Audio

Buffy Sainte-Marie on Her New Album, "Power in the Blood"

74 year-old Cree musician Buffy Sainte-Marie has done a lot since she was 24. She got her Ph.D. She got politically active in the American Indian Movement and the anti-GMO movement. She raised a family. She was even on Sesame Street for five seasons—and was the first woman to breast feed on American television.

But most of us know Buffy Sainte-Marie as an iconic 60s folk singer with such hits as "Universal Soldier" and "It's My Way." And now, some 50 years after her debut album, Buffy has a new one. It’s called “Power in the Blood.” This new CD proves that this Oscar, Juno, and Golden Globe award-winning woman's career is not over yet.

Baba Brinkman on the Rap Canterbury Tales

Rapper Baba Brinkman tells Anne Strainchamps that Geoffrey Chaucer’s work has a lot in common with the language of hip hop music.

Does Caring for the Dead Make Us Human?

According to historian Thomas Laqueur, neither sanitation nor the soul fully explain the rang of rituals we've developed for caring for dead bodies. For him, there is a deeper anthropological truth at work: caring for the dead marks the human transition from nature into culture.

Bon Iver Puts Wisconsin Hometown On The Map With Indie Music Fest

Bon Iver's Justin Vernon has created a nearly perfect summer music festival in Eau Claire, Wisconsin -- his hometown. 25,000 people spent two days camping by a river, throwing frisbees and listening to indie bands. Festival narrator and local writer Michael Perry shares the story behind the town, the festival, and the musical legend.

David Orr on Modern Poetry

David Orr says modern poetry shouldn't intimidate us. He's the author of "Beautiful and Pointless: A Guide to Modern Poetry."

E.O. Wilson Argues for Certain Mosquito Species Destruction

I dunno, but it seems kind of extreme, not to mention risky, to bio-engineer a mass mosquito die-off. So Steve Paulson tracked down the world’s greatest living entomologist to see what he has to say. E. O Wilson is sometimes called “the ant man” – that’s the insect he studied most – but he’s best known as the evolutionary biologist and a champion of biodiversity. He’s 86 years old now, and has just finished what is probably his last book – called “Half Earth”. It’s a passionate plea to save humanity by dedicating half the planet to nature. You’d assume that Wilson would be happy to let mosquitos live in that half… but that’s not what he told Steve.

Francine Segan on "The Philosopher's Kitchen"

Francine Segan, author of "The Philosopher's Kitchen", tells us of the importance of bread to the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans.

Debra Ginsberg on Waitressing

Debra Ginsberg tells Jim Fleming what can turn a shift into a nightmare; why so many wait staff are performers; and that people tip better when they're spending someone else's money.

Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.