When Stephen Wolfram was 17, he dropped out of college. By the time he was 21, he had a Ph.D. in physics and was one of the first recipients of a MacArthur Genius Award. Today, he is the CEO of Wolfram Research and owner of one of the largest individual datasets in the world.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Audio
You probably heard our new theme tune in the shows this weekend. Want the back story on how the new music came about? Here's a conversation with Steve Mullen, who composed it.
Richard Nisbett argues that parenting styles have an enormous impact on the IQ of children and so does simply telling middle-school children that influencing their IQ is within their control.
Architect Lisa Mahar is the author of “American Signs: Form and Meaning on Route 66.” She says that the signs started out plain, but became grandiose neon monuments by the 1950s.
Paul Hawken is the author of "Blessed Unrest." He talks with Anne Strainchamps about the quantity and variety of people and organizations involved in the global activism movement.
Biographer Joan Schenkar thinks Patricia Highsmith deserves to be recognized as the author of one of the great American novels.
Alex Abramovich recommends "Blues People: Negro Music in White America" by Leroi Jones, who later changed his name to Amiri Baraka.
Academics are no longer just ivory tower analysts. The Defense Department has recently hired civilian anthropologists and social scientists as on-the-ground advisers to soldiers.
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