Modern Notion

This Salon in New York Is the Ground Zero of Brazilian Waxing

Emma Morgenstern — Thu, 17 Dec 2015 19:46:45 +0000

On today’s episode of Modern Notion, we visit the salon in New York that originated Brazilian waxing. Jonice Padilha, one of the seven sisters behind Manhattan’s J Sisters salon, speaks to reporter Renee Gross about how the salon came up with the idea of taking it all off. From there, the trend took off—you’ll have to listen to find out why.

Music this hour:

“Forgiven Not Forgotten” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel
“What True Self? Feels Bogus, Let’s Watch Jason X” by Chris Zabriskie, from the album Reappear

Mapping the Human Body

Emma Morgenstern — Tue, 01 Dec 2015 14:41:57 +0000

What if we looked at the human body as a landscape, and mapped its features using a cartographer’s eye? That’s what Dr. Gavin Francis does in his new book, Adventures in Human Being: A Grand Tour from the Cranium to the Calcaneum (Basic Books, October 2015). On this episode of Modern Notion we dive into some of the case studies from Dr. Francis’s book, from electro-shock therapy to vertigo.

Music this hour:

“Oceanica” by Avaren, from the album For Others’ Use
“Theme S” by Steve Combs & Delta Is, from the album Themes (Vol. 1)

Cheddar: It’s Nothing to Cheese At

Emma Morgenstern — Tue, 24 Nov 2015 07:45:02 +0000

Our guest on today’s (new! improved! weekly!) Modern Notion is Gordon Edgar, the longtime cheesemonger at Rainbow Cooperative Grocery in San Francisco. Gordon turns his attention to a specific kind of cheese in his new book, Cheddar: A Journey to the Heart of America’s Most Iconic Cheese (Chelsea Green, October 2015). In the midst of a cheese renaissance, Gordon wants to understand cheddar’s place in American culture.

Music this hour:

“Chicken and Cheese 2 (Foot Village cover)” by Tussle

Announcement from Modern Notion

Emma Morgenstern — Tue, 27 Oct 2015 16:36:29 +0000

Listen for a quick update on what’s happening at Modern Notion.

Winston Churchill, War Correspondent

Emma Morgenstern — Wed, 21 Oct 2015 21:30:01 +0000

On today’s show, we’re talking with author Simon Read about Winston Churchill—but probably not the Winston Churchill you already know. In his book, Winston Churchill Reporting: Adventures of a Young War Correspondent (Da Capo Press, October 2015), Read explores the five years Churchill spent as a war correspondent, which took him around the world, from Cuba to Sudan. In those five years, Churchill had experiences that impacted his later life as a world leader, and he solidified his feelings that he was destined for greatness.

Music this hour:

“get out” by Jahzzar, from the album Sketches
“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within

Deathwatch Beetles and Other Creepy Crawlies

Emma Morgenstern — Wed, 21 Oct 2015 14:26:45 +0000

On today’s show, our guest is Dave Goulson, a professor of biological sciences and the founder of the Bumblebee Conservation Trust in the UK. Goulson recently wrote a memoir of sorts about a farm he bought in France, called A Buzz in the Meadow: The Natural History of a French Farm (Picador, April 2015). For the last decade, Goulson has been turning the farm into a bug-friendly wildflower meadow, and along the way he’s recorded what species live there and conducted experiments on them, too.

Music this hour:

“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
“Take Me Higher” by Jahzzar, from the album Tumbling Dishes Like Old-Man’s Wishes
“Flight of the Bumblebee” by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

Was the CIA behind JFK’s Assassination?

Emma Morgenstern — Mon, 19 Oct 2015 19:09:47 +0000

On today’s episode of Modern Notion Daily, our guest is David Talbot, the former CEO and editor-in-chief of Salon.com. Talbot has written a new book, The Devil’s Chessboard: Allen Dulles, the CIA, and the Rise of America’s Secret Government (Harper, October 2015). Dulles was the director of the CIA until President John F. Kennedy fired him; and now there’s evidence to suggest that Dulles might have been behind the plot to kill the president. But perhaps even more persistent in Dulles’s legacy is his role in creating a “deep government,” operating outside the bounds of democracy within our country.

Music this hour:

“Forgiven Not Forgotten” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel
“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
“eCommerce” by BoxCat Games, from the album Nameless: The Hackers RPG Soundtrack

Ambiguity May or May Not Be a Good Thing

Emma Morgenstern — Fri, 16 Oct 2015 21:34:32 +0000

Jamie Holmes is our guest today, talking about his new book Nonsense: The Power of Not Knowing (Crown, October 2015). Holmes argues that embracing ambiguity can help us lead more productive and happier lives. Also on the show, reporter Lila Cherneff visits a zebrafish lab on Mount Desert Island in Maine to learn about the science of resilience. Plus, contributing editor Mark Hay tells an alternate history of the dodo bird.

Music this hour:

“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
“Take Me Higher” by Jahzzar, from the album Tumbling Dishes Like Old-Man’s Wishes

Why Aren’t More Women Pursuing STEM Careers?

Emma Morgenstern — Thu, 15 Oct 2015 21:37:51 +0000

On today’s show, novelist and English professor Eileen Pollack is discussing her new book, The Only Woman in the Room: Why Science Is Still a Boys’ Club (Beacon Press, September 2015). Pollack graduated from Yale with a bachelor’s degree in physics, but she believes that a lack of encouragement, and even active discouragement, led her to pursue a career in the humanities instead of male-dominated STEM fields. This book is a response to Larry Summers’s famous comments about women in science, urging us as a society to foster women’s increased participation in STEM.

Music this hour:

“Forgiven Not Forgotten” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel
“Flutter” by Jahzzar, from the album Onus
“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within

Learn to Fight Like a Navy SEAL

Emma Morgenstern — Wed, 14 Oct 2015 21:28:55 +0000

On today’s show, our guest is Clint Emerson, author of 100 Deadly Skills: The SEAL Operative’s Guide to Eluding Pursuers, Evading Capture, and Surviving Any Dangerous Situation (Touchstone, October 2015). Emerson uses his experiences a Navy SEAL to give tips on how to stay ahead of “the bad guys”—mostly by using “bad guy” tactics. He gives detailed instructions on how to make an improvised Taser with a disposable, plus many other ways to be prepared for the worst. Later in the hour, well, we hear about the worst: when several severed feet washed up on the shores of the Salish Sea. (That’s from contributing editor Mark Hay.)

Music this hour:

“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within“
“Forgiven Not Forgotten” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel
“Oceanica” by Avaren, from the album For Others’ Use
“2.2.05” by BOPD, from the album 2005 Stayin Alive InstruMentals

Are Public Libraries Disappearing?

Emma Morgenstern — Tue, 13 Oct 2015 20:25:37 +0000

On today’s episode of Modern Notion Daily, our guest is Wayne Wiegand, author of Part of Our Lives: A People’s History of the American Public Library (Oxford University Press, October 2015). Wiegand argues that libraries are about much more than books: they’re a community meeting place. And to answer the question in the headline: they’re not going anywhere.

Music this hour:

“Kelli’s Number” by U.S. Army Blues, from the album Live at Blues Alley
“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within“
Forgiven Not Forgotten” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel

Your Microbiome Could Be the Key to Healthy Living

Emma Morgenstern — Mon, 12 Oct 2015 19:56:38 +0000

On today’s episode of Modern Notion Daily, we’re talking with Tim Spector, a professor of genetic epidemiology at Kings’ College London and author of The Diet Myth: Why the Secret to Health and Weight Loss Is Already in Your Gut (The Overlook Press, September 2015). Using twin studies, and testing out various diets for himself, Spector has uncovered the importance of a person’s microbiome—i.e. the bacteria residing in the gut—to overall health and wellness. Later in the hour, contributing editor Mark Hay reveals the story behind the ban on birthdays in Tajikistan.

Music this hour:

“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
“What True Self? Feels Bogus, Let’s Watch Jason X” by Chris Zabriskie, from the album Reappear
“It’s Always Too Late to Start Over” by Chris Zabriskie, from the album Direct to Video

White Powders and Clear Liquids: Looking at 75 Food Additives

Emma Morgenstern — Fri, 09 Oct 2015 19:31:57 +0000

The guests on today’s Modern Notion Daily show are Steve Ettlinger and Dwight Eschliman, coauthors of Ingredients: A Visual Exploration of 75 Food Additives and 25 Food Products (Regan Arts, September 2015). Ettlinger, who had previously written about artificial ingredients in his book Twinkie Deconstructed, teamed up with Eschliman, a photographer who has deconstructed food in previous visual projects, to really find out what all of these ingredients are. Among their discoveries: MSG doesn’t cause headaches; a lot of additives are some variation on white powder; and it’s really hard to get a sample of high fructose corn syrup these days. Later in the hour, contributing editor Mark Hay recounts of the story of a murderer on the loose near his hometown.

Music this hour:

“Octopus” by Jahzzar, from the album Sunlight
“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within

A Primer on the Colorful History of Hawaii

Emma Morgenstern — Thu, 08 Oct 2015 21:03:08 +0000

Our guest on Modern Notion Daily is Susanna Moore, author of Paradise of the Pacific: Approaching Hawaii (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, September 2015). The book was recently longlisted for the 2015 National Book Award. Moore details the history of the archipelago, first inhabited by humans in the sixth century. We’ll learn about the origin of the word “taboo,” we’ll put the myth that Hawaiians cannibalized Captain James Cook to rest, and we’ll meet Queen Ka’ahumanu.

Music this hour:

“Island Pop” by Drama by Yamaha, from the album Archipelago
“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within

The House of Twenty Thousand Books

Emma Morgenstern — Wed, 07 Oct 2015 21:27:49 +0000

On today’s episode of Modern Notion Daily, our guest is Sasha Abramsky, author of The House of Twenty Thousand Books (New York Review Books, September 2015). Abramsky recalls his grandparents’ London home, filled with a vast rare book collection—but more importantly, he remembers the ideas discussed among those treasured volumes. Later in the hour, reporter Jessie Wright-Mendoza tells the story of Harman Blennerhassett, who helped Aaron Burr in his attempt to create a treasonous state.

Music this hour:

“Lord Gordon’s” by Andy McGann
“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
“Miri’s Magic Dance” by Kevin MacLeod, from the album Oddities
“Forgiven Not Forgotten” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel
“The Presidents March” by The United States Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps, from the album Celebrating 50 Years

Sound effects:

“Courthouse Lobby Ambience” by Tomlija

The Dark Underbelly of California Winemaking

Emma Morgenstern — Tue, 06 Oct 2015 21:17:52 +0000

Our guest on today’s episode of Modern Notion Daily is Frances Dinkelspiel, author of Tangled Vines: Greed, Murder, Obsession, and an Arsonist in the Vineyards of California (St. Martin’s Press, October 2015). Dinkelspiel was intrigued by the 2005 arson of Wines Central, which destroyed hundreds of millions of dollars worth of wine. But ultimately, her journey to tell that story led her to other darkness that lurked in the shadows of the wine business on the West Coast.

Music this hour:

“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
“Il Pleut des Informations (ou Mass Media en Masse à Partir de Notre Cumulonimus Fiable)” by Monroeville Music Center, from the album Le Progrés

Judy, the Only Canine POW in World War II

Emma Morgenstern — Fri, 02 Oct 2015 20:49:55 +0000

On today’s show, our guest is Robert Weintraub, author of No Better Friend: One Man, One Dog, and Their Extraordinary Story of Courage and Survival in WWII (Little, Brown and Company, May 2015). This is the story of Judy, a pointer dog who was a Japanese POW. She befriended Frank Williams, a British POW, and the two cared for each other through the war and beyond.

Music this hour:

“Theme S” by Steve Combs & Delta Is, from the album Themes (Vol. 1)
“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
“Who Let the Dogs Out?” by Baha Men

The Volcano That Caused Three Years of Bad Weather

Emma Morgenstern — Thu, 01 Oct 2015 19:55:39 +0000

On today’s Modern Notion Daily podcast, our guest is Gillen D’Arcy Wood, author of Tambora: The Eruption That Changed the World (Princeton University Press, paperback September 2015). In 1815, the Tambora volcano on Sumbawa (part of Indonesia) erupted for three days, producing volcanic ash that was absorbed into the Earth’s atmosphere and stratosphere. People blame this volcano for famine, cold weather, and a cholera outbreak over the next three years around the world. Later in the show, staff writer Josh Hrala traces the postmortem history of Napoleon’s nether regions.

