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
The Book of Revelation is the Bible's last - and most controversial - book. Renowned historian Elaine Pagels explains the enduring power of this apocalyptic story.
Michael Chabon defends the position that genre fiction is just as worthy of respect as any other fiction.
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.
Kevin Smokler tells Steve Paulson that the Internet is changing the world of letters but he thinks it’s progress. Smokler sees a welcome democratization of literature.
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.
Mark Kurlansky tells Steve Paulson that salt made food a tradable commodity and that it inspired revolutions from India to France. Because people have to have salt, governments want to control and tax it.
Jane Hamilton tells Anne Strainchamps the inspiration for her latest book came when she was teaching a writing workshop on a cruise ship.
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