Writer Charles Baxter understands the inner world of teenagers. He shares a tale of teen angst from his novel, “Saul and Patsy.”
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Audio
Frans de Waal talks with Steve Paulson about the evidence demonstrating that animals have culture.
Essayist Chuck Klosterman talks with Steve Paulson about TV's "Mad Men."
Death is the one that no one can survive. Unless… well, it depends on just how dead you are.
Anne here. My conversation with Turkish writer Elif Şafak back in April still sticks with me as the year comes to a close. In many parts of the world, 2016 was the year of the populist leader—especially in Turkey, where Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan launched a crackdown on free speech and all forms of opposition. 120 journalists have been jailed, more than 2,000 academics have been dismissed from universities, and more than 100,000 public workers have been fired. How did Turkey—once a model of new democratic nations—become such a different place? Not only did Şafak see this coming, she warned that the West should not consider itself immune.
“In the culture people talk about trauma as an event that happened a long time ago. But what trauma is, is the imprints that event has left on your mind and in your sensations... the discomfort you feel and the agitation you feel and the rage and the helplessness you feel right now.”
Psychiatrist Bessel van der Kolk is helping people with post traumatic stress disorder focus less on talking about their stories, and more on how their stories feel, how they sound, look, or smell.
You can also hear van der Kolk's extended interview, including more on yoga and the neuroscience of trauma.
Norwegian writer Karl Ove Knausgaard recommends a chilling read: "The Flame Alphabet" by Ben Marcus.
Clinical psychologist Daniel Goleman talks about how his discovery of Buddhist psychology shaped his life and career, as well as his best-selling book, "Emotional Intelligence."
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