A great podcast by Wisconsin Public Radio!

"TTBOOK is a nationally-syndicated radio show that cracks open the world and the ideas that fuel its engine. We usually produce two hours a week, each revolving around a theme. Some themes are big, like: Are Humans Innately Good? Others go micro, like Revenge of the Nerds. Once we pick the theme, we dig in with interviews that explore the culture, the debate, the stories, the science and the actual sound of it all. And hopefully, when we’re done, we’ve animated the questions along with the answers." Read on

• To the best of our Knowledge
  
  Waiting for the Apocalypse (08.07.2011)
  Elaine Pages talks about the book of Revelation. Shannon O'Malley has begun preparing for the apocalypse by baking. David Stuart says that Maya were great astronomers and devisers of calendars, which most decidedly do not end in 2012. Brian Greene has plenty to say on the end of time. Ron Rosenbaum says the biggest worry is the one we don't want to even think about the likelihood of nuclear war. Slavoy Zizek has been called "the world's hippest philosopher." Read on
  
  

Marshall McLuhan at 100 (07.24.2011)
Paul Levinson met McLuhan when, as a PhD student at NYU in the 1970s, he wrote a preface for McLuhan's article "The Laws of the Media." Robert Logan taught a course called "The Poetry of Physics" at the University of Toronto and through it met McLuhan. Douglas Coupland, famous for giving the name of his novel "Generation X" to a part of history, has other parallels with Marshall McLuhan." Read on

Brainpower (04.10.2011)
Brian Christian relates his experiences in one of the most famous philosophical experiments ? the Turing Test. Sherry Turkle is fascinated by our interactions with machines, and talks about what she calls the mashup of online and offline lives. Michael Chorost thinks his cochlear implants make him a living example of man/machine integration. Neuroscientist Miguel Nikolelis talks about the possibility of upgrading our brains with computer chips." Read on

Inside Information (02.14.2010)
Shane Harris explains that our government is collecting masses of data on ordinary people in its efforts to catch terrorists. Cory Doctorow tells us why kids should know how to take their hardware apart to re-purpose it. Marilyn Johnson says librarians are emerging as heroes of the digital age. Robert Laughlin thinks the internet is full of information, but it may not be anything you want." Read on

Gaming (02.13.2011)
Tom Chatfield believes games have the potential to revolutionize a field that could use a dose of fun ? education. Susan Millar & Kurt Squire are working on a game the lets you blast imaginary cancer cells ? except they're from a real cancer patient, and the game you play may help save her life. Cory Doctorow has a new novel about gold-farming, and why people do it. Aubrey Ralph role-plays for real with the Society for Creative Anachronism, or SCA. Ethan Gilsdorf wrote a memoir about role players, online gamers and citizens of other imaginary realms. Douglas Rushkoff says the writing's on the wall: in the future, you can either make the software... or you can BE the software." Read on

Hive Mind (01.23.2011)
Thomas Seeley describes the social organization of a bee colony. Mary Seeley is a bee keeper; TTBOOK intern John Pederson recorded her as she set up some new hives. Len Fisher differentiates "swarm intelligence" from "group think." E.O. Wilson wrote about organization and communication among the millions of members of the colonies of certain species of ants. Jaron Lanier thinks Web 2.0 technology is erasing our sense of our own identity." Read on

Can Islam and Science Coexist? (12.12.2010)
Taner Edis says the state of science is dismal in the Muslim world today. Ziauddin Sardar thinks what's needed now is "an Islamic science." Nidhal Guessoum looks back with great pride at the Golden Age of Islam. Anousheh Ansari became the first Muslim woman to venture into space. Harun Yahya is Islam's leading creationist, who runs a sophisticated media empire and has considerable influence. Coleman Barks is the translator of one of the world's great mystics - the Sufi poet Rumi." Read on

What Does Evolution Want? (11.28.2010)
Simon Conway Morris believes humans, or something like them, were the inevitable outcome of the appearance of life on earth. Robert Richards found that Charles Darwin himself believed evolution marches inevitably toward greater complexity. Ruth Padel is a direct descendent of Charles Darwin who has written poems about her famous ancestor. John Haught is a Roman Catholic theologian and explains his theology of evolution. Paleo-anthropologist John Hawks explains how human beings have evolved since their cave man days, and how the process is continuing." Read on

What is Life? (11.21.2010)
What is Life? A roundup of opinions from scientists Edwin Schrodinger, James Watson, and Harold Varmus, and science textbook author Ken Miller. Craig Venter has come as close as anyone has to creating life in a test tube. Nita Sahai talks about how life might have begun on Earth. James Lovelock explains where the Gaia theory came from and how it's evolved. Kevin Kelly thinks that the sum total of our technology - what he calls "the technicum" - is taking on the properties of life itself. Tom Boellstorff takes us on a tour through the virtual world of Second Life. Paul Davies says alien intelligence might be stranger than anything Hollywood has dreamed up." Read on

The Future of Science Fiction (11.23.2008)
George R.R. Martin thinks all fiction is about ideas and that only the furniture changes. Ursula K. Le Guin says science fiction is a literature of ideas. S.T. Joshi wrote a biography of H. P. Lovecraft, who he says was always interested in pure science. Istvan Csicsery-Ronay outlines several of his "Seven Beauties of Science Fiction." Read on

Remix Culture (07.20.2008)
Paul Miller, a.k.a DJ Spooky is the unofficial spokesman for remix culture. Derek Chilcote Bacco the World Famous Audio Hacker explains what a mash-up is. Lawrence Lessig is the founder of Creative Commons, and thinks current copyright law is absurd. Jason Bittner collects and plays samples from various cassette mix tapes." Read on

Einstein, God, and the Universe (01.06.2008)
Steve Paulson speaks with Richard Dawkins, Elaine Pagels, and Einstein biographer Walter Isaacson. David Lindorff wrote about two physicists' interest in mysticism and alchemy. David Leavitt tells the story of mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan. Father Thomas Keating talks about God and the contemplative life." Read on