Did you know the average American has 7 pairs of blue jeans? Did you know they never go out of style? Author of Jeans: A Cultural History of an American Icon (used to make the film Riveted: The History of Jeans), Professor James Sullivan joined me to talk about, well... the history of blue jeans. They are the blue, in...
Today, Dr. Rob Goodman, author of Words on Fire: Eloquence and Its Conditions, drops in to discuss rhetoric. From Cicero to Facebook, we delve into the evolution of this integral speaking and writing tool, as well as explore the extreme rhetoric entrenched in modern politics and how this art of persuasion aids the news in problematic ways.Shortened...
Our continually expanding, 14 billion-year-old universe is riddled with planets that could potentially sustain life; so, where is it? Economist, prolific author, and founder of "The Great Filter," Professor Robin Hanson, offers a possible explanation. In today's episode, we take a deep dive into understand "Grabby Aliens," and the future of...
Rwanda has been heralded as an African success story by the international community: its people, ravaged by genocide, have become unified and prosperous under Paul Kagame's regime. The conventional narrative of Rwanda's post-conflict development is challenged by today's guest, journalist and author, Michela Wrong. Her book, Do Not Disturb: The...
Dr. Jay Lemery, Professor of Emergency Medicine at The University of Colorado School of Medicine, joins me today to discuss the relationship between climate change and human health, the growing field of climate medicine, as well as the advocacy required to affect realistic, positive change for our planet and ourselves.
Bio: Dr. Lemery is an...
Reddit has 52 million active users a day, and 1 in 4 people ages 25-29 use Reddit. Today, I chat with social media researcher and author, Dr. Elliot Panek about his recently published book, Understanding Reddit. We covered the evolution of social dynamics within this understudied network of communities.Bio: Elliot Panek studies the uses and effects...
Did you know Russia likely has more sleeper agents in America today than during the cold war? I was glad to welcome Filip Kovacevic on today's show to talk illegal KGB agents. Where are they? What is their goal? And what is life like for one of these agents?
Bio: Filip Kovacevic is an adjunct professor in the Departments...
Where is extraterrestrial life and why haven't we seen anything, dead or alive, yet? I mean, Matt Williams tells me maybe we have already with Oumuamua Oumuamua, but that's still up for debate among researchers. Why haven't we confirmed anything outside our planet yet? Enter, the Fermi Paradox. In today's episode, we discussed some more proposed...
