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.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
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"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.
Dame Evelyn Glennie is an award winning solo percussionist and composer who performs with the great orchestras and popular artists. She's also deaf. She talks with Steve Paulson about touching sound.
Rumors are flying that we'll see a Major League baseball game in Havana next year. But that doesn't account for the thorny problem of Cuban defectors now playing in America, or the crumbling infrastructure of Havana's baseball stadiums.
Are humans really unique? Not as much as we tend to think, says renowned primatologist Frans de Waal. In this EXTENDED, UNCUT interview, de Waal tells Steve Paulson about the emotional & moral lives of chimpanzees and bonobos. This interview was done in partnership with the new science and culture magazine Nautilus.
Cognitive psychologist Chris Moulin is studying the strange experience of deja vu. For some of his patients, the feeling of deja vu can be crippling.
Bill Siemering, NPR’s first Director of Programming and President of Developing Radio Partners, tells Steve Paulson how communities in the developing world are using radio as a community development tool.
TTBOOK producer Doug Gordon investigates one of surf rock’s zaniest modern acts, Los Straitjackets to find out what’s happening with their surf rock sound.
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