Steve Fast's Show

Meet Your Brain

2010-10-21T08:17:00.002-05:00

Your brain knows different things than you think it does. Prejudice, bias and a number of other traits that we consciously decry may be more hard-wired in our subconscious than we think.

Shankar Vedantam, author of the Washington Post's "Department of Human Behavior" column, has taken a look at the scientific study of subconscious actions. Vedantam says that sexism, prejudice and other behaviors are deeply ingrained, sometimes in opposition to what we say we believe. But yet Vedantam says when people say they are not prejudiced, they aren't lying. They just don't really know what their brain thinks...

LISTEN: SHANKAR VEDANTAM - THE HIDDEN BRAIN

The Negotiator

2010-10-07T12:24:00.000-05:00

Somali pirates and Montana Freemen might not seem to have much in common. But when it comes to the hostages they take and the men and women called in to try and keep those hostages alive, those kind of abductors are too much the same.

The standoffs we see in the news often involve a political or social ploy. For negotiators that is a starting point. When the situation is more emotional it gets significantly more complicated.

Former FBI chief negotiator Gary Noesner is used to high-stakes, emotional situations.

The crisis negotiator dealt with kidnappers, terrorists and many others pushed to the edge during his thirty-year career.

Noesner talks about his career as a negotiator, including the 1993 at the Branch Davidian disaster in Waco, TX.

LISTEN: GARY NOESNER - STALLING FOR TIME

A Tale of Presidents and Enemies

2010-10-04T13:19:00.003-05:00

With his bestseller MANHUNT, author and historian James Swanson turned the story of John Wilkes Booth into a page-turning thriller.

He returns to the fading days of the Civil War for his latest book, BLOODY CRIMES. Swanson talks about another "villain" to the North: Confederate president Jefferson Davis.

Swanson discusses the parallels between the two presidents and how the view of both men in history became formed as Davis fled the Union and Lincoln's corpse began a procession back to his final resting place.

LISTEN: JAMES SWANSON - BLOODY CRIMES

Historian Nora Titone has taken a deeper look at the protagonist of Swanson's first hit book: John Wilkes Booth.

Titone, who once worked as a researcher for presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, examines the Booth family in her new book MY THOUGHTS BE BLOODY.

A family of actors, the Booths had a family dynamic that echoed Shakespearian tragedies. Titone discusses the bitter rivalry, professionally and politically between John Wilkes Booth and his far more famous (at the time) brother, Edwin.

LISTEN: NORA TITONE - MY THOUGHTS BE BLOODY

The "Too Big To Fail" FAIL

2010-09-26T13:48:00.006-05:00

Two years after a massive government bailout that pulled the financial industry back from the abyss, lending is tight and job growth is barely moving. Yet the market for over the counter derivatives is again booming.

Long-time Newsweek economics correspondent Michael Hirsh suggests that Barack Obama's economics team helped the big banks become big winners by bailing them out without holding the institutions accountable to get the economy back on track.

So is it back to business as usual for Citigroup, Bank of America and the rest? Hirsh talks about the reforms that have been put in place and the lack of an ideological debate over the intersection between finance and politics.

Hirsh is currently Chief Economics Correspondent with the National Journal.

LISTEN: MICHAEL HIRSH - CAPITAL OFFENSE

An (Inked) Body of Work

2010-09-19T15:53:00.004-05:00

Starting in the 1880s, curious folks would line up and shell out cash to peek at women who were covered with tattoos. Part of the attraction of this attraction was the amount of skin on display; in those times not much above the ankle was seen in public.

As the "tattooed lady" showed off her heavily illustrated skin, patrons heard amazing tales of abduction, torture and even in-utero deformity. These tales were false, but the women who made up the "show" were covered with real body illustration.

In her book, TATTOOED LADY: A HISTORY, Amelia Klem Osterud traces the colorful history of the women who made a career out of their body ink.

LISTEN: AMELIA KLEM OSTERUD - TATTOOED LADY

The Other Emerging Market

2010-09-12T10:27:00.000-05:00

Much discussion about the future of the global economic picture has been about Asia. But as China and India grab larger slices of the world's economic pie, Brazil is also lining up for a larger piece. The country of nearly 200 million is an agricultural powerhouse that is far closer to true energy independence than the U.S. will be any time in the near future.

Journalist Larry Rohter has covered Brazil for nearly a decade as the South American Bureau chief of the New York Times. Rohter says that Brazil's strength in agriculture, manufacturing and energy places the country in a unique position.

LISTEN: LARRY ROHTER - BRAZIL ON THE RISE

Poor Political Climate

2010-08-29T15:33:00.002-05:00

The world is getting hotter. The majority of climate experts are worried about the rising temperatures and carbon emissions may be the culprit. At the very least, the global hunger for energy is going to cause traditional carbon-burning power sources to see a rise in price. The time seems right for action to create a new, "greener," energy system.

When Barack Obama won the presidential election in 2008 and was then met with a majority of his party in Congress, the prospect of seeing legislation that would support and incentivize business to cut down on carbon emissions seemed likely. However, since that time there has been little progress in the political system to change our carbon emissions.

Bloomberg Business Week editor Eric Pooley spent over two years embedded with the power players in the environmental and energy policy battle of cap and trade. Eric Pooley says that even though conditions seemed good to institute new rules to help cut emissions and boost a new "green" industry, that risks weren't taken and deals fell apart.

LISTEN: ERIC POOLEY - CLIMATE WARS

Power Outage

2010-08-29T11:05:00.003-05:00

A decade into the 21st century, the United States is operating with an energy in the model of the second half of the 20th. Old-style power grids and power sources still keep the lights on in the U.S. And fossil fuels still keep our commerce moving on the road, rails and air.

Spencer Abraham was America's longest serving Secretary of Energy, holding the post from 2001-2005. As a cabinet member Abraham saw looming problems for the nation's energy future but also saw limited progress.

With growing industrial powers in Asia creating an increased demand for power, Abraham says that it is time to get moving on solving our long term energy needs. But the former Republican senator doesn't think there is a "silver bullet" alternative energy solution.

LISTEN: SPENCER ABRAHAM - LIGHTS OUT

Turn Your Head and Cough, Mr. President

2010-08-22T20:05:00.000-05:00

The White House doctor spends more time around the First Patient in one day than many of us get with our family physicians over years.