Music this hour:

“Forgiven Not Forgotten” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel
“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
“Quasi Motion” by Kevin MacLeod, from the album Global Sampler

Why You Should Be Death-Positive

Emma Morgenstern — Wed, 30 Sep 2015 20:31:14 +0000

Our guest on today’s episode of Modern Notion Daily is Caitlin Doughty, a mortician and author of Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Stories from the Crematory (W. W. Norton & Co., paperback September 2015). Doughty promotes “death positivity”—which does not mean you should be happy when a loved one dies, but that you should embrace the dying and post-death process. In the interview, Doughty reveals her plans for her own body after she dies. Later in the hour, reporter Erika Beras takes us south of the border to Oaxaca, Mexico, to learn about making mezcal. She visits with artisanal producers of the drink, as well as people making the smoky spirit in their own homes.

Music this hour:

“Hairy Fairy Hotaruna” by Monroeville Music Center, from the album Musique Concrete for Beginners
“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within

A History of Gay Rights (or Lack Thereof) in America

Emma Morgenstern — Tue, 29 Sep 2015 19:42:27 +0000

On Modern Notion Daily, our guest is Lillian Faderman, author of The Gay Revolution: The Story of the Struggle (Simon & Schuster, September 2015). Faderman starts this detailed account of the treatment of LGBT people and communities in the 1950s, when police raided gay bars and prosecuted people for their sexuality in courts of law. How did we get from there to 2015, Faderman asks, when LGBT people can serve openly in the military and marry whomever they choose? Later in the hour, contributing editor Mark Hay takes us to Viking School in Norway.

Music this hour:

“Forgiven Not Forgotten” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel
“The Departure” by nisei23, from the album elevenandtwelve
“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within

Lady Spies of the Civil War

Emma Morgenstern — Mon, 28 Sep 2015 20:20:30 +0000

This hour of Modern Notion Daily, our guest Karen Abbott talks about her book, Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War (Harper Perennial, paperback September 2015). Abbott explored the lives of four women who contributed to the war effort in unusual ways, from the Confederate spy who bedded countless Union soldiers to obtain secrets, to the woman who dressed as a man and enlisted in the Union Army. Later in the hour, Mark Hay explains the Kuiper Belt and why it’s so gosh darn cool.

Music this hour:

“Elle va au Japon” by Nic Bommarito, from the album A Quiet Age
“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
“Semper Fidelis” by Heftone Banjo Orchestra, from the album Music Box Rag

Does Freud Have a Place in Neuroscience?

Emma Morgenstern — Fri, 25 Sep 2015 18:00:45 +0000

Our guest on today’s episode of Modern Notion Daily is Casey Schwartz, author of In the Mind Fields: Exploring the New Science of Neuropsychoanalysis (Pantheon, August 2015). Schwartz completed a graduate program that allowed her to study psychoanalysis at the Anna Freud Centre in London and neuroscience at Yale. She constantly felt like the two disciplines were talking past each other, until she met Dr. Mark Solms and stepped into the new world of neuropsychoanalysis. Later in the hour, contributing editor Mark Hay discusses a new study of bullying.

Music this hour:

“Private Hurricane (Instrumental Version)” by Josh Woodward, from the album Breadcrumbs
“Forgiven Not Forgotten” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel
“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within

What Does It Mean If Only 36 Percent of Psychology Studies Are Replicable

Emma Morgenstern — Thu, 24 Sep 2015 18:32:23 +0000

On today’s Modern Notion Daily podcast, our guest is Roger Giner-Sorolla, a professor of social psychology at the University of Kent and a member of the team working on the Reproducibility Project for Psychology. The Reproducibility Project tasked psychologists with choosing 100 studies that they could replicate in their own labs as a way of examining the state of psychology research on the whole. Only 36 percent were successfully replicated—but what does that figure really mean?

Music this hour:

“get out” by Jahzzar, from the album Sketches
“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
“Forgiven Not Forgotten” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel

The Master Algorithm

Emma Morgenstern — Tue, 22 Sep 2015 21:31:45 +0000

Our guest on today’s episode of Modern Notion Daily is Pedro Domingos, a professor of computer science and the author of The Master Algorithm: How the Quest for the Ultimate Learning Machine Will Remake Our World (Basic Books, September 2015). Domingos is an expert in machine learning, which is the engine behind much of what happens in our digital lives (suggested friends on Facebook, route times on GoogleMaps, and the like). The holy grail of machine learning is the master algorithm, and Domingos thinks we’ll find it if we look hard enough.

Music this hour:

“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
“Octopus” by Jahzzar, from the album Sunlight

Understanding Science Will Make You a Better Cook

Emma Morgenstern — Mon, 21 Sep 2015 17:59:20 +0000

On today’s episode of Modern Notion Daily, our guest is J. Kenji López-Alt, the managing culinary director of Serious Eats and author of the new book, The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking through Science (W. W. Norton, September 2015). López-Alt takes a scientific approach to cooking—which doesn’t mean he’s necessarily looking for the “perfect” way to make a dish, but he wants to understand what it would take to do so. The result is this 1,000-page cookbook, which shifts the focus from recipes and onto the science behind why they work. Later in the hour, contributing editor Mark Hay warns us against shooting armadillos.

Music this hour:

“Forgiven Not Forgotten” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel
“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
“Quasi Motion” by Kevin MacLeod, from the album Global Sampler

Introducing the Pawpaw, the Most Delicious Fruit on Both Sides of the Mississippi

Emma Morgenstern — Fri, 18 Sep 2015 18:03:51 +0000

Our guest on today’s Modern Notion Daily is Andrew Moore, author of Pawpaw: In Search of America’s Forgotten Fruit (Chelsea Green, August 2015). Moore discovered the pawpaw, which is native to the United States, five years ago in a grove in Ohio. Despite its addictive taste and aroma (it’s been called a cross between a banana and a mango), the pawpaw never achieved mass appeal. Moore explores the reasons and talks about his adventures going pawpaw pickin’. Also, at the top of the show, Pam Wasserman from Population Connection tells us about the invention of microscopes and how that’s affected world population. You can check out Population Connection’s interactive map/timeline at www.worldpopulationhistory.org. And later in the hour, contributing editor Mark Hay tells the story of a penguin named Lala who wore a backpack.

Music this hour:

“J. S. Bach: Prelude in C – BWV 846” by Kevin MacLeod, from the album Classical Sampler
“What True Self? Feels Bogus, Let’s Watch Jason X” by Chris Zabriskie, from the album Reappear
“Semper Fidelis” by Heftone Banjo Orchestra, from the album Music Box Rag
“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within

Sound effects:

“Theater Chatter” by Ed Hutschek

It Took a Few Tries to Get the Magna Carta Right

Emma Morgenstern — Thu, 17 Sep 2015 17:57:27 +0000

On today’s episode of Modern Notion Daily, our guest is David Starkey, author of Magna Carta: The Medieval Roots of Modern Politics (Quercus, September 2015). Starkey was less interested in exploring the principles of the Magna Carta, and more interested in the process it took to get the document just right. In the year 1215, when the Magna Carta was first signed (or sealed, depending on who you ask), the document was quite extreme. But over the course of a decade, the parties involved negotiated the terms and arrived at what we think of as the bedrock for American and British politics today.

Music this hour:

“Forgiven Not Forgotten” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel
“The Presidents March” by The United States Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps, from the album Celebrating 50 Years
“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within

Reading ‘Walden’ for the Rocks

Emma Morgenstern — Wed, 16 Sep 2015 17:21:16 +0000

On today’s show, our guest is Robert M. Thorson, author of Walden’s Shore: Henry David Thoreau and Nineteenth-Century Science (Harvard University Press, paperback August 2015). Thorson is a geologist who decided to read Thoreau’s classic literary work for its observations about nature. He argues that Thoreau was as skilled a naturalist as he was a writer. Later in the hour, contributing editor Erin Blakemore talks about what’s happened to the remains of the Romanovs.

Music this hour:

“Forgiven Not Forgotten” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel
“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
“Travel Light” by Jason Shaw, from the album Audionatix: Acoustic
“Prelude No. 14” by Chris Zabriskie, from the album Preludes
“Out of the Skies, Under the Earth” by Chris Zabriskie, from the album Reappear

When It Comes to Automation, Have We Gone Too Far?

Emma Morgenstern — Fri, 11 Sep 2015 20:48:05 +0000

On today’s episode of Modern Notion Daily, our guest is Nicholas Carr, a science and technology writer whose most recent book is The Glass Cage: How Our Computers Are Changing Us (W. W. Norton, paperback September 2015). Carr thinks that automation has advanced society and the greater good in innumerable ways, but we may have passed the “sweet spot”—the point where automation helps us but doesn’t displace people from their jobs or, essentially, make us dumber. Using case studies including plane crashes, driverless cars, and the like, Carr explains what using automation does to us on a psychological and intellectual level. Later in the hour, contributing editor Erin Blakemore explains how the U.S. government’s brutality against the Navajo Nation in the 1860s has worsened the effects of a rare genetic disease today.

Music this hour:

“Forgiven Not Forgotten” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel
“wherever” by Jahzzar, from the album Sketches
“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within

Sisters in Law: Sandra Day O’Connor & Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Emma Morgenstern — Thu, 10 Sep 2015 21:06:26 +0000

On today’s show, we’re talking with Linda Hirshman, a former attorney and author of the new dual biography, Sisters in Law: How Sandra Day O’Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg Went to the Supreme Court and Changed the World (Harper, September 2015). Hirshman argues that these first two women to sit on the Supreme Court could not have been more different, apart from their commitment to women’s rights in cases of sexual harassment, abortion, and much more. Hirshman recounts their uncommon drive to succeed in a world that was barely ready for women to have as much power as O’Connor and Ginsburg decided they deserved.

Music this hour:

“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
“Take Me Higher” by Jahzzar, from the album Tumbling Dishes Like Old-Man’s Wishes

What We Can Learn from Online Daters

Emma Morgenstern — Wed, 09 Sep 2015 21:07:11 +0000

On this episode of Modern Notion Daily, our guest is Christian Rudder, a co-founder of the online dating service OkCupid and author of Dataclysm: Love, Sex, Race, and Identity—What Our Online Lives Tell Us about Our Offline Selves (Broadway Books, paperback September 2015). Rudder gained some attention when he wrote the OkTrends blog for OkCupid, which analyzed user data in order to better understand human behavior. He’s compiled many of those observations into Dataclysm. Later in the hour, contributing editor Erin Blakemore gives us the rundown from Laurapalooza, a conference on acclaimed young adult author Laura Ingalls Wilder.

Music this hour:

“Forgiven Not Forgotten” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel
“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
“DJ” by Jahzzar

Investigating the Murder of a White Supremacist Leader

Emma Morgenstern — Tue, 08 Sep 2015 20:37:26 +0000

On this episode of Modern Notion Daily, our guest is John Safran, an Australian comedian, documentary maker, and author of the book God’ll Cut You Down: The Tangled Tale of a White Supremacist, a Black Hustler, a Murder, and How I Lost a Year in Mississippi (Riverhead Books, paperback September 2015). As part of his Australian television series “Race Relations,” Safran visited with Richard Barrett, a white supremacist leader in Mississippi. When Safran found out Barrett had been murdered not long after that visit, he wanted to find out more about the murderer, Vince McGee, as well as the secret life of the murdered. Our conversation with Safran reaches from the comedian’s own identity as a Jewish Australian, to the backlash from some of the outrageous stunts on “Race Relations,” to why he felt compelled to write this book.

Music this hour:

“Guatemala – Panama March” by Heftone Banjo Orchestra, from the album Music Box Rag
“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within

Taking Down Boston’s Most Notorious Gangster

Emma Morgenstern — Fri, 04 Sep 2015 20:08:43 +0000

Our guest today on Modern Notion Daily is Dick Lehr, coauthor with Gerard O’Neill of the definitive book on Boston’s most notorious gangster, Black Mass: Whitey Bulger, the FBI, and a Devil’s Deal (PublicAffairs, reissued August 2015). Lehr and O’Neill were part of an investigative journalism team at The Boston Globe in the 1980s, covering Whitey and his brother Billy Bulger. As they got deeper into the story, though, they uncovered Whitey’s “unholy” relationship with the FBI. Later in the hour, contributing editor Erin Blakemore tells the story of a husband so disgruntled he started a fake art movement.

