Do your laptop, high def cable box, and fancy new cell phone harbor concealed sales pitches? We’ll discuss the absurd world of advertising with author and former creative director James P. Othmer, whose book “Adland: Searching for the Meaning of Life on a Branded Planet” (Anchor Books, 2009) has just been released in trade paperback.
Do females have a unique propensity for repressing anger? We’ll discuss the ramifications of one woman’s battle against rage with Koren Zailckas, author of the new book “Fury: A Memoir” (Random House, 2010).
Is the archaeologist who discovers a lost tomb and purges its possessions a hero – or a thief? We’ll talk this hour with desert ecologist Craig Childs, whose new book is “Finders Keepers: A Tale of Archaeological Plunder and Obsession” (Little, Brown and Company, 2010).
From the archives: What are the unique realities of war for U.S. troops in Afghanistan? In June, we spent an hour with acclaimed journalist Sebastian Junger, who spent fifteen months with a single platoon in a remote Afghan valley. His book “War” (Twelve Books, 2010) is out now.
From the archives: Where did the destruction of the Amazon Rainforest begin? We’ll explore the story of an early 20th century experiment this hour with historian Greg Grandin, author of “Fordlandia: The Rise and Fall of Henry Ford’s Forgotten Jungle City” (Picador, 2010).
Are environmentally conscious materials and building techniques practical for making the average home more efficient? We’ll discuss sustainability in residential housing design with Gary Cunningham, Founder and President of Cunningham Architects, and Don Gatzke, Dean of the School of Architecture at the University of Texas at Arlington. In the Art&Seek segment, we’ll talk with artist […]
Who are the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC)? We’ll probe the complex political and socioeconomic environment that enabled a drug-funded revolutionary army to hold three American contractors and a Colombian presidential candidate captive for five years with Karin Hayes, co-author of “Hostage Nation: Colombia’s Guerrilla Army and the Failed War on Drugs” (Knopf, 2010).
Did Uganda’s 2009 Anti-Homosexual Bill originate from American fundamentalism? We’ll examine the connections between the bill’s authors and a secretive group of Washington D.C. politicians this hour with Jeff Sharlet, whose article “Straight Man’s Burden: The American roots of Uganda’s anti-gay persecutions” appears in this month’s Harper’s Magazine.
When a teenager is on the brink of starvation, what can parents and siblings do to bring her back to health? We’ll discuss one family’s harrowing experience this hour with journalist Harriet Brown, whose new book is “Brave Girl Eating: A Family’s Struggle with Anorexia” (William Morrow, 2010).
Where is the smelliest place in the Solar System? Where is surfing most intense? Why is a lighting bolt on Earth the thickness of a common household banana? We’ll explore the strangest phenomena in our corner of the galaxy with David Baker, Chairman of the Physics Department at Austin College and co-author of “The 50 […]
