Darrin McMahon is the author of “Happiness: A History.” He tells Jim Fleming the Founding Fathers equated happiness with virtue...
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Audio
John Safran says we need writers who are outsiders. Otherwise, groups will keep hiding their secrets.
Most people think of conflict as something to be avoided, but there's another way to view it -- as creative and generative. In his book "The Art of Rivalry," Boston Globe art critic Sebastian Smee explores how intense conflicts, broken friendships and personal reconciliations fueled some of the most dramatic breakthroughs in Modern Art. He tells Steve Paulson that the rivalry between Picasso and Matisse contributed, in part, to cubism.
Acrassicauda means Black Scorpion and is the name of an Iraqi heavy metal band.
"Gifts make slaves like whips make dogs" is an anthropologist's tale of inter-cultural difference in gift exchanges.
David Graeber takes us on a tour of gift giving, and gift economies. He also takes a swing at the question of whether it's possible to give a truly selfless gift.
Jeff VanderMeer recommends "The Other Side" by Alfred Kubin.
James Dawes interviewed a collection of convicted war criminals from the Second Sino-Japanese War. Today, they are "sweet old men" searching for forgiveness. Do they deserve it?
Brian Doherty is the author of "This Is Burning Man." He tells Anne Strainchamps about this annual free-form arts festival in the Nevada desert.
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