Music this hour:

“Forgiven Not Forgotten” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel
“Railroad’s Whiskey Co” by Jahzzar, from the album Home (Excerpt)
“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within

The Night Bob Dylan Went Electric

Emma Morgenstern — Thu, 03 Sep 2015 20:43:20 +0000

Our guest today is Elijah Wald, author of Dylan Goes Electric! Newport, Seeger, Dylan, and the Night That Split the Sixties (Dey Street Books, July 2015). Fifty years after the fact, we talk with Wald about the night Bob Dylan first performed with an electric band at the Newport Folk Festival, shocking his fans and ushering in the era of rock and roll. But to understand why the night was so momentous, you have to understand the folk musicians (including Pete Seeger) who influenced him. Later in the hour, Aviva Kempner joins us to talk about her documentary, Rosenwald, which premieres tomorrow.

Music this hour:

“Maggie’s Farm” by Bob Dylan
“Like a Rolling Stone” by Bob Dylan
“Forgiven Not Forgotten” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel
“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within

The Tricky Science of Forensics

Emma Morgenstern — Wed, 02 Sep 2015 22:19:53 +0000

On today’s show, our guest is Val McDermid, author of Forensics: What Bugs, Burns, Prints, DNA, and More Tell Us about Crime (Grove Press, July 2015). McDermid is a crime novelist and tries to make her fiction as close to real life as possible. Writing Forensics, a nonfiction title that explores the science of crime scene investigation, allowed McDermid to learn even more about what she dramatizes—from “stringing” to understand more about blood spatter, to the stages of bug infestation in a corpse. We also kick off our series on world population: Pam Wasserman from Population Connection tells us about the history of oil wells in ancient China and how that has impacted population. You can check out Population Connection’s interactive map/timeline at www.worldpopulationhistory.org.

Music this hour:

“Twin” by Jahzzar, from the album Onus
“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
“The Han Palace Autumn Moon“
“Persian Lamb Rag” by Heftone Banjo Orchestra, from the album Music Box Rag

Sound effects:

“Factory” by viertelnachvier
“Water Boil” by fryzu82
“Oil Drum” by engreitz

The Ups and Downs of Voting Rights in America

Emma Morgenstern — Tue, 01 Sep 2015 19:27:11 +0000

Today on Modern Notion Daily: journalist Ari Berman takes us through the history of voting rights and restrictions in the last 50 years, as detailed in his book Give Us the Ballot: The Modern Struggle for Voting Rights in America (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, August 2015). Berman explores why the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was so effective in registering previously disenfranchised voters. Berman argues that the Supreme Court’s 2013 decision in Shelby County v. Holder weakened the VRA immeasurably in a time when it’s still necessary. (Check out the literacy test used in Louisiana that Berman refers to in the interview here.) Later in the hour, contributing editor Erin Blakemore tells us about three societies where women rule.

Music this hour:

“Superconductivity” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel
“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within

The Complex Lives of Killer Whales

Emma Morgenstern — Mon, 31 Aug 2015 21:30:47 +0000

David Neiwert, author of Of Orcas and Men: What Killer Whales Can Teach Us (The Overlook Press, June 2015), joins us to talk orcas on today’s episode of Modern Notion Daily. Neiwert explores the killer whale’s unique intelligence and ability to echolocate, as well as the conditions these animals are subjected to in captivity. We should look to orcas as models for empathy and how to be at the top of the food chain, according to Neiwert.

Music this hour:

“Friday I’m in Love” by The Cure
“Forgiven Not Forgotten” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel
“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
“Pippin the Hunchback” by Kevin MacLeod, from the album Thatched Villagers

A Behind-the-Scenes Look at Project Apollo

Emma Morgenstern — Thu, 27 Aug 2015 20:47:47 +0000

Today, on Modern Notion Daily: we get a rare look at the manned space flights of Project Apollo. Our guests are John Bisney and J.L. Pickering, coauthors of Moonshots and Snapshots of Project Apollo: A Rare Photographic Look (September 2015, University of New Mexico Press). For more than four decades, Pickering has been collecting 8″x10″ images of manned space flights, and he now boasts more than 100,000 images in the collection. He and Bisney have combed through this archive and threaded a narrative through it to give us a deeper sense of the work that went into the Apollo missions.

Music this hour:

“Chance, Luck, Errors in Nature, Destruction As a Finale” by Chris Zabriskie, from the album Reappear
“Forgiven Not Forgotten” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel
“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within

Sea Wars: Somali Pirates & Oyster Farming

Emma Morgenstern — Wed, 26 Aug 2015 22:03:46 +0000

This hour, our theme is “sea wars,” and we bring you two very different stories. First, we’re talking with John Boyle, author of Blood Ransom: Stories from the Front Line in the War Against Somali Piracy (Bloomsbury, July 2015). Boyle interviewed prisoners in Somalia who were serving time for alleged pirate activity. Then we’re joined by Summer Brennan, author of The Oyster War: The True Story of a Small Farm, Big Politics, and the Future of Wilderness in America (Counterpoint, August 2015). After returning to her hometown to become a reporter for the local newspaper, Brennan found herself embroiled in a battle over a decades-old oyster farm and became fascinated its implications for how we think about nature across the country.

Music this hour:

“Seasong” by Jelsonic, from the album Various Moods II
“Forgiven Not Forgotten” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel
“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within

The American Doctor Who Resisted in Nazi-Occupied Paris; NYC Subway Cars Become Artificial Reefs

Emma Morgenstern — Tue, 25 Aug 2015 19:39:07 +0000

On today’s Modern Notion Daily podcast, we’re talking spies and subways cars in the ocean. First we’re in the studio with Alex Kershaw, author of Avenue of Spies: A True Story of Terror, Espionage, and One American Family’s Heroic Resistance in Nazi-Occupied Paris (Crown, August 2015). Kershaw tells the story of an American doctor and Swiss nurse who became part of the French Resistance in Nazi-occupied Paris. Later in the show, we welcome Jeff Tinsman, the artificial reef project manager for the Delaware Division of Fish and Wildlife, as well as Stephen Mallon, an industrial photographer. Mallon photographed New York City subway cars as they were dropped into the Atlantic Ocean to become structures in the artificial reef program that Tinsman leads.

Music this hour:

“Superconductivity” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel
“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
“Forgiven Not Forgotten” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel

John Horton Conway: The Seductive Mathematician

Emma Morgenstern — Mon, 24 Aug 2015 15:00:57 +0000

On today’s episode of Modern Notion Daily, our guest is Siobhan Roberts, author of Genius at Play: The Curious Mind of John Horton Conway (Bloomsbury USA, July 2015). Roberts spent seven years writing this biography of one of the most famous contemporary mathematicians and creator of the Game of Life. The magnitude of Conway’s genius is matched only by his playfulness and charisma; Roberts even describes him as “seductive.” But that intensity has a dark side, too.

Music this hour:

“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
“Forgiven Not Forgotten” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel
“get out” by Jahzzar, from the album Sketches

The Race to Crack the Genetic Code

Emma Morgenstern — Fri, 21 Aug 2015 21:16:39 +0000

On today’s Modern Notion Daily show, our guest is Matthew Cobb, a zoology professor and author of Life’s Greatest Secret: The Race to Crack the Genetic Code (Basic Books, July 2015). Cobb traces the history of genetic discoveries from Mendel and his predecessors (yes, he stood on the shoulders of other early geneticists) to CRISPR and other up-to-the-minute techniques that could change our lives moving forward.

Music this hour:

“Octopus” by Jahzzar, from the album Sunlight
“Forgiven Not Forgotten” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel
“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within

The Origins of International Adoption from Korea

Emma Morgenstern — Thu, 20 Aug 2015 19:36:04 +0000

On today’s Modern Notion Daily podcast, our guest is Arissa H. Oh, author of To Save the Children of Korea: The Cold War Origins of International Adoption (Stanford University Press, June 2015). During the Korean War and the rise of “war orphans,” Americans began adopting Korean children in large numbers; that trend spiked in the 1980s. Oh explores the reasons why Korea became such a hub of adoption and the struggles faced by adopters and adoptees.

Music this hour:

“Forgiven Not Forgotten” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel
“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
“wherever” by Jahzzar, from the album Sketches

Murder & Romance in the 19th Century

Emma Morgenstern — Wed, 19 Aug 2015 21:18:33 +0000

This hour, our guest is Michael Knox Beran, author of Murder by Candlelight: The Gruesome Crimes Behind Our Romance with the Macabre (Pegasus, August 2015). Beran explores three murders from the 19th century that showcase people’s changing attitudes toward the macabre at that time.

Music this hour:

“Miri’s Magic Dance” by Kevin MacLeod, from the album Oddities
“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
“Forgiven Not Forgotten” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel

Andy Warhol’s Epic 1963 Cross-Country Road Trip; Sardinian Foods

Emma Morgenstern — Mon, 17 Aug 2015 15:18:19 +0000

On today’s episode of Modern Notion Daily, our guest is Deborah Davis, author of The Trip: Andy Warhol’s Plastic Fantastic Cross-Country Adventure (Atria Books, July 2015). Based on Warhol’s trove of receipts and other ephemera, Davis recreated his 1963 road trip from New York to Hollywood, where a friend was throwing him a party. That trip became a dividing line in Warhol’s life, and Davis explores its significance as she follows in Warhol’s footsteps. Later in the hour, contributing editor Mark Hay tells us about the local foods he ate during a recent sojourn to Sardinia.

Music this hour:

“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
“Persian Lamb Rag” by Heftone Banjo Orchestra, from the album Music Box Rag

A History of the Written Word

Emma Morgenstern — Fri, 14 Aug 2015 18:53:12 +0000

On today’s episode of Modern Notion Daily, our guest is Matthew Battles, author of Palimpsest: A History of the Written Word (W. W. Norton & Co., July 2015). Battles explores the trajectory of writing, from the forms it takes (cuneiform, pictographs, letters, characters, emojis) to the way it’s been produced (on clay tablets, on parchment, on a digital device). Writing has surprising impacts on how we think, remember, and communicate, Battles argues, even if much of that impact lies under the surface.

Music this hour:

“Forgiven Not Forgotten” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel
“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
“Flutter” by Jahzzar, from the album Onus

The Oregon Trail

Emma Morgenstern — Thu, 13 Aug 2015 20:47:23 +0000

On today’s episode of Modern Notion Daily, our guest is Rinker Buck, author of The Oregon Trail: A New American Journey (Simon & Schuster, June 2015). After coming across an Oregon Trail marker in Kansas, and then reading that it had been decades since anyone traversed it, Buck decided it was his turn. It took him and his brother, Nick, four months to travel the length of the trail with their pack of mules and covered wagon, but Buck found it immensely rewarding. Later in the hour, contributing editor Emma Bryce tells us about the staunch Darwinist whose “scientific” work ended up adding fuel to the creationist fire.

Music this hour:

“Forgiven Not Forgotten” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel
“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
“Guatemala – Panama March” by Heftone Banjo Orchestra, from the album Music Box Rag

Three Stoners Who Became Gunrunners for the Department of Defense

Emma Morgenstern — Wed, 12 Aug 2015 21:01:14 +0000

On today’s Modern Notion Daily podcast, author Guy Lawson joins us to talk about his new book, Arms and the Dudes: How Three Stoners from Miami Beach Became the Most Unlikely Gunrunners in History (Simon & Schuster, June 2015). It could only have happened in the internet age, argues Lawson: three kids from Miami Beach won a 300 million dollar contract with the United State Department of Defense to supply the Afghan army with weapons. But when their illegal (but state-sponsored) gunrunning was exposed, the government turned on them. You won’t want to miss this one. Later in the hour, contributing editor Emma Bryce presents the theories behind the name of one of our host’s favorite cocktails.

Music this hour:

“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
“Forgiven Not Forgotten” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel
“Quasi Motion” by Kevin MacLeod, from the album Global Sampler

The First Lady of the Black Press; Fake Blood for Mosquitoes

Emma Morgenstern — Tue, 11 Aug 2015 22:13:51 +0000

On today’s show our guest is James McGrath Morris, author of Eye on the Struggle: Ethel Payne, the First Lady of the Black Press (Amistad/HarperCollins, February 2015). Payne was one of the first African-American women journalists, and her heyday was in the 1950s and 1960s. Before she even got into journalism professionally, Payne was an activist in the civil rights movement, forcing her way into a leadership role even when the men tried to dismiss her. She took that gutsiness with her throughout her life—from asking controversial questions at White House press conferences while reporting for the Chicago Defender, to covering apartheid in South Africa, to showing up for the signing of the Voting Rights Act. Even though she blazed a trail for black women in her field, Payne is largely forgotten today, and biographer Morris explores why. Later in the hour, contributing editor Emma Bryce talks about the scientist experimenting with fake blood to curb the spread of disease via mosquitoes.

