auburn, Wisconsin. His memoir about his adventures on the rescue squad there is called “Population 485: Meeting Your Neighbors One Siren at a Time.”
Rae Armantrout believes that there is one thing that all poetry should be - read out loud.
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