Julia Hansen chained herself to the radiator in her dining room for a week in an effort to quit smoking cigarettes.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Audio
Harriet Tubman will soon be gracing our twenty dollar bill. Most of us know only one image of her. It's an iconic image taken later in her life in which her hair's covered in a dark cloth and she has a stern expression. But there are other images of Harriet Tubman as well, including a wood cut of her carrying a musket.
Law professor Nicholas Johnson says the image of Harriet Tubman carrying a rifle doesn’t fit with how most Americans view abolitionists and civil rights leaders. After all, weren’t they supposed to be peaceful? But as Johnson tells Steve Paulson, there's a rich tradition of Black Americans owning guns for self-defense.
How did non-life become life? University of Wisconsin geochemist Nita Sahai talks with Anne Strainchamps about how life might have begun on Earth.
The renowned atheist and evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins has just written a book for children: “The Magic of Reality.” In this NEW AND UNCUT interview, Steve Paulson talks with Dawkins about the difference between supernatural magic and poetic magic, and why atheists no longer need to hide in the closet.
Rob Nixon grew up near the ostrich farms of South Africa. He tells Steve Paulson about the 19th century fashion craze for ostrich plumes and the fortunes it created.
Jay Parini is a poet, novelist and teacher. He's also the author of "Promised Land: Thirteen Books That Changed America." He tells Jim Fleming that his is not a list of "great books" but rather books that significantly changed the literary climate of American culture.
Mitchell is a literary virtuoso, best known for his 2004 novel “Cloud Atlas.” He’s famous for the intricate structure of his novels - which weave together multiple narrators, interconnected stories and even different genres - all within the same book. He’s done it again with “The Bone Clocks."
Mick Aston is an archeologist and the co-creator of the British television show “Time Team.” Aston and a crew of archeologists and scientists descend on a site and see what they can come up with in three days.
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