Steve Paulson chats with Jim Fleming about his recent visit to Cuba. Steve was part of a delegation sponsored by the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Institute of World Affairs.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
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American Wendy Doniger holds two doctorates in Sanskrit and Indian studies from Harvard and Oxford. She’s the author of numerous books on Hinduism and has translated several Sanskrit texts. She’s widely considered one of the most important scholars on Indian religion in the world. So it might surprise you that there is one country in the world she can’t visit: India.
Doniger’s books have been targeted by Hindu Nationalists and by India’s ruling right-wing BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party). Her latest, “The Hindus: An Alternative History,” was the subject of a major lawsuit in India, and its publisher, Penguin Books India, not only pulled the book from circulation but destroyed all remaining copies. Since then, Doniger has received many death threats inside of India and no longer feels safe visiting there. But as she told Steve Paulson, her writing about Hinduism hasn’t changed in over 40 years. What has changed is India.
Music critic Yuval Taylor tells Steve Paulson that authenticity in music is a complicated business.
Recently hundreds of Evangelical leaders met with Donald Trump. One prominent Evangelical who did not attend is Michael Gerson, the former speechwriter and top aide to President George W. Bush. Gerson believes it's time to reframe the conservative agenda and he warns his fellow believers to beware “The Mark of Trump.”
Salman Ahmad grew up in both Pakistan and the United States. Trained as an M.D., Ahmad has traded in his stethoscope for a guitar and performs with his group, Junoon...
Tom Wolfe talks with Steve Paulson, and explains why he's so fascinated by the connection between sex and social status.
Everyone thinks The Arabian Nights is a collection of stories and folktales from the Middle East. In fact, some of the most famous were written by Europeans, who fell in love with the tradition and wanted more.
Scott Topper reads from the meditation journal he kept after learning a simple meditation from Buddhist monk George Churinoff.
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