Way to Go, Einstein

On the 100th anniversary of the publication of the theory of relativity, I produced an episode of Studio 360 (PRI + WNYC) looking at how Einstein upended the way we see space and time, his effect on pop culture, and how one of his most preposterous ideas was ultimately proven right. For this hour, I came… Continue reading Way to Go, Einstein

Is Laughter Good for Your Health?

Rod Waddington

For this episode of Studio 360, Kurt Andersen and Only Human host Mary Harris go to a session of laughter yoga to find out about the health effects of laughter. We trace the origin of laughter with researcher Robert Provine, and look at laughter’s effect on the brain with neuroscientist Sophie Scott. Chris Gethard talks about… Continue reading Is Laughter Good for Your Health?

Hilary Mantel Reimagines History

Hilary Mantel

The novelist Hilary Mantel has definitively updated our idea of Henry VIII—and our notion of what historical fiction can be. In her stylistically daring and formally inventive novels “Wolf Hall” and “Bring Up the Bodies,” she focuses on a less well-known figure who’s always been depicted as kind of a weasel: Thomas Cromwell. He was the son of a blacksmith who… Continue reading Hilary Mantel Reimagines History

Claudia Rankine on the Experience of Racism

Graywolf Press

Claudia Rankine’s 2014 book of poetry Citizen: An American Lyric became the first book ever nominated in two categories by the National Book Critics Circle Awards — poetry and criticism. That reflects the book’s varied literary approaches as well as its timely, acute critique of racism in contemporary American culture. I produced this interview for Studio 360.

Basia Bulat’s Pop Transformation

Secret City Records

Break-ups pretty much always suck. But when you’re a songwriter, at least you might be able to get some material out of it. Not so long ago, the Canadian songwriter and singer Basia Bulat suffered her own difficult split. She pulled herself together, wrote a set of acoustic breakup songs, and drove south from Toronto to Louisville,… Continue reading Basia Bulat’s Pop Transformation