Belquis Ahmadi is Afghan, Sameena Nazir is Pakistani. They tell Steve Paulson why Afghans welcomed the Taliban at first, what happened when they revealed their hidden agenda of oppressing women and controlling education.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Audio
Claire Tomalin has written a biography of nineteenth century novelist Thomas Hardy which reveals that he thought of himself as primarily a poet.
We hear from orangutan researcher Birute Galdikas who talks about her experience in Borneo observing the lives orangutans and about the deep connections she shared with them.
Daniel Libeskind is the architect whose design was chosen to the master-plan for the new World Trade Center site.
Erik Larson talks about the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893 and what it meant for Chicago at the turn of the century, and talks about America’s first serial killer who was operating in Chicago at the same time.
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.
Philosopher David Chalmers is famous for outlining the "hard problem of consciousness." He says the materialist framework of science will never be able to explain subjective experience.
You can listen to the EXTENDED interview - and find the transcript - here.
Houston's Rothko Chapel is a shrine to the transformative power of art. Abstract artist Mark Rothko created 14 enormous paintings for this sacred space. Pianist Sarah Rothenberg tells us the history behind the music on her CD "Rothko Chapel," and writer Terry Tempest Williams describes her reverence for the Rothko Chapel.
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