Is humanity getting better or worse?
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Audio
Psychologists John and Julie Gottman are famous for being able to predict with 94% accuracy whether a couple will break up, stay together unhappily, or stay together happily. In their Love Lab, they've identified hidden patterns of behavior that can strengthen or weaken relationships. If we'd known the secret to a good marriage was non-linear differential equations, we might have paid more attention in math class.
What does it mean to be free? And what does it mean to live a personally authentic, honest life with ourselves and with others? These are the questions that Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir and their existential friends wrestled with in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Sarah Bakewell makes the case that their late-night conversations are especially relevant today. She's the author of "At the Existentialist Cafe: Freedom, Being, and Apricot Cocktails."
Frank Rich tells Jim Fleming that the Broadway musicals of his childhood were all about dysfunctional families and helped him cope with his own difficult family situation.
Astronomers have detected strange light patterrns around a star 1500 light years away. The usual explanations fall short, so Jason Wright says one possibility is a massive structure created by an advanced alien civilization.
Why has America stopped inventing? Americans invent less than half of what we did a century ago. Half. Why? Are we less creative then we were 100 years ago?
Dr. Olivier Ameisen was a cardiologist until his alcoholism left his life in tatters. He found relief with the a drug that eliminates his cravings for alcohol.
David Gewirtzman is a Holocaust survivor from Poland. Jacqueline Murekatete is a University student who lived through the tribal massacres in Rwanda. The two tour together speaking about the horrors of genocide.
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