Category: Culture

Why 42 is the Answer to Life, the Universe and Everything

The Book Club | 26 February 2020 | 0h 30m | Listen Later | iTunes
Interview with Adam Roberts and John Lloyd discussing the genesis, genius and legacy of The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy radio show. The BBC has released features, interviews and archive programmes to celebrate the 42nd anniversary of the show.

Abhijit Banerjee on Theory, Practice, and India

Conversations with Tyler | 30 December 2019 | 1h 02m | Listen Later | iTunes
Interview with Abhijit Banerjee discussing premature deindustrialization, charter cities, classical Indian music, why he prefers making Indian sweets to French sweets, the influence of English intellectual life in India, the history behind Bengali leftism, the best Indian regional cuisine, why experimental economics is underrated, reforms to traditional graduate economics training, how his mother’s passion inspires his research, consumer loyalty programs, and more.

Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language

The Ezra Klein Show | 25 November 2019 | 1h 22m | Listen Later | iTunes
Interview with Gretchen McCulloch, author of Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language. Explains that the way we’ve come to speak on the internet – from emojis to exclamation points – is not random or arbitrary, but part of a broader attempt to make our written communication more vibrant, meaningful, and, genuinely human. Far from ‘ruining’ the written English language, internet-speak, McCulloch argues, is revolutionizing language in unprecedented, and ultimately positive, ways.

Clive James in Conversation

RNZ: Saturday Morning | 29 November 2019 | 0h 15m | Listen Later | iTunes
Clive James has died at 80 (NY Times obituary). This replays highlights from a 2015 interview with Kim Hill about life, mortality and his poetry collection Sentenced to Life.

Jeanette Winterson on Making Peace with the Past

Conversations | 12 December 2016 | 0h 50m | Listen Later
Interview with Jeanette Winterson recounting stories from her memoir Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? Winterson endured a difficult childhood before going on to become one of Britain’s most successful writers. Very very funny.

Lyanda Lynn Haupt on Mozart’s Starling

Reader’s Corner | 26 August 2017 | 0h 29m | Listen Later
Interview with Lyanda Lynn Haupt about her book Mozart’s Starling. Tells the story of Mozart’s relationship with his pet starling during one of the most creative and productive periods of his life. Also describes the remarkable capabilities of Haupt’s own pet starling.

Violet Moller on The Map of Knowledge

New Books Network | 31 July 2019 | 1h 04m | Listen Later | iTunes
Interview with Violet Moller about her book The Map of Knowledge: A Thousand-Year History of How Classical Ideas Were Lost and Found. Discusses the tenuous transmission of books from the ancient world to the modern, via Alexandria, Syria, Constantinople, Baghdad and Renaissance Venice.

Andrew Roberts on Churchill and the Craft of Biography

EconTalk | 26 August 2019 | 1h 10m | Listen Later | iTunes
Interview with Andrew Roberts about the life of Winston Churchill and the art of biography. How did Churchill deal with the mistakes he inevitably made in a long career? Was he prescient or just the right man in the right place at the right time? Was he an alcoholic? Did he suffer from depression? Drawing on his biography of Churchill, Andrew Roberts answers these and other questions in this wide-ranging conversation that includes a discussion of the mechanics of writing a 1000 page book on a man who has had over 1000 biographies written about him already.