Do atheists have any use for religion? Philosopher Alain de Botton says atheists can learn religious traditions tap into various emotional needs, from our yearning for community to our desire to create sacred spaces.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Audio
Andrew Carroll talks with Anne Strainchamps about what letters from various wars have in common, and reads excerpts from Civil War and WWII letters.
Sheherezade – the world’s first feminist. Lebanese writer Hanan Al-Shaykh has re-told some of her stories in a new collection.
Novelist Abby Frucht talks with Judith Strasser about her latest - "Polly's Ghost." Polly, the narrator, is learning how to be a ghost.
Alex Kerr tells Jim Fleming that the administration of daily life in Japan is completely divorced from politics and that Japan spends some 40 percent of its budget on construction.
Israeli novelist Amos Oz tells Steve Paulson that his own life parallels the history of modern Israel and that his parents were intellectual European emigres.
The film “Buzkashi Boys” is a coming of age story set in Afghanistan’s national sport, Buzkashi. It's a game of horse polo played with a dead goat instead of a ball. Plus, a coda from novelist Khaled Hosseini.
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