Music this hour:

“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
“Forgiven Not Forgotten” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel
“Freedom Highway” by The Staple Singers
“A Change Is Gonna Come” by Same Cooke
“Go Tell It on the Mountain” by Peter Tosh & the Wailers

North Korea Undercover; The Dead Man Who Helped the Allies Win World War II

Emma Morgenstern — Mon, 10 Aug 2015 21:23:56 +0000

On today’s show our guest is John Sweeney, author of North Korea Undercover: Inside the World’s Most Secret State (Pegasus, July 2015). Sweeney, a journalist, posed as a professor taking students on a tour in order to get into North Korea. While there, he wasn’t able to see much—but even the absence of certain fundamentals (no students in the university, no animals at the farm) were a clear picture of what is going on in this authoritarian country. Later in the hour, Emma Bryce joins us to talk about the dead man with a briefcase who may have helped the Allies win World War II.

Music this hour:

“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
“Forgiven Not Forgotten” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel
“Serenity” by Jason Shaw, from the album Audionatix

Peyton Place; Origins of the Bikini

Emma Morgenstern — Fri, 07 Aug 2015 20:36:05 +0000

On today’s episode of the Modern Notion Daily podcast, we’re talking with Ardis Cameron, author of Unbuttoning America: A Biography of ‘Peyton Place‘ (Cornell University Press, May 2015). Cameron knew the book as a symbol of illicit love affairs and drama, but didn’t actually read the novel until she was in her fifties. When she did, she realized it was a window into New England small town life and a precursor to revolutions in women’s rights and attitudes toward sexuality that came in the 1960s and 70s. It also says a lot that 1 in 29 Americans bought the book when it came out in 1956. Later in the hour, Emma Bryce tells us about the bikini’s atomic origins.

Music this hour:

“Cheek to Cheek” by Irving Berlin, performed live by Dorothy Collins
“TweedleDee” performed live by Dorothy Collins
“Peyton Place” by Squeeze
“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
“Forgiven Not Forgotten” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel

Ernest Lawrence, the Cyclotron, & the Military-Industrial Complex

Emma Morgenstern — Thu, 06 Aug 2015 21:27:47 +0000

On today’s Modern Notion Daily podcast, we’re talking with Michael Hiltzik, author of Big Science: Ernest Lawrence and the Invention that Launched the Military-Industrial Complex (Simon & Schuster, July 2015). Hiltzik chronicles the life of Lawrence and his machine, the cyclotron (also known as the proton accelerator). This invention, Hiltzik argues, was the beginning of the military-industrial complex and “big science.” Later in the hour, we replay a story by reporter Daniel A. Gross about the post-World War II life of the cyclotron.

Music this hour:

“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
“Theme E” by Steve Combs & Delta Is, from the album Themes (Vol. 1)
“The Professor’s Lab” by Christian Bjoerklund, from the album Skapmat
“Electron” by Podington Bear, from the album Reflective
“Superconductivity” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel

The Women Behind the Whiskey

Emma Morgenstern — Wed, 05 Aug 2015 21:14:41 +0000

This hour we’re talking to Fred Minnick, author of two books about whiskey: Whiskey Women (Potomac Books, October 2013) and Bourbon Curious (Zenith Press, August 2015). After covering a women’s military unit in Iraq as a journalist, Minnick was inspired to report on more stories about women’s history. In Whiskey Women, he recounts women’s roles in the whiskey industry, from the first Sumerian women to brew beer to Marge Samuels, the woman who revolutionized Maker’s Mark bourbon.

Music this hour:

“Forgiven Not Forgotten” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel
“Railroad’s Whiskey Co” by Jahzzar, from the album Home (Excerpt)
“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within

Understanding Dinosaurs with the Traces They Left Behind; Head Transplants

Emma Morgenstern — Tue, 04 Aug 2015 20:20:39 +0000

On today’s show, our guest is Anthony J. Martin, author of Dinosaurs Without Bones: Dinosaur Lives Revealed by Their Trace Fossils (Pegasus, paperback March 2015). Martin is an ichnologist, which means he studies the traces of animals in conjunction with fossils of the animals themselves. This could mean tracks or it could mean puke—and ichnology is a very powerful tool for learning more about ancient creatures. Later in the hour, contributing editor Mark Hay casts his doubts about the possibility of a human head transplant in 2017, despite whatever one determined doctor might think.

Music this hour:

“Dinosaurs” by Simon Panrucker, from the album Smells Like Rap
“Forgiven Not Forgotten” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel
“Take Me Higher” by Jahzzar, from the album Tumbling Dishes Like Old-Man’s Wishes
“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within

Quantum Biology and Life on the Edge; Mosquito Asphyxiation

Emma Morgenstern — Mon, 03 Aug 2015 20:12:03 +0000

Today on Modern Notion Daily, our guests are Jim Al-Khalili and Johnjoe McFadden, authors of Life on the Edge: The Coming of Age of Quantum Biology (Crown, July 2015). Al-Khalili, a quantum physicist, and McFadden, a molecular biologist, have teamed up to write the first book on the burgeoning field of quantum biology. The quantum world operates on physical laws totally different from Newtonian physics, which might make you think that it exists completely independently of us. But in reality, quantum biology explains many unexplained phenomena in living beings, from our own sense of smell to the European robin’s ability to navigate based on the Earth’s magnetic field. Later in the hour, contributing editor Mark Hay tells us about a truly ghastly phenomenon: mosquito asphyxiation.

Music this hour:

“Forgiven Not Forgotten” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel
“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
“get out” by Jahzzar, from the album Sketches

Elephants and Kings; Foods for Survival

Emma Morgenstern — Thu, 30 Jul 2015 21:22:17 +0000

This hour of Modern Notion Daily, our guest is Thomas Trautmann, author of Elephants and Kings: An Environmental History (University of Chicago Press, 2015). Trautmann looks at the fascinating history behind how and why elephants were first tamed for use in battle, from more than two thousand years ago until the Vietnam War. Later in the hour, Mark Hay joins us to give us his top five list of foods to stock up on for the apocalypse.

Music this hour:

“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
“Superconductivity” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel

The Texting-While-Driving Crash That Killed Two Rocket Scientists

Emma Morgenstern — Wed, 29 Jul 2015 19:44:21 +0000

On today’s show, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Matt Richtel joins us to talk about his book, A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, the Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age (William Morrow, June 2015 paperback). Richtel followed the case of Reggie Shaw, who was texting while driving, when he swerved and hit an oncoming car. That crash killed two rocket scientists and brought into focus larger issues about how we interact with technology. Later in the hour, Mark Hay joins us to talk about the video game that is supposed to help with writer’s block.

Music this hour:

“Forgiven Not Forgotten” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel
“AcidJazz” by Kevin MacLeod, from the album Jazz Sampler
“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within

The Tragic Story of Ota Benga; Cylinder Seals

Emma Morgenstern — Tue, 28 Jul 2015 20:57:29 +0000

On today’s show, award-winning journalist Pamela Newkirk talks about her new book, Spectacle: The Astonishing Life of Ota Benga (Amistad/HarperCollins, June 2015). Ota Benga was a young man from the Congo, kidnapped and put on display at the St. Louis World’s Fair and the Bronx Zoo at the dawn of the 20th century. Newkirk explores how Ota Benga came to be exhibited there and the public’s reaction, as well as Benga’s long-term legacy. Later in the hour, Mark Hay brings us the story of what may be the earliest form of identity theft.

Music this hour:

“Forgiven Not Forgotten” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel
“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
“Private Hurricane (Instrumental Version)” by Josh Woodward, from the album Breadcrumbs
“Chance, Luck, Errors in Nature, Destruction As a Finale” by Chris Zabriskie, from the album Reappear

The Scientists Who Invented Weather Prediction

Emma Morgenstern — Mon, 27 Jul 2015 20:32:51 +0000

On today’s episode of Modern Notion Daily, our guest is Peter Moore, author of The Weather Experiment: The Pioneers Who Sought to See the Future (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, June 2015). Before any concerted study of the weather, people didn’t understand that it was a global system; it seemed more like random, individual events controlled by the divine. Many people contributed to the modern science of meteorology, but Moore focuses on Robert FitzRoy, who really believed in being able to predict the weather.

Music this hour:

“Forgiven Not Forgotten” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel
“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
“Take Me Higher” by Jahzzar, from the album Tumbling Dishes Like Old-Man’s Wishes

Reconstructing Roman Hairstyles & the Tour de France’s “Lanterne Rouge”

Emma Morgenstern — Fri, 24 Jul 2015 20:23:31 +0000

On today’s show we have two guests. The first is Janet Stephens, a hairdresser turned Roman hairstyle archaeologist. Stephens was inspired when she walked into a museum in Baltimore—it was the first time she’d really examined the backs of Roman statues’ heads. That set her on a quest to figure out how to recreate those styles and set the historical record straight.

And just in time for the big finale of that famous French bicycle race, our second guest is Max Leonard, author of Lanterne Rouge: The Last Man in the Tour de France (Pegasus, May 2015). The “lanterne rouge” is the person who finishes the Tour de France in last place, and that dubious distinction, Leonard argues, is actually quite an honor. The book explores several lanterne rouges throughout history and what each last finisher’s story says about the Tour de France at that time.

Music this hour:

“Forgiven Not Forgotten” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel
“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
“Elle va au Japon” by Nic Bommarito, from the album A Quiet Age
“Persian Lamb Rag” by Heftone Banjo Orchestra, from the album Music Box Rag

The Stanford Prison Experiment, Dangerous Personalities

Emma Morgenstern — Thu, 23 Jul 2015 21:13:04 +0000

On today’s show Dr. Philip Zimbardo joins us to talk about his famous Stanford Prison Experiment from 1971. Zimbardo, a psychologist, designed an experiment in which 24 college-aged men lived in a prison simulation for two weeks. Twelve played the role of guard, while the other 12 were the prisoners. Zimbardo planned to observe how circumstances affect a person’s moral compass. The experiment is dramatized in a feature film, The Stanford Prison Experiment, which premiered last week.

We also revisit our interview with Joe Navarro, a former FBI agent and author of Dangerous Personalities: An FBI Profiler Shows How to Identify and Protect Yourself from Harmful People (Rodale Books, October 2014).

Music this hour:

“Forgiven Not Forgotten” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel
“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
“Elle va au Japon” by Nic Bommarito, from the album A Quiet Age

The Wild Weasels of the U.S. Air Force, Betty Crocker

Emma Morgenstern — Wed, 22 Jul 2015 21:22:14 +0000

Retired Lt. Col. Dan Hampton joins us on today’s podcast to talk about his new book, The Hunter Killers: The Extraordinary Story of the First Wild Weasels, the Band of Maverick Aviators Who Flew the Most Dangerous Missions of the Vietnam War (William Morrow, June 2015). Wild Weasels are known for their deadly air missions, and Hampton was one himself. That status gave him unparallelled access when he interviewed the first generation, who were instrumental in the Vietnam War. Later in the hour, we talk to contributing editor Erin Blakemore about the invention of Betty Crocker.

Music this hour:

“Dory Honey” by Jahzzar, from the album Message
“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within

Up Close & Personal with Seashells

Emma Morgenstern — Tue, 21 Jul 2015 21:26:25 +0000

On today’s Modern Notion Daily, our guest is Helen Scales, author of Spirals in Time: The Secret Life and Curious Afterlife of Seashells (Bloomsbury, July 2015). A marine biologist, Scales decided to explore the science of shells (they’re made from calcium carbonate) and their symbolism throughout human history.

