Mead McCormick is one of 100 finalists for the Mars One program, a private venture that hopes to start a colony on Mars by 2027. She talks to Anne Strainchamps about what attracted her to the project, what she imagines it will look like, and her fears about the blackness of space.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Audio
Mark Pendergrast tells Jim Fleming that mirrors were important in many ancient human cultures and recounts his experiences in a mirror maze.
When John Schwartz’s son, Joseph, was born seventeen years ago, John and his wife were feeling pretty good about their parenting… helping their son Sam and their daughter Elizabeth through the challenges of childhood..
But as Joe grew into toddlerhood, the Schwartzs noticed that he was different… not like most of the other boys. They started to wonder if he might grow up to be gay. They also noticed how the social pressure to be a stereotypical boy weighed on Joe…
Cosmologist Paul Davies talks with Steve Paulson about the anthropic principle and proposes that we live in a "participatory" universe - a premise he explores in his book, "Cosmic Jackpot: Why Our Universe Is Just Right for Life."
Joan Didion, who died last week at the age of 87, helped shape a highly personal brand of nonfiction that came to be known as the New Journalism. Her early essay collections "Slouching Towards Bethlehem" (1968) and "The White Album" (1979) influenced generations of writers. Her later memoirs, "The Year of Magical Thinking" and "Blue Nights," chronicled the deaths of her husband and daughter. In 2011 Didion talked with Steve Paulson about illness and growing old in the wake of the death of her daughter, Quintana.
"The Collectors" is a brand-new audiobook by writer Philip Pullman. The story sheds light into the early life of Marisa Coulter, a villain from Pullman's acclaimed fantasy trilogy, "His Dark Materials." Pullman sat down with Steve Paulson to talk about his acclaimed trilogy, and the fantastical world contained in it.
Frances Perkins was the woman behind the New Deal as she was sworn in as Secretary of Labor under Franklin Roosevelt.
Jay Parini talks with Jim Fleming about the power of poetry and how it especially empowers young people in troubled times.
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