While serving two Bushes and one Clinton, Dr. Connie Mariano was part of the "secure package" that would accompany the President at nearly all times outside the White House. As a result she got to see if her patients were or were not following her medical advice.

She also had to be prepared to provide trauma care at a moment's notice and, in one instance, had to facilitate the gathering of evidence for a federal prosecution.

LISTEN: DR. CONNIE MARIANO - WHITE HOUSE DOCTOR

Figuring Out What to Go in Where No Man Has Gone Before

2010-08-15T11:43:00.005-05:00

Bound by gravity and far from the void, there is a scattered reproduction of outer space. To prepare astronauts (and their equipment) for the alien environment off the planet, NASA has created many Earthbound simulations.

Writer Mary Roach explores the world of the engineers, scientists and astronauts who prepare to send humans into space with her new book PACKING FOR MARS.

Roach talks about the college students who are paid not to bathe, the chimps who were rivals of the Mercury 7 and the unglamorous job of testing the zero-g toilet...

LISTEN: MARY ROACH - PACKING FOR MARS

The Web and Deep Thinking

2010-08-10T08:52:00.002-05:00

Is Google making us stupid? That's the question that Nicholas Carr introduced with his Atlantic Magazine cover story in 2008.

In search of the answer, Carr looked into the science of how our brain processes information. He also looked into the history of how media has changed language and learning.

The result of his research, THE SHALLOWS: WHAT THE INTERNET IS DOING TO OUR BRAINS, makes the case that deep thinking may be on the way out as new media usage is going up.

LISTEN: NICHOLAS CARR - THE SHALLOWS

Journey to the Center of the Earth

2010-08-08T08:39:00.001-05:00

James Tabor's bestseller FOREVER ON THE MOUNTAIN told the story of men who wished to reach great heights... at a great price. With new book, BLIND DESCENT Tabor spends some time with those who are headed in the opposite direction.

Tabor writes about "super caves," and the explorers who brave dozens of hazards to reach the deepest places of the Earth.

The process of exploring these caves, which run over four thousand feet deep, is a treacherous one. There are dozens of ways one can die on the way down... and many are unexpected. Tabor talks about this mostly-unseen world that the men who explore it refer to as the "eighth continent."

LISTEN: JAMES TABOR - BLIND DESCENT

Saddam Hussein's Breakfast Preferences

2010-07-25T14:00:00.003-05:00

Food can play a huge role in the lives of the famous and powerful. Elvis famously loved to eat. Henry Ford had his share of food fears. In Iowa, politicians must pass a pancake flipping test.

Along with his brother Mark, Matthew Jacob has written the compendium of fame, food and history titled WHAT THE GREAT ATE.

Jacob talks about the dietary habits and influences of Elvis, President Ronald Reagan, Saddam Hussein, Joe Louis, Angelina Jolie and others.

LISTEN: MATTHEW JACOB - WHAT THE GREAT ATE

Who Wants To Live Forever?

2010-07-18T11:46:00.005-05:00

In 1900, the average life expectancy in the developed world was to age 47. Since then, advances in health care and quality of life have added another 30 years to the average American's life...at a rate of two years per decade.

With such a drastic improvement in expected lifespan, some are asking how far can we push the boundaries of longevity. Pulitzer Prize winning science writer Jonathan Weiner takes a look at the scientists and researchers that are looking to prolong the human lifespan.... by 25 years, 50 years and beyond.

LISTEN: JONATHAN WEINER - LONG FOR THIS WORLD

Creating a "Vampocalypse"

2010-07-15T14:30:00.000-05:00

A few years ago, novelist Justin Cronin surprised his agent with a "apocalyptic vampire epic" that he had written in secret.

The writer's two previous novels had nothing to do with the fantastic world he created for THE PASSAGE, the book that set off a bidding war between major publishers and then Hollywood producers.

Cronin talks about the real-life environment that inspired the end-of-the-world scenario of his bestseller.

LISTEN: JUSTIN CRONIN - THE PASSAGE

Tragedy & Inspiration in the Minor Leagues

2010-07-04T13:59:00.007-05:00

In July of 2007, at the AA ballpark in Little Rock, Ark., a journeyman ballplayer namaed Tino Sanchez hit a foul ball that struck his first base coach, Mike Coolbaugh.

Coolbaugh, who had spent his entire adult life in pro baseball, was a journeyman himself. The 35-year old was just beginning his career as a coach after spending the previous 17 years bouncing back and forth between the minors with brief stints in the majors.

The foul ball hit Coolbaugh in the back of the neck in a strangely dangerous spot and killed him nearly instantly.

SPORTS ILLUSTRATED writer S.L. Price was intrigued with the story. Price talks about the accident, the lives it impacted and the world of minor league baseball.

LISTEN: S.L. PRICE - THE HEART OF THE GAME

One Name, Two Fates

2010-06-27T13:41:00.003-05:00

Wes Moore has made the most of his opportunities. He was the first African-American Rhodes Scholar at Johns Hopkins University. His military career led him to work as a Special Assistant to Secretary Condoleezza Rice at the State Department. He was a featured speaker at the 2008 Democratic National Convention.

About ten years ago Wes Moore learned about another man who had seemingly made as many bad choices as Moore had made good ones. That man's name was also Wes Moore. The other Wes Moore was involved in the tragic murder of a police officer. In reading about the crime and the man involved Wes Moore found some shocking similarities between himself and the other man who shares his name...

LISTEN: WES MOORE - THE OTHER WES MOORE

Taking the Bugs-Eye View

2010-06-25T14:22:00.002-05:00

Dr. Hugh Raffles is amazed that people don't pay much attention to the vast communities often just a few feet away.

There are far more insects in the world than people and some argue that our ecosystem depends much more on the bugs than it does people.

Raffles tells 26 journeys into the world(s) of insects, with his book INSECTOPEDIA. Through the tales of trained crickets and parachuting spiders and more Raffles funnels an anthropological study that is more about humans than it is about insects.

LISTEN: HUGH RAFFLES - INSECTOPEDIA

The Harvest of Pandora's Box

2010-06-20T16:13:00.005-05:00

The way humans are living in the 21st century isn't well matched to the way we're built.

Geneticist and anthropologist Spencer Wells traces the long history of humans by gathering DNA samples and looking for the demarcations of change back in a family tree.