Music this hour:

“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
“wherever” by Jahzzar, from the album Sketches
“Superconductivity” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel

Sega vs. Nintendo, Ouija Boards

Emma Morgenstern — Mon, 20 Jul 2015 20:46:09 +0000

On today’s show, we’re talking with Blake J. Harris, author of Console Wars: Sega, Nintendo, and the Battle That Defined a Generation (Dey Street Books, June 2015). Harris explores the tense competition between Sega and Nintendo, two Japanese video game companies, in the early 1990s. Nintendo dominated the market so thoroughly in 1990 that no one expected any rival to wrest power from them. But when Tom Kalinske joined the American division of Sega, he used innovative tactics, trying to corner a different segment of the market to make the company a major player. Later in the hour, contributing editor Erin Blakemore talks about the spiritualist origins of the Ouija board.

Music this hour:

“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
“get out” by Jahzzar, from the album Sketches

The Man Who Survived a Plane Crash & 81 Days in the Alaskan Wilderness; TV Dinners

Emma Morgenstern — Fri, 17 Jul 2015 21:17:54 +0000

On today’s episode of Modern Notion Daily, our guest is Brian Murphy, author of 81 Days Below Zero: The Incredible Survival Story of a World War II Pilot in Alaska’s Frozen Wilderness (Da Capo Press, June 2015). Leon Crane was a test pilot in the U.S. Air Force during World War II, stationed at Ladd Field outside of Fairbanks, Alaska. On a cold winter morning, Crane went up on a B-24 heavy bomber airplane to do a prop feathering test. But in Alaska, no flight is routine: the plane started in a downward spiral many thousands of feet in the air. Crane managed to eject himself, but his journey to safety was far from over. Later in the hour, contributing editor Erin Blakemore brings us the origin story of the humble TV dinner.

Music this hour:

“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
“Theme M” by Steve Combs & Delta Is, from the album Themes (Vol. 1)
“Theme E” by Steve Combs & Delta Is, from the album Themes (Vol. 1)

The Three Japanese Girls Who Came to America in the 1870s + Princess Caribou

Emma Morgenstern — Thu, 16 Jul 2015 20:59:00 +0000

Author Janice Nimura joins us on today’s episode of Modern Notion Daily to talk about her latest book, Daughters of the Samurai: A Journey from East to West and Back (W. W. Norton & Co., May 2015). In the 1870s, Japan was in the midst of the Meiji Era—a time of great change, when the country opened its physical and cultural borders to the rest of the world. As part of this movement, the government sponsored three Japanese girls to go to America for ten years, living with American host families and learning western ways. Nimura chronicles this story in her book. Later in the hour, contributing editor Erin Blakemore tells us the story of Princess Caraboo, whose false story in some ways parallels the three Japanese girls of Nimura’s book.

Music this hour:

“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
“Kajiyadefu Bushi“
“Takai-Yama“

The Soul of an Octopus

Emma Morgenstern — Wed, 15 Jul 2015 21:07:21 +0000

When it comes to octopus adventures, Sy Montgomery has seen it all! She joins us today on Modern Notion Daily to talk about her new book, The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Explanation into the Wonder of Consciousness (Atria Books, May 2015). Montgomery talks about the proper plural of “octopus” (hint: it’s not “octopi”) and then gets into tales of the strange animal: how they get trapped in locked boxes, how they escape from their tanks at aquaria all over the world, how they turn white when relaxed—you name it, the octopus does it. Montgomery, all the while, just adores them. And we think you will adore Sy Montgomery.

Music this hour:

“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
“Octopus” by Jahzzar, from the album Sunlight

A Doctor Examines Medical Marijuana

Emma Morgenstern — Tue, 14 Jul 2015 21:40:43 +0000

Author and palliative care physician David Casarett joins us on today’s episode of Modern Notion Daily to discuss his new book, Stoned: A Doctor’s Case for Medical Marijuana (Current, July 2015). When a patient with advanced cancer asked Casarett about the effects of medical marijuana (positive or negative), he realized that he actually didn’t know anything about it. So he decided to investigate the real medical implications of the drug for himself, by reading studies, talking to patients, and a little self-experimentation.

Music this hour:

“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
“Forgiven Not Forgotten” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel

A Reluctant Nudist’s Adventures, Space Plants

Emma Morgenstern — Mon, 13 Jul 2015 21:03:19 +0000

On today’s episode of Modern Notion Daily, our guest is Mark Haskell Smith, author of Naked at Lunch: A Reluctant Nudist’s Adventures in the Clothing-Optional World (Grove Press, June 2015). Haskell Smith decided to take on the role of gonzo journalist and find what nudism was all about, from the inside. His research took him to a nudist resort in Palm Springs, a clothing-optional city in France (and its attendant nude supermarkets and banks), and a nudist cruise. And he answers the question we’ve all been wondering: do people check each other out at nudist retreats? Later in the hour, contributing editor Emma Bryce talks about arugula grown in . . . space?

Music this hour:

“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
“Quasi Motion” by Kevin MacLeod, from the album Global Sampler

The Virginia County That Refused to Desegregate, Keys to the City

Emma Morgenstern — Fri, 10 Jul 2015 20:42:38 +0000

On today’s episode of Modern Notion Daily, our guest is Kristen Green, author of Something Must Be Done About Prince Edward County: A Family, a Virginia Town, a Civil Rights Battle (Harper, June 2015). Green grew up in Farmville, Virginia, where the school district refused to desegregate for five years after they were ordered to do so. White community leaders opened an all-white private school, supported by grants from the government. Meanwhile, black children were left without options for education. After more than a decade as a reporter, Green returned to her hometown to find out the real story behind the refusal to desegregate. Later in the hour, staff writer Josh Hrala tells us about the tradition of giving someone keys to a city, and about a German town that was wiped off the map by an internet prank.

Music this hour:

“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
“Private Hurricane (Instrumental Version)” by Josh Woodward, from the album Breadcrumbs

The Jazz Age Life of Henrietta Bingham

Emma Morgenstern — Thu, 09 Jul 2015 20:32:38 +0000

On today’s episode of Modern Notion Daily, historian Emily Bingham joins us to talk about her new book chronicling the life of her great-aunt, Irrepressible: The Jazz Age Life of Henrietta Bingham (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, June 2015). Henrietta Bingham was a formidable woman who came of age during the 1920s. Born in Louisville, Kentucky, Henrietta attended Smith College and then set off for London with one of her Smith professors who was also her lover. Henrietta’s life is an interesting look at queerness in early 20th-century America and England; the book also tackles subjects like race relations, family folklore and oral history, women’s rights, and, most importantly, dog ownership. This hour we also hear from contributing editor Emma Bryce about the Hellboy-ish dinosaur species discovered 10 years ago.

Music this hour:

“Elle va au Japon” by Nic Bommarito, from the album A Quiet Age
“Kelli’s Number” by U.S. Army Blues, from the album Live at Blues Alley
“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within

The Laki Volcano Eruption of 1783, Siberian Sinkholes

Emma Morgenstern — Wed, 08 Jul 2015 21:19:00 +0000

On today’s show, our guest is Alexandra Witze, co-author of Island on Fire: The Extraordinary Story of a Forgotten Volcano That Covered a Continent in Darkness (Pegasus, January 2015), with her husband Jeff Kanipe. The book traces the history of the 1783 eruption of the Laki volcano on Iceland. Beyond its immediate effects on Iceland and continental Europe, the eruption changed the way humans observed and related to natural disasters. Later in the hour, Mark Hay talks about another natural disaster: gigantic sinkholes popping up across Siberia.

Music this hour:

“Theme M” by Steve Combs & Delta Is, from the album Themes (Vol. 1)
“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
“Forgiven Not Forgotten” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel

Raymond Ditmars & His Obsession with Bushmasters, Nazi Ghetto in Madagascar

Emma Morgenstern — Tue, 07 Jul 2015 20:31:15 +0000

On today’s episode of Modern Notion Daily, we’re talking with Dan Eatherley, author of Bushmaster: Raymond Ditmars and the Hunt for the World’s Largest Viper (Arcade Publishing, June 2015). When he was working on various nature films and TV shows, Eatherley discovered Raymond Ditmars, an amateur herpetologist who went on to work for the Bronx Zoo in the first half of the 20th century. Ditmars became transfixed by the bushmaster, a kind of snake, and later in his career he searched for the beast in Panama. We’ll even hear some archival footage of Ditmars and his daughter; the amateur herpetologist was also an amateur filmmaker. Later in the hour, contributing editor Emma Bryce unearths the Nazis’ plan to build a Jewish “super-ghetto” on the island of Madagascar.

Music this hour:

“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
“Quasi Motion” by Kevin MacLeod, from the album Global Sampler

Will Technology Go Beyond Our Control? & Ayahuasca

Emma Morgenstern — Mon, 06 Jul 2015 20:24:44 +0000

On this hour of Modern Notion Daily, our guest is Wendell Wallach, an ethicist, consultant, and scholar at Yale University’s Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics, and the author of A Dangerous Master: How to Keep Technology from Slipping Beyond Our Control (Basic Books, June 2015). Wallach thinks that technology, if it goes unchecked, could pose serious threats to humanity in the near future. His book describes ways we can counteract that possibility or prevent machines from taking over. Later in the hour, contributing editor Mark Hay tells us about ayahuasca, an not-so-new hallucinogen that’s trending. (Even Lindsay Lohan reportedly uses it.)

Music this hour:

“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
“The Portal” by Little Glass Men, from the album Debut E.P.

The Life of Jonas Salk

Emma Morgenstern — Thu, 02 Jul 2015 20:05:13 +0000

This hour we’re talking with Charlotte DeCroes Jacobs, author of the biography Jonas Salk: A Life (Oxford University Press, May 2015). Salk is best known for creating the polio vaccine that paved the way to eradicating the disease in the United States. Jacobs explores the extraordinary story of how Salk ran trials for the vaccine, and what he did after he achieved his life’s greatest accomplishment.

Music this hour:

“Elle va au Japon” by Nic Bommarito, from the album A Quiet Age
“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
“Forgiven Not Forgotten” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel

Interpreting the Bible Through Science, Death Elevator

Emma Morgenstern — Wed, 01 Jul 2015 19:14:52 +0000

On today’s show our guest is Steve Jones, a renowned British geneticist and author of The Serpent’s Promise: The Bible Interpreted Through Modern Science (Pegasus, paperback June 2015). Jones is an atheist—he even won “Secularist of the Year”—but he thinks the Bible has some historical information to offer us. He doesn’t buy that the Bible is completely myth or metaphor; in fact, he says he’s more of a literalist when it comes to biblical interpretation than many “believers.” Later in the hour we talk with contributing editor Emma Bryce about the Colosseum’s death elevator, which was recently reconstructed.

Music this hour:

“Elle va au Japon” by Nic Bommarito, from the album A Quiet Age
“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
“AcidJazz” by Kevin MacLeod, from the album Jazz Sampler

The Very Terrible 1914 Tour of Italy, the Man Who Biked Around the World

Emma Morgenstern — Tue, 30 Jun 2015 20:32:57 +0000

Today we have a bicycle theme on Modern Notion Daily. Our guest is Tim Moore, who recreated one of the worst bicycle races in history and wrote about it in his new book, Gironimo! The Very Terrible 1914 Tour of Italy (Pegasus, May 2015). Moore fashioned a bicycle that would resemble the wooden-wheeled vehicles of the 1914 tour, donned a period cycling costume, and followed the route that the original cyclists took. We also hear the story of Thomas Stevens, the man who cycled around the world in the 1880s.

Music this hour:

“Elle va au Japon” by Nic Bommarito, from the album A Quiet Age
“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
“People Are Strange” by The Doors
“Step On” by Jahzzar, from the album Tumbling Dishes Like Old-Man’s Wishes

The Ingenious Mr. Pyke, Feral Cities, Butterfly Highway

Emma Morgenstern — Mon, 29 Jun 2015 21:11:00 +0000

On today’s episode of Modern Notion Daily, our guest is Henry Hemming, author of The Ingenious Mr. Pyke: Inventor, Fugitive, Spy (Public Affairs, May 2015). Hemming discovered Pyke when he was reading a volume about English eccentrics—and Pyke certainly falls into that category. His crowning achievements include sneaking into and out of Germany during World War I, creating a radical kindergarten, and establishing Special Forces in the United States and Canada. Later in the hour, author Tristan Donovan takes producer Cheryl Brumley on a tour of Brighton, England, to learn about the animals that are running wild through our cities. Plus, contributing editor Mark Hay introduces us to Obama’s butterfly highway.

Music this hour:

“Chicken and Cheese 2 (Foot Village cover)” by Tussle
“Elle va au Japon” by Nic Bommarito, from the album A Quiet Age
“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within

Bed Bugs!

