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An American Circus of Skulls: Paul Stob on Phrenology, the P.T. Barnum of Pseudosciences
Episode 2986
“It’s too easy to look back at sciences of the past and say they were all fools. The exact same thing is gonna happen two hundred years from now when…
2 months ago
How to Walk from Mumbai to San Francisco: Saumya Roy Navigates the Cracks in the American Dream
Episode 2985
“There is the burden of being homeless and the burden of being judged for it.” — Saumya Roy on poverty in America
How does the world look at America …
2 months, 1 week ago
ill Bill or Kill Keith? Why Using AI to Author Books Might Not Be in the Interest of Man
Episode 2984
“It’s a realization of my individual self, not an alienation of it.” — Keith Teare on the book he wrote with AI in a week
Welcome to episode 2984 of …
2 months, 1 week ago
The Strange Death of the American Front Porch: Molly Brady on Land, Law, and the Lost Art of Neighborliness
Episode 2983
What has made this moment feel different is not the anxiety about incivility, which has always been there, but rather the performance of it. It’s rel…
2 months, 1 week ago
How a Turkey Voted for Xmas: Ricardo Semler on Why One Boss Wants the End of All Bosses.
Episode 2982
“It’s like asking turkeys to vote for Christmas.” — Ricardo Semler on why bosses won’t let their workers vote on them
Ricardo Semler might be the mos…
2 months, 1 week ago
Yellow Stripes and Dead Armadillos: Is Ben Barnes the Last Moderate Texan Democrat?
Episode 2981
“I could not get under oath and swear that I know exactly how Kennedy died in Dallas.” — Ben Barnes, who helped advance JFK’s fatal Texas trip
In Texa…
2 months, 1 week ago
The American Way of Violence: Mike McIntire on Guns, Greed, and a Daily Trickle of Bloodshed
Episode 2980
“You didn’t have to look someone in the eye while you extinguished their life, and you could do it from a distance.” — Mike McIntire on what the gun …
2 months, 1 week ago
The Seduction of the American Mind: Emily Eakin on Her Life in French Theory
Episode 2979
“Theory said, it doesn’t matter what you’ve read. It’s how you read.” — Emily Eakin on the seduction of the Frenchmen
When I was a graduate student at…
2 months, 1 week ago
A $14 Billion Glitter Glue Gospel: Michael Blanding on the Wealthiest Christian Nationalist Family You've Never Heard Of
Episode 2978
We’ve done plenty of abstract shows on American Christian nationalism. But this one is about a single family: the Greens of Oklahoma City, owners of …
2 months, 2 weeks ago
Homer's Hollywood Odyssey: Joel Christensen on How Christopher Nolan Gave Us the Odysseus We Deserve
Episode 2977
“I want someone who has regrets. I want someone who’s learned the hard way. I want someone who understands that life is made of those messy compromis…
2 months, 2 weeks ago