In his study of the long view of humanity Wells has learned that for most of our species's existence we lived in small groups and hunted or gathered our food. About ten thousand years ago something happened: farming. Wells suggests that although the practice of cultivating crops helped humans succeed as far as building up numbers, the shift in to this common practice of survival is having consequences that we are just encountering today.

LISTEN: SPENCER WELLS - PANDORA'S SEED

Reporting from "Talibanistan"

2010-06-13T12:32:00.003-05:00

The Afghan war has always been a conflict where borders haven't meant the same thing to both sides. Most experts believe that Al Qaida leaders fled, along with much of the Taliban, to the rough terrain that borders Afghanistan and Pakistan. As hard-core Taliban leaders live and thrive in these areas, the war has expanded into Pakistan itself.

After sitting aside for many years, the Pakistani army is now fully engaged in taking on the Taliban forces that were growing and mounting in Pakistan. In February of 2010, National Geographic documentarian Tresha Mabile traveled down IED-laced roads and accompanied Pakistani army forces to Taliban strongholds. With the cooperation of the Pakistani military, Mabile interviewed a captured Taliban soldier and spoke with Pankistani police who suffered some of the most vicious attacks in the Swat Valley.

The Nat Geo producer talks about what she saw firsthand in "Talibanistan," and the change in the Pakistani military's approach toward the Taliban.

LISTEN: TRESHA MABILE - INSIDE "TALIBANISTAN"

When Animals Attack!

2010-06-06T17:05:00.003-05:00

Unstable pet chimps, smart and lethal elephants and leprosy-carrying armadillos are just part of the dangers the animal world can present to humans.

Gordon Grice, is more than aware that the food chain doesn't have humans too safely at the top. The author of DEADLY KINGDOM: THE BOOK OF DANGEROUS ANIMALS has taken a look at man's sometimes fatal attempts to treat wild beasts as human. In the wild and in captivity quite often animals don't want to play by human rules. The result is often deadly.

LISTEN: GORDON GRICE - DEADLY KINGDOM

Teddy Roosevelt and the Rush to War

2010-05-30T19:44:00.001-05:00

In 1898, Theodore Roosevelt, then Assistant Secretary of the Navy, was anxious to test his mettle on the field of battle, William Randolph Hearst was eager to stoke the flames of conflict (and join in on the spectacle), and it took just an accident of engineering to start a war.

Evan Thomas paints a picture of enthusiastic imperialists and a American mindset in which "manifest destiny" seemed natural in his book THE WAR LOVERS, an account of the Spanish-American War.

LISTEN: EVAN THOMAS - THE WAR LOVERS

Evan Thomas on Obama and new media journalism

2010-05-30T19:25:00.000-05:00

Newsweek senior editor Evan Thomas has won numerous journalism awards for the type of feature-style pieces that take weeks or months to research and write. Often Thomas would work under an "embargo," speaking to sources and gaining access to figures on the understanding that the story the writer was working on would not be released until after, for instance, an election.

With the rise of the blogs and the demise of the market-share for publications like Newsweek, does that mean that the style of journalism practiced by Thomas is also in danger?

Thomas discusses the future of Newsweek and gives his thoughts on the subject of one of his award-winning depth pieces, Barack Obama...

LISTEN: EVAN THOMAS - NEWSWEEK & OBAMA

History and Health Care

2010-05-23T17:16:00.003-05:00

Mothers did not always hope their daughters would marry a doctor.

Dr. Ira Rutkow is eager to let people know that one of our nation's most esteemed professions was once just a sideline for many practitioners. In Rutkow's history of American medicine, SEEKING THE CURE, the author points out that for much of our country's history doctors were just as likely to kill their patients as cure them.

Rutkow talks about the slow path to science, smallpox, and a doctor who bled himself to death...

LISTEN: IRA RUTKOW - SEEKING THE CURE

Zakaria on the Innovation Race

2010-05-06T20:06:00.003-05:00

Fareed Zakaria, editor of Newsweek International and host of the CNN program FAREED ZARIA: GPS, is optimistic about the economic crisis... but he doesn't pretend everything is going back to the pre-crash days.

At the Biotechnology International Organization conference in Chicago, Zakaria hosted a panel framed by the Scientific American Worldview magazine "scorecard" of global technology centers. During the panel discussion Zakaria prompted talk of America's strength based on higher education and also raised questions about our capacity to innovate.

Zakaria, who also penned the bestselling book THE POST-AMERICAN WORLD, discusses the changing face of technology, innovation and balance in a 21st century global environment...

LISTEN: FAREED ZAKARIA - BIO 2010

Bio-engineered Food & Politics

2010-05-05T19:33:00.007-05:00

With an imbalance of agricultural resources throughout the world, genetically modified foods could likely be the difference between starvation and survival for countries without much of an agriculture industry.

Not all cultures and governments are comfortable with GM foods, however. Recently a heated debate in the fast-growing market of India erupted over the commercial release of a genetically engineered eggplant.

Dr. Bruce Chassy, professor of food microbiology and nutritional sciences at the University of Illinois argues that regulation, politics and public perception might stand in the way of feeding the world.

Chassy spoke at the Biotechnology Industry International conference in Chicago on biotech crops. When it comes to GM foods, Chassy says that safety isn't always the real issue...

LISTEN: DR. BRUCE CHASSY - THE PUSHBACK ON GM FOODS

The Naked Economics of Incentives and Health Care

2010-04-30T18:27:00.008-05:00

Effective health care policy is all about changing incentives... and the current system is set up to incentivize more expensive care according to Charles Wheelan.

Wheelan compares the U.S. health care system to the mortgage crisis, talks about where the incentives to actually be healthy could be placed and explores the behavioral economic factors that may give doctors good reasons to order bad procedures.

Wheelan is a professor at the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago and writes "The Naked Economist" column for Yahoo! Finance.

LISTEN: CHARLES WHEELAN - BEHAVIORAL ECONOMICS & HEALTH CARE

Explaining Your Mistakes

2010-04-17T19:54:00.001-05:00

The human brain is an amazing machine. The organ allows us to breathe, digest and -- after some practice -- engage in complicated procedures like driving a car without giving it much active thought. The trade-off for the operation of your amazing brain is that some seemingly illogical anomalies pop up. We call those anomalies mistakes.