Emma Morgenstern — Fri, 26 Jun 2015 20:56:05 +0000

This hour, we examine the experience of having bed bugs with Brooke Borel, author of Infested: How the Bed Bug Infiltrated Our Bedrooms and Took Over the World (University of Chicago Press, April 2015). Borel wanted to know why bed bugs became so prevalent in the last decade, and she found plenty of people to tell her their horror stories along the way. We have a few horror stories to share from our listeners, too. Later in the hour, Mark Hay brings us the origins of the necktie and tells us why he’ll be sticking to “plummeting V-necks.”

Music this hour:

“get out” by Jahzzar, from the album Sketches
“Elle va au Japon” by Nic Bommarito, from the album A Quiet Age
“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
“Persian Lamb Rag” by Heftone Banjo Orchestra, from the album Music Box Rag

Trials of Passion, Lady and the Tramp

Emma Morgenstern — Thu, 25 Jun 2015 20:44:37 +0000

On today’s show, Lisa Appignanesi, author of Trials of Passion: Crimes Committed in the Name of Love and Madness (Pegasus, July 2015), talks about the intersection of law and psychiatry. She studied several trials, between the years 1870 and 1914, to find out how “mind doctors” came to play a significant role in how justice was served in the United States, France, and England. Later in the hour, contributing editor Erin Blakemore reveals the surprising inspiration behind Disney’s Lady and the Tramp.

Music this hour:

“Elle va au Japon” by Nic Bommarito, from the album A Quiet Age
“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
“Miri’s Magic Dance” by Kevin MacLeod, from the album Oddities

The Scientists Behind World War I, Wilma Rudolph’s Obstacles

Emma Morgenstern — Wed, 24 Jun 2015 20:06:03 +0000

On today’s episode of Modern Notion Daily, our guest is Taylor Downing, author of Secret Warriors: The Spies, Scientists and Code Breakers of World War I (Pegasus, April 2015). Downing’s book shifts the focus away from the trenches and bloody battlefields to the scientific innovations that made World War I different from any previous war. The war, despite all of its death and destruction, presented an opportunity to improve the technology involved in aviation, medicine, cryptography, and many other fields.

Later in the hour, contributing editor Erin Blakemore tells the story of one of the greatest sprinters of all time, Wilma Rudolph.

Music this hour:

“Elle va au Japon” by Nic Bommarito, from the album A Quiet Age
“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
“Private Hurricane (Instrumental Version)” by Josh Woodward, from the album Breadcrumbs

The Real Housewives of 16th-Century France

Emma Morgenstern — Tue, 23 Jun 2015 20:28:03 +0000

This hour, our guest is Nancy Goldstone, author of The Rival Queens: Catherine de’ Medici, Her Daughter Marguerite de Valois, and the Betrayal That Ignited a Kingdom (Little, Brown and Company, June 2015). These weren’t just any 16th-century queens; these women engaged in love affairs, group sex, killing sprees, and much, much more. Goldstone researched these royal families exhaustively and boiled it down to a book that reads like a transcript of the latest season of Real Housewives.

Music this hour:

“Elle va au Japon” by Nic Bommarito, from the album A Quiet Age
“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
“Entrance to the Queen of Sheba for Two Oboes, Strings, and Continuo allegro” by George Frideric Handel, performed by Advent Chamber Orchestra

Invisibility, Ave Maria

Emma Morgenstern — Mon, 22 Jun 2015 21:25:45 +0000

This hour, we’re talking with Philip Ball, author of Invisible: The Dangerous Allure of the Unseen (University of Chicago Press, April 2015). Ball takes a look back at human fascination with invisibility throughout history, from Plato to the present. And it turns out, science is getting closer to solving the invisibility problem—but if we do figure it out, does that take the magic out of it? Later in the hour, we learn why “Ave Maria” has such a calming power over us—but only when it’s sung in Latin.

Music this hour:

“Elle va au Japon” by Nic Bommarito, from the album A Quiet Age
“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
“Superconductivity” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel

Swimming the River Thames, Atoms Under the Floorboards

Emma Morgenstern — Fri, 19 Jun 2015 19:59:15 +0000

On today’s show, we have two guests. The first is Caitlin Davies, author of Downstream: A History and Celebration of Swimming the River Thames (Aurum Press, June 2015). The River Thames has the same mythic status in England as the Mississippi River has in the United States, and Davies undertook a project to research the history of swimming in it—which, not unsurprisingly, led her to take a few dips herself. Our second guest is Chris Woodford, author of Atoms Under the Floorboards: The Surprising Science Hidden in Your Home (Bloomsbury USA, May 2015). Woodford uses everyday examples to get us excited about science and how things work. And he also tells us about the Victorian plans for cell phones.

Music this hour:

“Elle va au Japon” by Nic Bommarito, from the album A Quiet Age
“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
“Take Me Higher” by Jahzzar, from the album Tumbling Dishes Like Old-Man’s Wishes

Max Planck, Schrodinger’s Cat, Ancient Dog Tomb

Emma Morgenstern — Thu, 18 Jun 2015 20:09:09 +0000

On today’s show, we’re talking to author Brandon Brown about his new book, Planck: Driven by Vision, Broken by War (Oxford University Press, June 2015). Max Planck was the German physicist who created quantum physics, and he acted as a mentor to the likes of Albert Einstein and Lise Meitner. But as an elderly man, he became caught up in Nazi Germany, eventually meeting with Hitler and witnessing his son’s execution at Hitler’s hands. Later this hour, Josh Hrala tells us why Schrodinger’s cat is still alive, and how researchers recently uncovered a tomb with 8 million mummified dogs.

Music this hour:

“Elle va au Japon” by Nic Bommarito, from the album A Quiet Age
“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
“Flutter” by Jahzzar, from the album Onus

The Science of Criminal Injustice

Emma Morgenstern — Wed, 17 Jun 2015 19:59:08 +0000

On this hour of Modern Notion Daily, we’re talking with Adam Benforado, a lawyer and law professor who just published Unfair: The New Science of Criminal Injustice (Crown, June 2015). Benforado uncovers the hidden biases at play within our criminal justice system, which affect everyone from jurors to judges to first responders to lawyers.

Music this hour:

“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
“Elle va au Japon” by Nic Bommarito, from the album A Quiet Age
“Theme M” by Steve Combs & Delta Is, from the album Themes (Vol. 1)

The mp3 Revolution, Why We Can’t Remember Dreams

Emma Morgenstern — Tue, 16 Jun 2015 20:48:06 +0000

On today’s show, our guest is Stephen Witt, author of How Music Got Free: The End of an Industry, the Turn of the Century, and the Patient Zero of Piracy (Viking, June 2015). Witt traces the lives of three men on all different sides of the music industry: the creator of the mp3, a music industry executive, and a factory worker who pirated more than 2,000 albums in the (relatively) early days of the Internet. Later in the hour, we talk to staff writer Josh Hrala about why it’s so hard—actually, impossible—to remember dreams.

Music this hour:

“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
“Elle va au Japon” by Nic Bommarito, from the album A Quiet Age
“get out” by Jahzzar, from the album Sketches

Tales of the Grim Sleeper, Leopard Men, Cockroaches in Space

Emma Morgenstern — Mon, 15 Jun 2015 20:53:04 +0000

On this hour of Modern Notion Daily, our guest is Nick Broomfield, director of the HBO documentary, Tales of the Grim Sleeper (2015). Broomfield and his son, Barney, went to the mostly-black South Central neighborhood of Los Angeles to tell the story of a serial killer dubbed the Grim Sleeper. The Grim Sleeper is accused of murdering at least 10 women, and possibly many more, over the course of 23 years. But the focus of Broomfield’s documentary becomes why it took so long to investigate these crimes fully, and why the media neglected the story until relatively recently.

Later in the hour, Mark Hay tells the story of leopard men in Africa, and Kristen Majewski talks about the first cockroach to conceive in space.

Warning: This episode contains some graphic detail about medical procedures, violence, and sex.

Music this hour:

“Elle va au Japon” by Nic Bommarito, from the album A Quiet Age
“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
“wherever” by Jahzzar, from the album Sketches
“Private Hurricane (Instrumental Version)” by Josh Woodward, from the album Breadcrumbs
“Quasi Motion” by Kevin MacLeod, from the album Global Sampler

Dueling Neurosurgeons, Banjo History, Dead Words

Emma Morgenstern — Fri, 12 Jun 2015 20:16:24 +0000

On this hour of Modern Notion Daily, we welcome guest Sam Kean, author of The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons: The History of the Brain as Revealed by True Stories of Trauma, Madness, and Recovery (Basic Books, June 2015 paperback). Kean set out to find the boundary between brain and mind, using anecdotes about various brain abnormalities throughout history.

Later in the hour, Gabe Bullard brings us a cultural history of the banjo, and contributing editor Emma Bryce tells us about the man who brings back words from the dead—and she introduces us to some of those resurrected words.

Music this hour:

“Elle va au Japon” by Nic Bommarito, from the album A Quiet Age
“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within

A History of the Redhead, Ebola Prank Calls, the First Sex Tape from Space

Emma Morgenstern — Thu, 11 Jun 2015 20:36:34 +0000

On today’s show, our guest is Jacky Colliss Harvey, author of Red: A History of the Redhead (Black Dog & Leventhal, June 2015). As a redhead herself, Harvey wanted to research the unique experience of being a ginger, from the science behind it to representations of redhead in art throughout history. In the process, she found herself at Redhead Days, a festival in the Netherlands that draws redheads from around the world. We also talk to contributing editor Emma Bryce about how prank calls helped spread awareness about Ebola in West Africa. Plus, staff writer Josh Hrala discusses sex in Germany and sex in space.

Music this hour:

“Elle va au Japon” by Nic Bommarito, from the album A Quiet Age
“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
“Take Me Higher” by Jahzzar, from the album Tumbling Dishes Like Old-Man’s Wishes

A New Language in Australia, Vulture Restaurants

Emma Morgenstern — Wed, 10 Jun 2015 21:21:11 +0000

On today’s episode of Modern Notion Daily, our guest is Carmel O’Shannessy, a linguist at the University of Michigan. For more than a decade, O’Shannessy has been researching the genesis of a new language, Light Warlpiri, in Australia’s Northern Territory. We talk with her about why the language is unique, and we even hear a clip of some spoken Light Warlpiri. Later in the hour, contributing editor Emma Bryce joins us to talk about vulture restaurants, an effort to save Asia’s vultures from a harmful drug.

Music this hour:

“Elle va au Japon” by Nic Bommarito, from the album A Quiet Age
“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
“Backed Vibes Clean” by Kevin MacLeod, from the album Jazz Sampler
“Á Minuit, le 31 Décembre” by Monroeville Music Center, from the album Le Progrés
“It’s Always Too Late to Start Over” by Chris Zabriskie, from the album Direct to Video

Original Sin & the Western World

Emma Morgenstern — Tue, 09 Jun 2015 20:50:24 +0000

On today’s episode of Modern Notion Daily, we’re talking to James Boyce, author of Born Bad: Original Sin and the Making of the Western World (Counterpoint Press, May 2015). Boyce argues that original sin is the West’s creation story, and it affects all Western peoples, whether we’re aware of it or not.

Music this hour:

“Elle va au Japon” by Nic Bommarito, from the album A Quiet Age
“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
“Quasi Motion” by Kevin MacLeod, from the album Global Sampler

Director Frank Pavich on Jodorowsky’s Dune

Emma Morgenstern — Tue, 09 Jun 2015 19:52:48 +0000

This hour, director Frank Pavich joins us to talk about his 2013 documentary, Jodorowsky’s Dune. Alejandro Jodorowsky is an avant-garde filmmaker who planned to make a movie adaptation of Frank Herbert’s classic sci-fi novel, Dune, in the early 1970s. He enlisted the likes of Orson Welles and Salvador Dalí to be in his movie, but it was never made. Pavich’s documentary explores that story, in the process bringing Jodorowsky’s storyboards to “life” on film.

Music this hour:

“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
“wherever” by Jahzzar, from the album Sketches

A Year in Antarctica, Lemming Myth

Emma Morgenstern — Fri, 05 Jun 2015 20:05:46 +0000

On today’s episode of Modern Notion Daily, we talk to guest Anthony Powell, director of Antarctica: A Year on Ice. Powell started working in Antarctica as a communications tech. He quickly realized that the true experience of living in Antarctica—particularly in the winter—had never been captured. So, he taught himself to shoot video and time-lapse photography, and over the course of nine years, he made this documentary. Later in the hour, we talk to staff writer about two very different but equally odd stories, the first about lemmings, and the second about bombs designed to make enemy soldiers gay.

