Steve presents a profile of Edward Abbey, whose book "Desert Solitaire" changed the way people thought about the desert. Abbey inspired many of today's environmental activists. We hear excerpts from Abbey's work and his admirers.More
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Interviews By Topic
In 2017, a new museum of fascism was proposed in Predappio, Italy—the birthplace of Benito Mussolini. Historically, the town was already a pilgrimage site for neo-Fascist groups. Journalist Ilaria Maria Sala explains the town’s history with fascism and how they’re trying to reckon with it today.More
Bruno Latour straddles disciplines, from sociology to philosophy, and for the last four decades has been a formidable intellectual presence around the world. His new book digs deeply into debates about nature, culture, and the Anthropocene.More
For three decades, MIT professor Sherry Turkle's been looking at the ways we interact with machines. She believes our digital devices are taking a toll on our personal relationships.More
Nate Staniforth spent thousands of hours learning the craft of stage magic. But he was really looking for wonder. And he says real magic is not smoke machines or stage tricks; it's creating a moment of genuine astonishment.More
Religious scholar Michael Muhammad Knight thinks that most religions, including his own Islamic faith, have a secret history of magical practice.More
In 2018, we have a lot more to be anxious about than just nuclear weapons.More
James Gleick, a science writer with a special interest in the cultural impact of technology, recently sat down with Steve Paulson to talk about the cultural history of time travel and its enduring appeal.More
Alyson Richman is the author of six historical novels. Her latest is called "The Velvet Hours" and it was inspired by a recent newspaper story in the Paris press.More
We all think about time but probably not as deeply as the groundbreaking theoretical physicist Lee Smolin. Smolin has created a radical new view of the nature of time and the cosmos. He lays it out in a book called "Time Reborn: From the Crisis in Physics to the Future of the Universe."More
Unlike their canine relatives, coyotes have thrived in the U.S. Despite having been hunted just as intensely as wolves, coyotes have survived. Somehow, coyotes just spread, everywhere. Dan Flores told Steve Paulson how. More
The trailblazing author passed away this week at the age of 88. She was known for marrying the tropes of science fiction and fantasy to big ideas drawn from spirituality, economics, sociology and beyond. That eclectic mix made for impactful and relevant stories that transcended genre.More
What do you do when your buddy in high school turns out to be the serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer?More
So can we empathize with people who become monsters? Derf Backderf — whose teenage self appears in Meyers' film — certainly thinks so.More
During basketball camp in Fargo, North Dakota, cultural critic Chuck Klosterman made an enemy — for life. And maybe that was a bad idea.More
The personal devices we live with and depend on — our computers, tablets, smartphones and more— all share information about us. Randolph Lewis tells more stories about how we’re being watched in a book called “Under Surveillance.”More
A couple of years ago, journalist Gay Talese published “The Voyeur’s Motel,” the true story of a motel owner who spent more than 30 years spying on his guests while they had sex. The case is now the subject of a Netflix documentary called “Voyeur.”More
The young American soldiers who protected Saddam Hussein during his trial spent hours alone with the “Butcher of Baghdad” and unexpectedly grew to like him. They were devastated by his execution and its violent aftermath. More