Frederick Turner is the author of “1929: a Novel of the Jazz Age.” Turner reads from the book and talks with Steve Paulson about its central character, Bix Beiderbeck.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Audio
We hate mosquitoes.
But why? I mean, yes --- West Nile, dengue, malaria, Zika…not to mention ruined picnics, sleepless nights, and bites you scratch until they bleed … Those are logical reasons to dislike mosquitoes. But admit it – they also just creep you out.
Jeffrey Lockwood gets at the psychology in his book “The Infested Mind.” He’s an entomologist who once had a truly horrific encounter with a swarm of grasshoppers. He was left traumatized. Afterwards he wondered why we all fear and loathe insects so much.
Lockwood told Rehman Tungekar the answer is deep deep in our psyches.
Biologist Cindy Engel tells Steve Paulson that wild animals self-medicate in a number of ways and that there is really no difference for animals between nutrition and medicine.
Alba is a real rabbit, created in a lab and genetically modified to glow in the dark. Eduardo Kac talks about the moral and ethical implications of art using living subjects.
Ben Folds is fascinated with the human voice, especially in the genre of A Cappella music.
Some people used to complain that the movie didn't live up to the book. Now they're saying the movie doesn't live up to its sequel.
Emily Parker bookmarks Mario Vargas Llosa's "Conversation in the Cathedral."
Elaine Scarry's a defender of beauty. She says not only does beauty thrill and compel us, it also inspires us to make the world more just. Here's our extended interview with her.
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