Music this hour:

“Elle va au Japon” by Nic Bommarito, from the album A Quiet Age
“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
“It’s Always Too Late to Start Over” by Chris Zabriskie, from the album Direct to Video

Astronaut Chris Hadfield

Emma Morgenstern — Thu, 04 Jun 2015 20:30:41 +0000

On today’s episode of Modern Notion Daily, we welcome guest Col. Chris Hadfield, a retired Canadian astronaut. Hadfield was the first Canadian to walk in space and the first Canadian to act as commander of the International Space Station. He talks about how he became an astronaut, the life lessons he’s learned in space, and why the public outreach he does is so important. We also hear about his book, An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth, which came out in paperback in April from Back Bay Books.

Music this hour:

“Coconut Robot2” by James Pants
“Elle va au Japon” by Nic Bommarito, from the album A Quiet Age
“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within

A Short History of Bourbon

Emma Morgenstern — Thu, 04 Jun 2015 14:45:39 +0000

On this hour of Modern Notion Daily, we’re talking with Reid Mitenbuler, author of Bourbon Empire: The Past and Future of America’s Whiskey (Viking, May 2015). The history of bourbon collides with major events in America’s past, from the Whiskey Rebellion to Prohibition. And even modern-day bourbon marketing makes ample use of America’s history of frontiersmen and the Wild West—with varying degrees of veracity.

Music this hour:

“Elle va au Japon” by Nic Bommarito, from the album A Quiet Age
“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within

What’s It Like to Be a Pilot; Benjamin Franklin on Flatulence

Emma Morgenstern — Tue, 02 Jun 2015 22:19:08 +0000

On today’s show, we talk with guest Mark Vanhoenacker, author of Skyfaring: A Journey with a Pilot (Knopf, June 2015). After working for years as a consultant, Vanhoenacker decided to pursue his dream of becoming a commercial airline pilot. He now flies Boeing 747s for British Airways, and in his spare time, he wrote this meditation on flying. Later in the hour, we hear a dramatic reading of Benjamin Franklin’s 1781 treatise, “Farting Proudly.”

Music this hour:

“Elle va au Japon” by Nic Bommarito, from the album A Quiet Age
“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
“Bluehill Fife and Drum” performed by Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps
“The Presidents March” by The United States Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps, from the album Celebrating 50 Years
“Theme E” by Steve Combs & Delta Is, from the album Themes (Vol. 1)
“Theme S” by Steve Combs & Delta Is, from the album Themes (Vol. 1)

The Fly Trap, Japanese Picture Brides, Cannibalism

Emma Morgenstern — Mon, 01 Jun 2015 21:29:06 +0000

On today’s show, our guest is Fredrik Sjöberg, an entomologist and author of The Fly Trap (Pantheon, June 2015). Sjöberg has devoted much of his life to watching, trapping, and studying hoverflies, but he’s tried not to get trapped in his love of the flies. Using literature and details from the life of naturalist René Edmond Malaise, Sjöberg tells the story of his life in Sweden.

We also talk with two of our contributing editors: Erin Blakemore tells the story of Japanese picture brides in the U.S., and Mark Hay takes us through different traditions of cannibalism.

Music this hour:

“Elle va au Japon” by Nic Bommarito, from the album A Quiet Age
“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
“Oceanica” by Avaren, from the album For Others’ Use

The Murder That Transfixed Chicago, Elves, Taxidermy Class

Emma Morgenstern — Fri, 29 May 2015 20:02:39 +0000

On today’s episode of Modern Notion Daily, we talk with guest Gillian O’Brien. O’Brien’s new book, Blood Runs Green: The Murder That Transfixed Gilded Age Chicago (University of Chicago Press, March 2015), tells the largely forgotten story of the murder of Dr. P. H. Cronin in the late 19th century. We also visit a taxidermy class in Brooklyn, and talk with contributing editor Mark Hay about the elves of Iceland.

Music this hour:

“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
“Elle va au Japon” by Nic Bommarito, from the album A Quiet Age
“The Lonely Boat” by Joe and Antoinette McKenna

Joan of Arc

Emma Morgenstern — Thu, 28 May 2015 19:59:33 +0000

On today’s podcast, we’re talking with guest Helen Castor, author of Joan of Arc: A History (Harper, May 2015). Castor argues that most people see Joan of Arc as an empty vessel—someone to whom they can attach meaning, given the extraordinary nature of her life and accomplishments. Castor does not discount those conversations, but her book places Joan of Arc more firmly in the context of her time and place.

Music this hour:

“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
“Elle va au Japon” by Nic Bommarito, from the album A Quiet Age
“Il Pleut des Informations (ou Mass Media en Masse à Partir de Notre Cumulonimus Fiable)” by Monroeville Music Center, from the album Le Progrés
“Á Minuit, le 31 Décembre” by Monroeville Music Center, from the album Le Progrés

Children of the Stone, Laura Bridgman

Emma Morgenstern — Wed, 27 May 2015 22:20:38 +0000

On today’s show, we’re talking with Sandy Tolan, author of Children of the Stone: The Power of Music in a Hard Land (Bloomsbury, April 2015). Tolan chronicles the life of Ramzi Aburedwan, a Palestinian boy who grew up to become a musician and start music schools in the West Bank. We’re also talking to contributing editor Erin Blakemore about Laura Bridgman, the deaf and blind woman who was an inspiration to Helen Keller.

Music this hour:

“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
“Elle va au Japon” by Nic Bommarito, from the album A Quiet Age
“Private Hurricane (Instrumental Version)” by Josh Woodward, from the album Breadcrumbs

How to Bake Pi, Fake Anastasia

Emma Morgenstern — Tue, 26 May 2015 21:14:38 +0000

On today’s episode of Modern Notion Daily, our guest is Dr. Eugenia Cheng, author of How to Bake Pi: An Edible Exploration of the Mathematics of Mathematics (Basic Books, May 2015). Cheng’s research is about category theory—which she calls the “mathematics of mathematics.” When teaching category theory, she found it was so abstract that analogies were a good way to help students grasp important concepts. She plucks analogies from all sorts of themes, but the most commonly used analogies have to do with food. Hence, the book, which is filled with not only math but also recipes.

We also talk to contributing editor Erin Blakemore about the woman in Germany who posed as Anastasia, daughter of the ousted Russian Tsar Nicholas II. (Weird fact: The impostor didn’t even speak Russian.)

Music this hour:

“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
“Elle va au Japon” by Nic Bommarito, from the album A Quiet Age
“get out” by Jahzzar, from the album Sketches
“Louie Louie” by The Kingsmen

Rebooting Southern Cuisine; Heirloom Foods

Emma Morgenstern — Fri, 22 May 2015 21:41:24 +0000

This hour we’re talking with two guests: David Shields, author of Southern Provisions: The Creation and Revival of a Cuisine (University of Chicago Press, March 2015), and Jennifer Jordan, author of Edible Memory: The Lure of Heirloom Tomatoes and Other Forgotten Foods (University of Chicago Press, April 2015). Shields is on a mission to bring back Lowcountry cuisine—both by growing ingredients that are no longer widely available and by reviving long-lost recipes. Meanwhile, Jordan is exploring how memory and food are intertwined through a sociologist’s lens.

Music this hour:

“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
“Take Me Higher” by Jahzzar, from the album Tumbling Dishes Like Old-Man’s Wishes

Plankton and Other Sea Creatures

Emma Morgenstern — Thu, 21 May 2015 21:24:37 +0000

On today’s episode of Modern Notion Daily, we’re talking about plankton! Christian Sardet wrote the upcoming book, Plankton: Wonders of the Drifting World (University of Chicago Press, June 2015), which took him around the globe to scour the seas for the many species of plankton. Later in the show, staff writer Josh Hrala joins us to talk about sea monsters, megamouth sharks, and mermaids . . . or are they manatees?

Music this hour:

“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
“Elle va au Japon” by Nic Bommarito, from the album A Quiet Age
“Drifting” by Pearl Jam
“Il Pleut des Informations (ou Mass Media en Masse à Partir de Notre Cumulonimus Fiable)” by Monroeville Music Center, from the album Le Progrés

The Moore of Moore’s Law, Illuminati

Emma Morgenstern — Wed, 20 May 2015 20:46:04 +0000

On this hour of Modern Notion Daily, we have two guests: Arnold Thackray and David Brock. Thackray, Brock, and Rachel Jones co-wrote Moore’s Law: The Life of Gordon Moore, Silicon Valley’s Quiet Revolutionary (Basic Books, May 2015). Gordon Moore worked at Fairchild Semiconductor in the 1960s, where he came up with Moore’s Law. He went on to co-found Intel and was its CEO for 50 years. In that time, he changed the way electronics were built and changed Silicon Valley as a result. Staff writer Jes Greene explains what Moore’s Law is, and later in the show, contributing editor Mark Hay talks about the myth of the illuminati.

Music this hour:

“Theme E” by Steve Combs & Delta Is, from the album Themes (Vol. 1)
“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
“Theme S” by Steve Combs & Delta Is, from the album Themes (Vol. 1)

The Inventor of BASE Jumping and Percy Fawcett

Emma Morgenstern — Tue, 19 May 2015 21:14:54 +0000

On this hour of Modern Notion Daily, we’re talking to documentary filmmaker Marah Strauch. Strauch’s newest film is Sunshine Superman (Magnolia Pictures), which tells the story of the inventor of BASE jumping, Carl Boenish. Boenish was not just a thrill seeker; he was also obsessed with filmmaking, and the possibility of filming humans jumping off cliffs and buildings led him to create the sport he’s remembered for. Contributing editor Mark Hay also joins us in the studio to discuss what happened to explorer Percy Fawcett, who famously disappeared in 1925.

Music this hour:

“Elle va au Japon” by Nic Bommarito, from the album A Quiet Age
“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
“Step On” by Jahzzar, from the album Tumbling Dishes Like Old-Man’s Wishes

Searching for Atlantis, Skin Whitening

Emma Morgenstern — Mon, 18 May 2015 20:11:10 +0000

On today’s Modern Notion Daily, our guest is Mark Adams, author of Meet Me in Atlantis: My Obsessive Quest to Find the Sunken City (Dutton, March 2015). Adams spent three years exploring the veracity of Plato’s classic tale of Atlantis. While he encountered some idiosyncratic character and wild theories, the people he found to be the most obstinate throughout his journey were the academics who dismissed his quest outright. We also talk with contributing editor Mark Hay about another obsessive quest: to lighten one’s skin.

Music this hour:

“Elle va au Japon” by Nic Bommarito, from the album A Quiet Age
“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
“Oceanica” by Avaren, from the album For Others’ Use

Brains vs. Artificial Intelligence Poker Tournament, Rumpology

Emma Morgenstern — Fri, 15 May 2015 21:26:25 +0000

On this hour of Modern Notion Daily, we talk to the two sides of the Brains vs. Artificial Intelligence poker tournament. First, we talk to Tuomas Sandholm, professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University. Sandholm designed the poker-playing computer program, known as Claudico. Then we talk to Jason Les, one of the four poker pros who competed against Claudico. Les and Sandholm disagree about whether or not the humans earned a clear victory. We also talk to contributing editor Mark Hay about the pseudo-science practiced by Sylvester Stallone’s mother: rumpology.

Music this hour:

“Poker Face” by Glee Cast
“Baby Got Back” by Sir Mix-A-Lot
“Quasi Motion” by Kevin MacLeod, from the album Global Sampler

Working with NASA’s Mars Rover, Fermi Paradox

Emma Morgenstern — Thu, 14 May 2015 21:05:43 +0000

On this hour of Modern Notion Daily, we’re talking to Bekah Sosland, an aerospace engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. At 25, Sosland has worked with Opportunity, the 11-year-old Mars rover, as a flight director. Staff writer Josh Hrala joins us later in the hour to talk about the Fermi paradox: if the universe is so big, why haven’t we encountered other life yet?

Music this hour:

“Elle va au Japon” by Nic Bommarito, from the album A Quiet Age
“Take Me Higher” by Jahzzar, from the album Tumbling Dishes Like Old-Man’s Wishes

Bison Return to the Prairie, and Should We Eat Horse Meat?

