Interviews By Topic

Stanislav Grof

Long before Timothy Leary's study of LSD, psychiatrist Stanislav Grof launched his own investigation of psychedelics.  Since then he's devoted his life to exploring non-ordinary states of consciousness.More

Stanley Crouch

Cultural critic Stanley Crouch tells Steve Paulson that Americans have some pretty messed up ideas about what it means to be authentic.More

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

How does a suburban dad with three kids find meaning in Thoreau's "Walden"?   Tom Fate says Thoreau helps us examine a basic question:  How much is enough?More

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

In 2008, journalist Anand Gopal travelled to Afghanistan to speak with civilians, warlords and Taliban fighters about the US-led war in the country. In his book, "No Good Men Among the Living," he argues the distinction between America's allies and enemies in the country isn't always clear.More

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

In this look behind the scenes, producer Veronica Rueckert and Anne Strainchamps remember our interview with Amy Wallace-Havens, the sister of the late David Foster Wallace. More

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

In 2005, David Foster Wallace addressed the graduating class at Kenyon College in California.  Anne Strainchamps looks back at this recording and what it's come to mean to her and her family.More

Created in 1976, this historic photograph showed an adult female receiving a vaccination that was administered by a public health clinician, by way of a jet injector, also known as a “Ped-O-Jet®”, during the nationwide Swine Flu vaccination campaign

Why have some parents started second guessing their pediatrician’s advice, to the point that measles is showing up in Disneyland? Historian Arthur Allen explains how we got here.More

flower

Tucker Malarkey has written a novel called "Resurrection" about the discovery of the Gnostic Gospels in Egypt in 1945.More

David Foster Wallace

What turned David Foster Wallace into a cult icon?  He’s more famous today than when he committed suicide 7 years ago. Stephen Burn is editing Wallace's letters. He says there are two kinds of DFW fans.More

Is the American criminal justice system perpetuating racial castes? Civil rights attorney and activist Michelle Alexander breaks down the systemic racism inherent to our justice system.More

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

How relevant are 1001 Nights today? Well, they’re still a powerful influence for some very famous writers. Here' Turkish author, Orhan Pamuk.More

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Nobel Prize-winning writer Orhan Pamuk offers his take on why he writes.More

Desert at Joshua Tree

Losing yourself in wilderness can also be a way of finding yourself, and one place you can do that is in our national parks. Renowned nature writer Terry Tempest Williams reflects on her love for these parks — especially those with desert landscapes.More

cake

Feeling hopeless? How about cake recipes for the Apocalypse? Shannon O'Malley offers a few of her favorite recipes.More

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Everyone's afraid of something. Here's a small sampling of fears from Question Bridge: Black Males, a transmedia project that fosters dialogue between African American men of diverse backgrounds.More

It turns out that even the most basic things we believe about ourselves are often wrong. Neuroscientist Julian Keenan says it has to do with how the brain works. He’s the author of the “Face in the Mirror: How We Know Who We Are.” More

book glasses

Some of the world's most celebrated scientists and artists have been dyslexic.  Cognitive scientist Maryanne Wolf says dyslexia can be a gift, but schools must learn how to teach dyslexics to read.More

mary and jesus puppet

The Reduced Shakespeare Company perform an even further abridged version of their theatrical show "The Bible: The Complete Word of God" - abridged.More

Pages