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Joseph Hallinan has examined the neurological and psychological factors that play a role in our mistake-making. In his book WHY WE MAKE MISTAKES, Hallinan reveals that we make mistakes because, sometimes we can't help it and other times because we'd rather make a mistake than accept the truth.

LISTEN: JOSEPH HALLINAN - WHY WE MAKE MISTAKES

Solving Super-Sizing

2010-03-14T13:34:00.001-05:00

Former food industry insider Hank Cardello knows why super-sized portions and cheap calorie-heavy snacks sell. As consultant to groups trying to fight obesity, Cardello wants to take a different approach when encouraging Americans to be healthier.

Cardello's book STUFFED: An Insider's Look at Who's (Really) Making America Fat offers an argument that food companies and marketers might be making us fat... but they do it because fattening food simply sells well.

Cardello talks about incentives, taxes and other approaches to getting companies to make and market healthier products.

LISTEN: HANK CARDELLO - MARKETING AND OBESITY

When Politics Took Over: Clinton v. Starr

2010-03-07T16:49:00.000-06:00

In his book, THE DEATH OF AMERICAN VIRTUE: CLINTON VS. STARR, historian and law professor Ken Gormley unpacks a turbulent and politically charged period in recent history.

Gormley spoke with all the major players in the Clinton-Starr affair and found more than one disturbing detail about how politics got in the way of the law, the operation of government and even national security.

Gormley gives some less-than-commonly known details about the Starr investigation and reflects upon what that era kicked off in terms of the political polarization.

LISTEN: KEN GORMLEY - CLINTON VS. STARR

Lincoln vs. Vampires vs. History

2010-03-01T20:22:00.005-06:00

What's more popular than Abraham Lincoln? Vampires! Or at least that's what one's perception might be from the shelves of the local bookseller.

Abe's 200th birthday year and the ongoing love of bloodsuckers have produced many hot-selling titles lately. Seth Grahame-Smith, the mind behind PRIDE & PREJUDICE & ZOMBIES has combined the two sure-fire subjects in his latest effort ABRAHAM LINCOLN: VAMPIRE HUNTER. His books is a faux-historical retelling of Abe's secret drive to take out the bloodsuckers. Grahame-Smith took his inspiration from the many recent bios of the 16th president.

LISTEN: SETH GRAHAME-SMITH - ABRAHAM LINCOLN: VAMPIRE HUNTER

National Geographic Historian Mark Collins Jenkins is also looking through old letters and records for a new take on the undead. In Jenkins' case, though, he is taking a new look at some old conceptions. VAMPIRE FORENSICS looks to the birthplace of many of the supernatural myths that were given iconic status in the fictional world. The author examines folklore with a new scientific eye and explains how so many came to believe the dead walked the Earth...

LISTEN: MARK COLLINS JENKINS - VAMPIRE FORENSICS

Russia, Georgia & NATO: The Legacy of a "Little" War

2010-02-20T17:45:00.001-06:00

When battle broke out between Georgia and Russia in the summer of 2008, many in the West were unsure what to make of the conflict. The American press, caught up in covering a presidential campaign, didn't focus on the battle between the old superpower and the upstart ally of the U.S.

Diplomat and analyst Ronald Asmus says that the conflict will have long-lasting ramifications for U.S. foreign policy and NATO.

Asmus was the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs during the Clinton administration. He has written about the conflict and the ramifications of the outcome in THE LITTLE WAR THAT SHOOK THE WORLD: GEORGIA, RUSSIA AND THE FUTURE OF THE WEST.

LISTEN: RONALD ASMUS - RUSSIA AND GEORGIA

What We Talk About When We Talk About Love

2010-02-14T10:00:00.001-06:00

There are few subjects that have inspired more words than that of love. And yet, the idea of love is loosely defined for many. John Bowe set out to get an accounting of American thoughts on love. When he asked Americans across the country about their thoughts on the subject, Bowe found many people with differing thoughts and descriptions.

Bowe traveled the United States to gather firsthand accounts of love. He found a surprising amount of variety and more than one story of heartbreak. Bowe talks about his oral history project, US: AMERICANS TALK ABOUT LOVE.

LISTEN: JOHN BOWE - AMERICAN LOVE STORIES

Money For More Speech: Campaign Ad Rules Change

2010-02-05T21:34:00.002-06:00

The Supreme Court's 5-4 ruling to overturn a long-standing prohibition on corporations and unions funding political campaign ads has many worried that monied interests will have even more power to "buy" elections.

Robert Thompson, director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University says that the real danger of big money influence comes not just from the ability to buy ads, but from the murkiness of who is behind the political messages.

LISTEN: ROBERT THOMPSON - SUPREME COURT & CORPORATE POLITICAL AD MONEY

An Economy Unaccountable

2010-01-31T17:00:00.001-06:00

America's accounting system doesn't balance out and the red is threatening to drown out the black. David M. Walker would know: he used to look over the books.

Walker was comptroller general of the United States and CEO of the Government Accountability Office from 1998 to 2008. In that time he reported on the growing fiscal imbalance the country was facing, but saw little action from our leaders to address the issue. Walker was prominently featured in the acclaimed documentary "I.O.U.S.A."

Now, as president of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, Walker is taking an active role pushing for the change of what he says is a broken system that is "headed for a cliff."

LISTEN: DAVID M. WALKER

The Science of Children: Rethinking Development

2010-01-22T21:23:00.001-06:00

Professional childcare "experts" from Dr. Spock to Dr. Phil have offered plenty of strategies for raising kids. However, with such a glut of advice, how much of it is really grounded on solid, objective data?

Is there such as thing as too much self esteem? Do kids segregate themselves when they have been desegregated in schools?

Ashley Merryman, co-author of NURTURESHOCK, says that new research into the physical, psychological and social development of children is revealing some surprising (and controversial) results.

LISTEN: ASHLEY MERRYMAN - NURTURESHOCK

From Fashion to Film with Tom Ford

2010-01-15T17:07:00.000-06:00

Tom Ford is best known for his work in fashion. He revived both Yves Saint Laurent and Gucci with influential collections before leaving to start his own fashion label.

His latest venture is not designing a line or a label, but instead an entire world. Ford wrote, produced and directed the film adaptation of Christopher Isherwood's novel A SINGLE MAN.

Ford talks about his move into the world of film and the story that moved him take this turn in his career...

