Interviews with noteworthy people about their lives, ideas, and current events.
Adam Hochschild, author, historian, and co-founder of Mother Jones Magazine, talks about his career in the newspaper business, how journalism has changed over the past few decades, and the role for journalists in the Trump era.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 41:07 — 75.3MB)
Dr. Ruth Ben-Ghiat, Professor of History and Italian Studies at New York University, talks about her research on the rise of fascism in 1920s Italy, how and why authoritarian leaders can gain power, and her views on the 2016 U.S. Presidential election.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 51:24 — 23.5MB)
Bob Petrella, one of a few dozen people in the world who has been diagnosed with Hyperthymesia, talks about growing up in Northwestern Pennsylvania, how a near-perfect autobiographical memory has impacted his life, and some of the early insights scientist have gleaned from researching HSAM.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 31:54 — 14.6MB)
Dr. Henry Friedman, deputy director of the Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center at Duke University, talks about his professional background, his career working to help children and adults with brain and spinal cord tumors, and Duke’s initial trials using the polio virus to treat glioblastoma, a procedure recently documented on 60 Minutes.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 22:32 — 10.3MB)
Author and activist Raheel Raza talks about growing up in Pakistan as a Sunni Muslim, her video “By The Numbers,” which documents scientific polling data about the beliefs of Muslims around the world, and her work to try to modernize the Islamic world in relation to human rights and fundamental freedoms.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 34:27 — 15.8MB)
Author and linguistics professor Daniel Everett talks about becoming a Christian missionary as a young adult, living with the Pirahã tribe in the Amazon in an attempt to convert them to Christianity, and how his experience with the Pirahã moved him to atheism and a reevaluation of his beliefs and his life.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 42:52 — 19.6MB)
Dr. Theodora Ross talks about her career in medicine, her role as director of UT Southwestern’s Cancer Genetics Program, and her new book, A Cancer in the Family, a personal and scientific story highlighting the latest science of cancer genetics.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 36:38 — 16.8MB)