Where does obsessive collecting come from? And what does it mean? Lorraine Daston takes us back to 17th century Europe and the nobility’s Kunstkamera, or chambers of wonders. They were filled with nature’s freaks and anomalies. But these marvels, these monsters, gave birth to modern science.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Audio
Pearl S. Buck’s last novel, “ The Eternal Wonder” was discovered last year in a storage locker in Texas. Anne Strainchamps talked with her son and literary executor, Edgar Walsh, about his mother’s life and legacy and her difficult last years.
Super Bowl Sunday is on our minds, we so called on Craig Harline to recount the history of Sundays, from the ancient Sabbath to the Super Bowl.
Steve Paulson presents a profile of the late writer Noel Perrin, best known for his essays on rural life.
In 1999 writer Leif Ueland was invited to ride the Playboy bus as it cris-crossed America in search of “Miss Millennium.”
Joshua Clover explains the subtitle of his book, “1989: Bob Dylan Didn’t Have This To Sing About.”
It's the 100th anniversary of the beginning of World War One, and with conflict flaring up around the globe, we started wondering just what we know about what started the war that was supposed to “end all wars.”
Malcolm Gladwell is a staff writer for The New Yorker and author of “The Tipping Point.” He talks about how successful marketing works and gives some examples.
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