LISTEN: TOM FORD - A SINGLE MAN

The Gun Show

2010-01-03T15:55:00.000-06:00

There seems to be little common ground between Second Amendment stalwarts and advocates of gun control. Is it simply a difference in ideology? A culture clash? Or something even more complicated?

Alexander Rose, who was raised in Australia and Britain, has written a "biography" of the American rifle. Rose examines the specific role of the rifle in U.S. history and theorizes that the American psyche is melded to the frontier spirit of independence that the firearm can represent. Rose talks about the rifle and the roots of the NRA, which may be surprising to some.

LISTEN: ALEXANDER ROSE - THE AMERICAN RIFLE & THE NRA

Rose says the approach to guns differs from East to West. The historian suggests that it's no mistake Americans developed the "marksman's" M-16 while the easy-to-use AK-47 has spread to be a symbol of insurgent armies.

LISTEN: ALEXANDER ROSE - AMERICA, THE RIFLE & HISTORY

Photographer Kyle Cassidy searches for compelling subjects for his portrait work. For his project ARMED AMERICA, Cassidy sought out gun owners to pose with their guns. Cassidy says he learned a great deal the differences between how people who proudly own firearms think...and how others might think about them.

LISTEN: KYLE CASSIDY - ARMED AMERICA

Indulging Morbid Curiosity

2010-01-01T15:39:00.000-06:00

Loren Rhoads spent ten years indulging in the tales of the taboo.

As publisher of MORBID CURIOSITY magazine, Rhoads solicited stories many would never tell. Quite often essayists submitted tales of shame, dark curiosity and trauma. Some submissions were compelling and others were upsetting. But Rhoads says that once word got out, there was no shortage of them.

She's recently collected stories from the now-defunct publication for a book called MORBID CURIOSITY CURES THE BLUES.

LISTEN: LOREN RHOADS - MORBID CURIOSITY

A Game Changer Each Time

2009-12-27T17:14:00.001-06:00

"He doesn't want to make just another movie," says Rebecca Keegan of James Cameron. Cameron's long-awaited film AVATAR is doing nothing to dispel the director's reputation for ticket sales. With TITANIC Cameron shattered box office records. With THE TERMINATOR he created a franchise; with ALIENS, he revived one.

TIME magazine contributor Rebecca Keegan got an on-set look at the making of the James Cameron film AVATAR. Keegan has written a book about Cameron called THE FUTURIST. Before the film's release, Keegan talked about the groundbreaking nature of the movie and the ambitious man who made it.

LISTEN: REBECCA KEEGAN - JAMES CAMERON, THE FUTURIST

An Unhealthy Mistrust?

2009-12-20T08:05:00.003-06:00

In this age of seemingly limitless information, many people think they aren't getting the straight story. With the massive corporate control of the agribusiness and pharmaceutical industry, the modern-day science of public health is linked to a profit motive. Is the real data on modern day medical practices telling the full story?

Michael Specter is concerned there is a growing sense of mistrust of science and medicine. Specter writes on science, technology and medicine for The New Yorker. He recently has argued with those who believe that vaccines are related to autism and with a growing number of opponents to bio-engineered food. He thinks that skepticism of scientific data is growing to be a literally unhealthy trend.

LISTEN: MICHAEL SPECTER - DENIALISM

Beliefs and Big Questions by the Numbers

2009-12-18T17:04:00.001-06:00

Do people really believe what they believe? The numbers indicate they often don't. Steven Landsburg says that mathematicians and economists can apply impartial models to a lot of the issues that get deep thoughts...and produce clear results.

Landsburg has applied his approach to such philosophical head-scratchers as "does it make sense to believe in God?" Landsburg, who is a professor of economics at the University of Rochester contributes to Slate.com and is the author of THE BIG QUESTIONS.

LISTEN: STEVEN LANDSBURG - THE BIG QUESTIONS

Huckster History

2009-12-14T20:53:00.001-06:00

No scam is a new scam. Support for that statement is found in Pope Brock's book CHARLATAN.

Pope Brock tells the real-life story of the grandfather of Viagra: "Doctor" John R. Brinkley. Brinkley, a huckster, snake oil salesman, politician and broadcasting pioneer is the spiritual grandfather of Ron Popeil, Billy Mays and even Rush Limbaugh.

In his endless mission to push various miracle cures and dubious products, Brinkley had an inadvertent role in creating the American Medical Association and changed the face of radio broadcasting (and creating infomercials).

LISTEN: POPE BROCK - CHARLATAN

Soap Operas on CNN

2009-12-09T20:42:00.002-06:00

It's the end of an era for popular and long-running daytime dramas like GUIDING LIGHT and AS THE WORLD TURNS. But the real-life serial dramas of scandal play out with greater emphasis on the 24-hour news networks and in the mainstream news.

Robert Thompson from the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture discusses the celebrity focus in the news. Thompson says that celebrity scandal is a kind of "cultural glue."

LISTEN: ROBERT THOMPSON - CELEBRITY CULTURE AND THE NEWS

Bubbles and Bad Fixes

2009-12-04T14:22:00.001-06:00

Investment "bubbles" make a lot of people rich. When the bubbles burst a lot of people lose money. Most recently, many of the losers didn't even know they were part of an overinflated bubble. Or more accurately, many people did not realize that one bubble was related to so much else.

Economist Craig Thomas thinks that a true recovery to the system of markets in the U.S. will depend more on a natural balance of the system than incentives created by government fixes.

Thomas was Director of Research for Citi Property Investors, Citigroup's private equity real estate arm. Thomas talks with about how the housing market came to be such a mess, and what he sees as proper maintenance of the "econosphere."

LISTEN: CRAIG THOMAS - THE ECONOSPHERE

Growing Up With Undiagnosed Asperger's

2009-11-23T11:42:00.005-06:00

Tim Page was a weird kid. In grammar school he seemed to have a photographic memory, yet was always on the verge of failing most of his classes. He could memorize large portions of the World Book Encyclopedia as a very young child but would still wet his pants long into middle school. One beacon through which Page would connect with the world was music.

Eventually, his obsession with music would lead him to a career writing about it for the New York Times and Washington Post. He won a Pulitzer Prize for music criticism in 1997 .

In his memoir PARALLEL PLAY, Page writes out growing up in his own world and how he eventually learned that the name for his way of thinking had a name: Asperger's Syndrome.

