The kind of people who live in places like Jackson, Kentucky often get characterized as poor, white and angry. And worse, as redneck and racist – hillbilly white trash. J.D. Vance knows them well. They’re his people. He grew up in Kentucky coal country and the Ohio rust belt - places he left behind when he went to Yale Law School. Today he practices in Silicon Valley, but he’s just written a book called “Hillbilly Elegy," which should be required reading for this election year. Welcome to Jackson, Kentucky.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
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Sleep may be an utterly common activity, but neuroscientist Giulio Tononi believes it's the greatest experiment in consciousness.
You can also listen to the EXTENDED interview, and read the extended transcript.
Hardeep Dhaliwal has an interesting take on “The Wizard of Oz.” She thinks it’s riddled with Yogic symbolism.
Actor and producer George Bartenieff put together and performs a one man play called "I Will Bear Witness" based on the diaries of Victor Klemperer, a Jew who survived the Third Reich.
Antoinette Varner says that to truly know our selves, just drop who you think you are, and pay attention to the "I". In this UNCUT interview, Varner - who's also known as Gangaji - talks with Steve Paulson about grappling with narrative identity, and moving beyond it.
Henry Raddick is an enthusiastic contributor of reviews to the Amazon.com website. He tells Steve Paulson that he reads all the books he reviews, and only says good things about them.
Is it actually possible to give a truly selfless gift? Anthropologist David Graeber says it's not only impossible, the entire idea of a "free gift" is nothing but a construct born in opposition to impersonal market economies. In other words, it’s you know, complicated.
Maybe feminism is a moot point. According to journalist Hanna Rosin, in the rapidly changing world we live in, women are far outpacing men. She writes about the trend in her book "The End of Men."
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