If traditional religion has lost its luster, where do you find sacred experiences? Anthropologist Erik Davis goes looking around the edges of contemporary culture - from Burning Man and trance music to psychedelics.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Audio
No matter how much we learn about the brain, Sacks says we may never understand how the mind works. In this interview, he marvels at how the human brain is fine-tuned to respond to music.
In 1776 there were no radios or telephones or honking cars, but there were other sounds. The church bell, the town crier, and women beating their laundry all had distinct sounds.
Marco Iacoboni talks about mirror neurons - neurons hard-wired into us and explain how we feel empathy and compassion and why we feel the need to connect with one another.
We hear a clip from the 2007 film "When Nietzsche Wept" which introduces the concept of "eternal recurrence."
Jonathan Lethem talks to Steve Paulson about "The Exegesis of Philip K. Dick." The book is based on thousands of pages of notes and journal entries that the legendary science-fiction writer, Dick, kept after a series of visionary experiences.
Jeff Gordinier tells Steve Paulson why his generation has the perfect qualities to improve the world they'll inherit from the Baby Boomers.
Ralph Stanley is one of the founding fathers of bluegrass or old-time mountain music. He talks with Steve Paulson about his family, his music and his concern with death, and we hear lots of his music.
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