LISTEN: TIM PAGE - "PARALLEL PLAY"

Getting a Picture of Lincoln

2009-11-19T18:41:00.002-06:00

There is perhaps no more recognizable American face than that of Abraham Lincoln. And yet Philip Kunhardt III thinks there is more to be learned from looking at the 16th President's image.

Kunhardt and his family have collected and curated historical photographs for five generations. The Meserve-Kunhardt Foundation contains a massive collection of pictures from the 19th and 20th centuries. Over the years Philip Kunhardt has studied photographs of Lincoln in the collection and outside of it in great detail. The new book LINCOLN, LIFE SIZE, edited by the Kundhardts, takes photographs of Lincoln, familiar and more obscure, and blows them up for life-sized detail.

LISTEN: PHILIP KUNHARDT III - LINCOLN IN PHOTOS

When "Breaking News" Gets It Wrong

2009-11-16T11:05:00.005-06:00

The bread and butter of CNN and the other cable news networks is breaking news. The problem with the "breaking news" model of broadcasting is that the amount of information immediately gathered does not equal the amount of airtime that needs to be filled. The result: inaccurate reporting, speculation, and a general lax in the application of the journalistic standards applied to the "old media" age.

Coverage of the recent Ft. Hood shooting included all of these unfortunate elements.

But are these problems new ones or old ones? Does new technology like Twitter make the problem of inaccurate reporting worse? Should we even worry about it?

Robert Thompson, Director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University discusses these issues as and more.

LISTEN: ROBERT THOMPSON - BREAKING NEWS COVERAGE

Old Rules and New Rules for Recovery

2009-11-12T17:05:00.002-06:00

With a Wall Street recovery making some feel better about the economy, are jobs soon to follow?

Traditional wisdom might suggest that a boost in production by American companies would ease the swelling of unemployment figures. Yet, although many economists are saying the recession ended in the summer, still others are predicting double-digit unemployment to stick around for awhile. New York times national economics correspondent Peter S. Goodman says that the old rules might not apply to the current situation.

Goodman discusses concerns over the GDP in relation to the federal debt, the concept of a "jobless recovery" and suggests some ways American manufacturing can look for a more sustainable type of growth.

LISTEN: PETER S. GOODMAN - THE END OF EASY MONEY

Daily Show Writers Get Bookish

2009-11-06T18:09:00.001-06:00

Two of the men behind the razor-sharp comedy of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart have produced some work without pictures... at least not moving ones.

Current Daily Show Executive Producer Josh Lieb used the 2007 screenwriter's strike to pen the young adult novel I AM A GENIUS OF UNSPEAKABLE EVIL AND I WANT TO BE YOUR CLASS PRESIDENT.

David Javerbaum has a long list of comedy credits including working for The Onion, The Late Show with David Letterman and last year he wrote the lyrics for Stephen Colbert's musical Christmas special. Javerbaum formerly served as Exec. Producer for The Daily Show. He still works with the staff as writer emeritus. His venture into paperback comedy is faux-advice book WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN YOU'RE EXPECTED: A Fetus' Guide to the First Three Trimesters.

Both Lieb and Javerbaum talk about their comedic approach to news, media criticism and analysis on television as well as the work they have on book shelves.

LISTEN: JOSH LIEB - UNSPEAKABLE EVIL AND THE DAILY SHOW

LISTEN: DAVID JAVERBAUM - ADVICE FROM A FORMER FETUS

Cheating on the Free Market

2009-11-01T08:54:00.003-06:00

New York Times business journalist and columnist Gretchen Morgenson has written about the influence of the banking and investment industry during the financial crisis and the behind-the-scenes discussions made by major players.

Morgenson talks about "creative destruction," the level of "freedom" in the American free market and a lack of reform for the financial industry.

LISTEN: GRETCHEN MORGENSON - READING THE CAPITALIST'S BIBLE

Brushes With Death

2009-10-29T08:18:00.004-05:00

Queens College professor Harold Schechter is interested in subjects that simultaneously repel and attract most people. He has written extensively about serial killers, violence and death.

His latest work, THE WHOLE DEATH CATALOG takes at the rituals and ephemera that surround death. Schechter talks about the psychology, history and trends of death amongst the living.

LISTEN: HAROLD SCHECHTER

Rolling Stone journalist Mikal Gilmore has been up close to death in two different ways. In 1996 he was assigned to cover the final days of psychedelic guru Timothy Leary.

Leary, who had terminal cancer, wanted to turn his death into a media event, and had plans to broadcast his final moments live on the internet. Gilmore had been close to a high-profile death before. His brother, Gary Gilmore, was the first person executed after the Supreme Court upheld death penalty statutes in 1976.

LISTEN: MIKAL GILMORE - TWO DIFFERENT DEATHS

The Occult and America

2009-10-20T16:55:00.003-05:00

Spiritualism and the occult have often found a place to thrive in the United States.

Mitch Horowitz, author of OCCULT AMERICA: The Secret History of How Mysticism Shaped Our Nation, says that this "hidden wisdom" didn't get debunked from American life as much as it just got absorbed into more mainstream ideas.

Horowitz talks about the role the Masons played in the founding of the United States, and how Norman Vincent Peale and other popular self-helpers took from the example of a mail order psychic.

LISTEN: MITCH HOROWITZ - OCCULT AMERICA

The Comedy Factory at Second City

2009-10-19T17:20:00.008-05:00

For 50 years the Second City comedy theater has been producing top-notch comic talent. Alan Arkin, Fred Willard, John Belushi, George Wendt, Tina Fey and Stephen Colbert are all alums of the "comedy factory" of Second City.

Chicago Sun-Times writer Mike Thomas interviewed over a hundred Second City alums and high-profile fans about the history of the comedy franchise for his new book THE SECOND CITY UNSCRIPTED. Thomas talks about the competition, camaraderie and craft of the famous comedy troupe.

LISTEN: MIKE THOMAS - SECOND CITY

Sex, Violence and Bolsheviks

2009-10-19T17:15:00.000-05:00

Dirty letters, icepick wielding assassins and a simmering world war all came into play during the turbulent final days of Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky.

Bertrand Patenaude, a research fellow at Stanford's Hoover Institution, details the soap opera final days and turbulent political life of the revolutionary in his book TROTKSKY: DOWNFALL OF A REVOLUTIONARY.

