Ellen Ruppel Shell talks with Anne Strainchamps about the effects of our obsession with low prices.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Audio
Chandler Burr's new book explains Luca Turin’s theory of how we smell and recounts his amazing ability to recognize the odor of particular molecules.
Barry Unsworth says that the layers of history are tangible on Crete, and talks about some of the island’s mythic figures.
What does it mean to be free? And what does it mean to live a personally authentic, honest life with ourselves and with others? These are the questions that Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir and their existential friends wrestled with in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Sarah Bakewell makes the case that their late-night conversations are especially relevant today. She's the author of "At the Existentialist Cafe: Freedom, Being, and Apricot Cocktails."
The asexual movement calls into question everything you thought you knew about love and romance. We talk with David Jay, founder of AVEN, the Asexuality Visibility and Education Network.
He sounded the alarm about global warming over 20 years ago. Now he has a model of how to survive on our changed planet.
"Religion always starts with mysticism," says David Steindl-Rast. Now 89, he's been a Benedictine monk since 1953. Brother David was one of the first Roman Catholics to engage in dialogues between Christians and Buddhists. He tells Steve Paulson about the joys of life in the monastery.
Dave Soldier is a neurologist with an unusual hobby. He teaches elephants to play musical instruments.
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