Patenaude discusses the intrigue involved in Trotsky's final days and the battling ideas that splintered the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

LISTEN: BERTRAND PATENAUDE - TROTSKY

Taking Inventory of Pop Culture

2009-10-16T17:15:00.002-05:00

Everyone has their all-time top-1o desert island discs. There is no quicker way to start and angry argument with a STAR WARS fan than to dispute their ranking of the quality of the six Star Wars movies.

List making seems naturally linked to pop culture in a way that it is not with higher culture. Does anyone have an all-time top-10 Renaissance frescoes? The populism of listing, and ranking, comes from the chance for everyone to be an expert.

The Onion AV Club has created INVENTORY, a book of lists ranging from "10 Songs Nearly Ruined By Saxophone" to "6 Keanu Reeves Movies Somehow Not Ruined By Keanu Reeves." Entertainment Editor from The AV Club Tasha Robinson talks about the process of list-making and sifting through pop culture.

LISTEN: TASHA ROBINSON - THE ONION AV CLUB

Pencils to Pixels: Language and the Digital Age

2009-10-12T16:11:00.007-05:00

It is obvious that a universe of digital technology is changing the world.

A nearly bottomless amount of information available on the internet. Social networking in cyberspace and the digital soapbox of websites and blogs have opened up new options for human communication.

But are these new tools changing the way we think, talk and write? Is the internet having a negative affect on our brains?

Dennis Baron says no. Baron suggests, the negative ramifications of computers are no more harmful than the invention of the written world.

University of Illinois professor of English and Linguistics examines the impact of the digital revolution on reading, writing and communication in his book A BETTER PENCIL.

LISTEN: DENNIS BARON - A BETTER PENCIL

A Communist Ponzi Scheme

2009-10-05T16:32:00.001-05:00

Overreaching military expansion. Sudden bank runs revealing a shaky economic foundation. Rampant cronyism. Sound familiar?

Princeton professor of Contemporary History Stephen Kotkin thinks so. Kotkin has notes all these factors in the not-so-distant history of Easter Germany, Poland and Romania.

On the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, Kotkin unpacks the factors that led to what seemed to be an abrupt unraveling of communism in Eastern Europe in the late 80s and early 90s.

LISTEN: STEPHEN KOTKIN - UNCIVIL SOCIETY

The Cable News Audience and Influence

2009-10-02T17:02:00.001-05:00

Fox, CNN and MSNBC battle for eyeballs and influence on the political news cycle.

Blogs, opinion columns and even the old-style broadcast networks seem to take their cue from the cable nets. But the cable outlets don't command as many viewers as the bluster of the prime time hosts would seemingly indicate.

Dr. Robert Thompson, Director of the Blier Center for Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University watches it all. Who else is watching might be surprising.

LISTEN: ROBERT THOMPSON - CABLE NEWS

Unearthing the Nuclear Age

2009-09-30T17:33:00.000-05:00

With the secretive development of a nuclear program in Iran and new concerns over the atomic power base, Amir Aczel looks back at the development of the bomb.

Aczel writes about science and mathematics and is the author of the bestseller FERMAT'S LAST THEOREM. In his latest book, URANIUM WARS, Aczel lays out long-secret details about the development of the atomic bomb and the decision of how to use it.

LISTEN: AMIR ACZEL - URANIUM WARS

Young Money: Gen Y Consumers

2009-09-25T16:13:00.000-05:00

Consumer power is shifting as a generation of under-30 spenders take control of the marketplace. Consumer psychologist Kit Yarrow examines how young people are spending money differently than their parents. Yarrow is the co-author of GEN BuY: How Tweens, Teens and Twenty-Somethings Are Revolutionizing Retail.

LISTEN: KIT YARROW

New Iranian Power

2009-09-18T15:22:00.000-05:00

CIA veteran Robert Baer sees rationality and a calculated reasonableness in the leadership of Iran. The former CIA career officer takes a look at the state of Iran following the election protests and a growing degree of brinkmanship over nuclear capability. All of Iran's actions (if not words), are based upon what is a significantly changed region following the U.S. involvement in Iraq.

Baer's books SEE NO EVIL and SLEEPING WITH THE DEVIL were the basis for the Academy Award-winning film SYRIANA.

LISTEN: ROBERT BAER

Saving Art From the Nazis

2009-09-14T17:59:00.001-05:00

During the second World War, Hitler ordered his commanders to take sculptures, paintings and other art works from museums and individual collectors to fill a giant museum he was planning to build. Much of this art work was lost, and much more notable architecture was destroyed during the course of Nazi expansion. Robert Edsel, who heads up The Monuments Men Foundation, talks about the Allied effort to protect and recover works of art.

LISTEN: ROBERT EDSEL

Haynes Johnson: Kennedy's Impact on 2008

2009-09-08T14:56:00.003-05:00

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Haynes Johnson, along with co-author Dan Balz, dug deep into the 2008 presidential campaign for a long-form behind the scenes look at history as it happened. In their book THE BATTLE FOR AMERICA 2008, Johnson reveals heated phone calls between Bill Clinton and Ted Kennedy, the decision making process of the McCain campaign to choose Sarah Palin as a running mate and other then-unreported details.

LISTEN: HAYNES JOHNSON

Life In Cars

2009-09-04T14:01:00.000-05:00

From dangerous behavior (like texting and steering) to intimate displays (like nose grooming), most Americans seem to act differently while in the comfort of their vehicle than they might otherwise act in a public space.

Tom Vanderbilt, author of TRAFFIC: Why We Drive The Way We Do (and What It Says About Us), discusses misconceptions and misbehaviors we engage in behind the wheel.

LISTEN: TOM VANDERBILT on TRAFFIC

General Tony Zinni on the New Military Role

2009-08-24T13:35:00.001-05:00

Anthony Zinni is maybe best known to the general public for his early criticism of the invasion of Iraq. The a former chief of CENTCOM, Zinni has had his eye on the changing face of geopolitics for a good portion of his career.

Zinni talks about how his early service in Vietnam echoes the current mission of the military in Afghanistan and why a different style of leadership is needed across political and business lines. Zinni also weighs in on the current state of Iraq with U.S. troops beginning to withdraw.

LISTEN: GENERAL TONY ZINNI

Kurt Andersen and the Reset Button

2009-08-18T19:09:00.000-05:00

What exactly is the United States going through? Have we seen it before? Is it like the Great Depression? Is it like the end of the Roman Empire?

Kurt Andersen thinks we are at a point in time when political, economic and technological cycles have collided. As we are at a unique point in history, Andersen says, the nation is also offered a unique opportunity. He lays out those opportunities his book RESET: HOW THIS CRISIS CAN RESTORE OUR VALUES AND RENEW AMERICA. Andersen, bestselling author and co-founder of Spy magazine, based his book on the response to a Time magazine cover story titled "The End of Excess."

LISTEN: KURT ANDERSEN, RESET

Woodstock Three Ways

2009-08-15T06:32:00.000-05:00

The Woodstock music festival defines a generation for some. But as the cultural touchstone is marked by a 40-year anniversary, participants, next-generation observers and historians can come up with various different views about the "three days of peace, love and music." Upon reflection, many cite the highly influential movie (partially filmed by a then-unknown Martin Scorsese) as making the true lasting impact on the culture. Others see Woodstock as the capping event on the transition from good times to bad.

Here are three different views of Woodstock from men who have strong ties to the sixties.

Woodstock literally did change Elliot Tiber's life. His memoir TAKING WOODSTOCK, which recounts his role in helping get the festival off the ground, is the basis for the film of the same name directed by Ang Lee. Tiber serves as the main character in the film (and, naturally, in his own memoir), which stars Demetri Martin.

LISTEN: ELLIOT TIBER, TAKING WOODSTOCK

Rolling Stone magazine writer Mikal Gilmore takes a cultural and sociological view of the festival. Gilmore has written extensively about the sixties and where politics and music meet.

LISTEN: MIKAL GILMORE, REFLECTIONS OF WOODSTOCK

Author of THE ROCK AND ROLL BOOK OF THE DEAD, David Comfort, notes that bad trips were also a part of the festival. Comfort cites an ungrounded stage, weather and traffic problems and stars on the edge of total implosion as reflections of some of the darker side of Woodstock. Notably, Comfort notes that Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix would each live only about a year past the festival.

LISTEN: DAVID COMFORT, ON THE DARK SIDE OF WOODSTOCK

Superpower Problems

2009-08-03T11:30:00.001-05:00

It’s now (and has been) apparent that the true impact of globalization on Americans is more than just cheap stuff and a reshaped concept of domestic manufacturing jobs. In other parts of the world information access, the rise of non-state entities and many other forms of “decentralization” are creating new challenges for long-standing industrial and political powers.

Will a growing trend of decentralization start to change our idea of the United States? Has it already? These are some of the issues tackled by Paul Starobin in his book AFTER AMERICA: Narratives for the Next Global Age. In the book, Starobin suggests that current organizational trends and issues need to change for the U.S. to adapt to the changing world.

LISTEN: PAUL STAROBIN, AFTER AMERICA

A Visit To The Moon - 40 Years Later

2009-07-16T12:28:00.001-05:00

When Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon July 20, 1969 the world's attention was hard-focused on the mission and the achievements of NASA.

40 years later, two authors look back at the engineers and explorers who took part in the crowning achievement of the space age.

Andrew Chaikin, the foremost Apollo scholar and author of MAN ON THE MOON and FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON, talks about the incredible danger involved in the missions...

LISTEN: HISTORIAN ANDREW CHAIKIN

Award-winning author Craig Nelson discusses the deeply private man who first set foot on the moon. Nelson's new book ROCKET MEN, tells the personal story of Neil Armstrong and the other Apollo 11 astronauts...

LISTEN: "ROCKET MEN" AUTHOR CRAIG NELSON

The Southern Vampire Romance of Charlaine Harris

2009-05-30T13:25:00.006-05:00

Charlaine Harris includes healthy dollops of humor, social commentary and satire in her Sookie Stackhouse series of books. The "southern vampire romance" novels are the inspiration for the HBO series TRUE BLOOD.

Harris finds inspiration for the supernatural subculture of her fictional world by "people watching" in her home town in Arkansas.

LISTEN: CHARLAINE HARRIS

Joe Queenan Takes Aim

2009-05-02T14:00:00.002-05:00

Joe Queenan has a chip on his shoulder. This is apparent to those who have sampled his writing, which pulls no punches in criticizing art, culture, public figures and just about anything else. In his memoir CLOSING TIME, Queenan turns the focus to his harrowing childhood, part of which was spent in a housing project in Philadelphia.

In this interview Queenan talks about his background but more about how in the depts of the financial crisis those that are left out of the conversation are the poor. He reserves a fair amount of venom for a culture he feels gives those hit hardest by financial stress the least amount of concern.

INTERVIEW: JOE QUEENAN'S "CLOSING TIME"

Change in Iran

2009-03-14T17:17:00.003-05:00

A growing youth population and the volatile state of the world's economy are factors which present potential for change in Iran. Former Washington Post journalist Robin Wright, who may have visited Iran more times than any other working journalist, sees the potential for a shift in the role Iran holds in the region.

Wright, author of the new book DREAMS AND SHADOWS, discusses the challenges facing the makers of of U.S. foreign policy when dealing with Iran.

LISTEN: ROBIN WRIGHT

Andrew Vachss and the Motivation of Revenge

2009-01-30T13:41:00.003-06:00

Novelist, attorney and child protection advocate Andrew Vachss may be the most jaded individual one can meet. At least that is the persona that comes forth in his hard-boiled crime fiction and his blunt statements about the dark corners of humanity he's encountered throughout a career in social and legal services.

In addition to his work as a novelist (which includes 18 books in the "Burke" series), Vachss works full-time as an attorney. He limits his practice to only cases concerning children and youth.

In this interview Vachss talks about how the motivations for his legal practice and his novels come from a similar source...

LISTEN: ANDREW VACHSS

Photographer Autumn DeWilde on Elliot Smith

2008-11-01T08:05:00.001-05:00

Photographer Autumn DeWilde is the photographer behind many album covers, liner notes and other pictures of musicians such as The White Stripes and Jenny Lewis. She worked prominently with singer Elliot Smith and has published a book collecting photographs and memories of her late friend. Smith, who had struggled with drug and alcohol addiction. His 2003 death was ruled a suicide.

LISTEN: AUTUMN DeWILDE