Emma Morgenstern — Wed, 13 May 2015 20:48:25 +0000

This hour, we’re talking to Jeffery Walk, director of science at the Illinois chapter of The Nature Conservancy. Seven months ago, Walk and his team reintroduced bison to the prairie in Illinois, and they animals have thrived in their new home. We also talk to contributing editor Mark Hay about his reasons for thinking Americans should eat horse meat.

Music this hour:

“Elle va au Japon” by Nic Bommarito, from the album A Quiet Age
“get out” by Jahzzar, from the album Sketches
“Home on the Range” composed by Dr. Brewster Highly (lyrics) and Daniel E. Kelly (music), recorded by Tex Ritter for Studio Telescriptions, 1952

Rise of the Robots, Ivan the Terrible

Emma Morgenstern — Tue, 12 May 2015 21:55:42 +0000

On today’s episode of Modern Notion Daily, we’re talking to Martin Ford, author of Rise of the Robots: Technology and the Threat of a Jobless Future (Basic Books, May 2015). Ford argues that robots will soon replace not only blue-collar workers, but also white collar workers, too. We also have contributing editor Mark Hay in the studio to tell us why Ivan the Terrible may not have deserved his name.

Music this hour:

“Elle va au Japon” by Nic Bommarito, from the album A Quiet Age
“2.2.05” by BOPD, from the album 2005 Stayin Alive InstruMentals
“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within

Fixing Global Warming with Soil, the Los Angeles Cycleway

Emma Morgenstern — Mon, 11 May 2015 21:02:35 +0000

On this hour of Modern Notion Daily, we’re talking to Kristin Ohlson, author of The Soil Will Save Us: How Scientists, Farmers, and Foodies Are Healing the Soil to Save the Planet (Rodale, March 2015). Based on interviews with scientists and farmers around the country, Ohlson believes we soil is the key to solving many of our climate change woes. We also talk to Dan Koeppel about the bike highway in Los Angeles that was never built, and we hear from hosts Kristen and Dara about what’s on Modern Notion today.

Music this hour:

“Elle va au Japon” by Nic Bommarito, from the album A Quiet Age
“Step On” by Jahzzar, from the album Tumbling Dishes Like Old-Man’s Wishes
“Quasi Motion” by Kevin MacLeod, from the album Global Sampler

The 14th Century Famine, Worm Rain

Emma Morgenstern — Fri, 08 May 2015 19:33:14 +0000

On today’s show, we’re talking to William Rosen, author of The Third Horseman: A Story of Weather, War, and the Famine History Forgot (Penguin Books, May 2014). A seven-year famine is thought to have caused 5-8 million deaths in northern Europe in the 14th century—but Rosen argues that the famine’s severity was exacerbated by the preceding Medieval Warming Period. We also hear from Mark Hay about the time it rained worms in Norway and meat in Kentucky.

Lovelace and Babbage, Degas and the Little Dancer, Pranks

Emma Morgenstern — Thu, 07 May 2015 16:37:31 +0000

This hour we talk to Sydney Padua, author and illustrator of The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage: The (Mostly) True Story of the First Computer (Pantheon, April 2015). In this graphic novel with lengthy, tongue-in-cheek footnotes, Padua reimagines the lives of Ada Lovelace and Charles Babbage, who worked on prototypes for the first “computer” in the 1830s. Senior editor Kristen Majewski tells the story of the girl who posed for the famous Degas sculpture, Little Dancer, and staff writer Josh Hrala takes us on a tour of pranks throughout history. Plus, we hear a bird call that sounds like . . . a Star Wars laser gun?

Music this hour:

“Elle va au Japon” by Nic Bommarito, from the album A Quiet Age
“about u” by Jahzzar, from the album Sketches

Elephant Don, the Hardest Tongue Twister, Mr. Eats All

Emma Morgenstern — Tue, 05 May 2015 21:42:25 +0000

On today’s episode of Modern Notion Daily, we talk with guest Caitlin O’Connell, author of Elephant Don: The Politics of a Pachyderm Posse (University of Chicago Press, April 2015). O’Connell shares her observations from 20 years of research on male African elephants, and comes to the conclusion that they’re not unlike the Mafia (hence, the elephant “Don”). We all practice the tongue twister that MIT students have deemed the hardest, and we tell the story of the man who ate a Cessna 150. Plus, artists and scientists grapple with how to represent “dark matter.”

Music this hour:

“People Are Strange” by The Doors
“Elle va au Japon” by Nic Bommarito, from the album A Quiet Age
“2.2.05” by BOPD, from the album 2005 Stayin Alive InstruMentals

Rain: A Natural and Cultural History, Self-Immolation, Moon Landing and Filmmaking

Emma Morgenstern — Mon, 04 May 2015 21:02:42 +0000

On today’s show we talk to Cynthia Barnett, author of Rain: A Natural and Cultural History (Crown, April 2015). Barnett, an environmental journalist, takes us to Texas, India, and everywhere in between to explore how we make sense of the water that falls from the sky. Josh Hrala tells us how filmmakers might be the key to proving we did, in fact, land on the moon in 1969, and Mark Hay dissects the gruesome science of self-immolation.

Music this hour:

“Step On” by Jahzzar, from the album Tumbling Dishes Like Old-Man’s Wishes
“Elle va au Japon” by Nic Bommarito, from the album A Quiet Age
“6,49” by Black Ant, from the album Free Beats Sel. 3
“5 Piece” by Black Ant, from the album Free Beats Sel. 3
“Air Hockey Saloon” by Chris Zabriskie, from the album Vendaface

How to Clone a Mammoth, Naked Came the Stranger, Suicide Forest

Emma Morgenstern — Fri, 01 May 2015 19:44:46 +0000

Today on Modern Notion Daily we talk to Beth Shapiro, author of How to Clone a Mammoth: The Science of De-Extinction (Princeton University Press, April 2015). Shapiro says the we won’t ever be able to bring back an exact clone of a Dodo or a Woolly Mammoth, but we could use their ancient DNA to bolster current species on Planet Earth. Contributing editor Erin Blakemore talks about Penelope Ashe, aka 25 Newsday reporters who wrote a lurid novel in the 1960s. Plus, contributing editor Mark Hay clues us in on studies about endangered species, and we hear the story of “Suicide Forest” in Japan.

Music this hour:

“Step On” by Jahzzar, from the album Tumbling Dishes Like Old-Man’s Wishes
“Elle va au Japon” by Nic Bommarito, from the album A Quiet Age

Jason Albert’s story on sailing is a production of the STEM Story Project, made possible with support from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and distributed by PRX, the Public Radio Exchange.

Galileo’s Middle Finger, Ancient Trees, the Real Chef Boyardee

Emma Morgenstern — Thu, 30 Apr 2015 19:13:43 +0000

This hour we talk to Alice Dreger, author of Galileo’s Middle Finger: Heretics, Activists, and the Search for Justice in Science (Penguin Press, March 2015). As both a scientist and activist, Dreger has found herself in the middle of controversies surrounding the intersex movement, transsexual identity, and the biology of rape (among other issues). Contributing editor Mark Hay fills us in on the deaths (real and fabricated) of ancient trees. And we meet the real-life Chef Boyardee—who actually spelled it Boiardi.

Music this hour:

“wherever” by Jahzzar, from the album Sketches
“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
“Elle va au Japon” by Nic Bommarito, from the album A Quiet Age

The story “Remaking the Science Fair” is a production of the PRX STEM Story Project, distributed by PRX and made possible with funds from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

A River Changes Course in Cambodia, Unsinkable Violet Jessup

Emma Morgenstern — Wed, 29 Apr 2015 20:31:15 +0000

On today’s show we talk to Kalyanee Mam, the director and producer of the documentary film, “A River Changes Course.” For several years, Mam filmed two Cambodian families—one that subsists on fishing, the other on farming—affected by vast environmental and economic changes in their country. Plus, contributing editor Erin Blakemore tells us how Violet Jessup survived three shipwrecks, including the Titanic.

Jenny Price, the Cult Behind the Cutlery, First Women Voters

Emma Morgenstern — Tue, 28 Apr 2015 19:37:44 +0000

On this episode of Modern Notion Daily we talk to Jenny Price, a writer, artist, and environmental humanities scholar. She thinks that historians and artists bring new questions—and new perspectives—to discussions about the environment and climate change. We talk to contributing editor Mark Hay about Oneida, the cult that gave rise to a popular American cutlery company. And we hear the voices of some of our nation’s first women voters in a story from Sandra Sleight-Brennan.

(Sleight-Brennan’s feature is funded, in part, by the Ohio Humanities Council, a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.)

Dangerous Personalities, What Lewis & Clark Left Behind, Misophonia

Emma Morgenstern — Mon, 27 Apr 2015 22:58:40 +0000

This hour we talk to Joe Navarro, author of Dangerous Personalities: An FBI Profiler Shows How to Identify and Protect Yourself from Harmful People (Rodale Books, October 2014). Navarro takes us through the four personality types we should watch out for—and assuages any fears that the Modern Notion staff is riddled with narcissists. Contributing editor Erin Blakemore talks about Lewis and Clark’s poop, and why it’s so helpful to archaeologists. And from KALW in the Bay Area, we hear the story of a girl who becomes enraged by certain sounds.

‘Circus without Borders,’ First Wives and Assassinations, and the Rainbow of Sound

Dara Katz — Mon, 27 Apr 2015 22:22:29 +0000

We talk with filmmaker Linda Matchan about her new documentary from Northern Light Productions, Circus without Borders, which tells the true story of two circuses from remote corners of the world—an Inuit village in Canada, and Guinea in West Africa. We also hear about the side of historical presidential assassinations that doesn’t get talked about: what happened to the first wives? And finally, we learn about the origins of Earth Day. Sure it was the brainchild of Sen. Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin, but it was an advertising legend who came up with the name.

Gurkhas, WWII WASPS and the Geophysics Behind the Normandy Landing

Dara Katz — Thu, 23 Apr 2015 19:51:48 +0000

This hour we’ll about two vastly differently, but equally fierce groups of warriors: the Nepalese Gurkhas and the women pilots of World War II. We’ll also hear from Freedom Riders and learn about the man who’s credited with the successful invasion of Normandy—and we’re not talking about Eisenhower. Finally, we’ll hop into the present with Marnie Chesterton who tries to recreate a scientifically accurate sonic rainbow.

The Looting Machine: Warlords, Oligarchs, Corporations, Smugglers, and the Theft of Africa’s Wealth

Dara Katz — Wed, 22 Apr 2015 21:45:16 +0000

Today we have a little bit of a different show for you. We talked to author Tom Burgis about his new book The Looting Machine, and because it was just so complex and speaks to a lot of current issues, we decided to do a whole show that centers on it. So make sure your headphones are in tight, we’re heading to Africa, and this all has a lot more to do with you—yes you–than you think.

Daniel Rubens on SIDS, The Indiana Jones of Mathematics, The Last Empress of China

Emma Morgenstern — Tue, 21 Apr 2015 19:02:24 +0000

This hour, host Kristen Majewski talks to Dr. Daniel Rubens, a pediatric anesthesiologist at Seattle Children’s and cofounder of the SIDS Research Guild, about his groundbreaking research on Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. He thinks SIDS is in some way connected with inner ear damage, and he and his team are researching the cause, mechanism, and prevention of SIDS. Producer Ben Harden introduces us to the Indiana Jones of mathematics as part of the STEM Story Project (distributed by PRX with support from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation). And we learn the tumultuous history of the “Last Empress of China” from Mark Hay, contributing editor to Modern Notion.

Obscenity & American Jews, Visiting the Dennis Severs House, Madame Wu

Emma Morgenstern — Tue, 21 Apr 2015 18:51:43 +0000

This hour we talk to Josh Lambert, author of Unclean Lips: Obscenity, Jews, and American Culture (NYU Press, 2013). Lambert says that there have been many studies of obscenity in America, but almost no scholarship explores how it relates to Jewishness—even though many of the prominent figures were Jewish. Producer Eleanor Stanford sends us an audio postcard from the Dennis Severs House in London, and contributing editor Erin Blakemore introduces us to Madame Wu, the overlooked woman at the center of the Manhattan Project. David Schulman’s story takes us under the sea to listen to the sounds that can be found there (part of the STEM Story Project, distributed by PRX with support from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation).

The Life & Ideas of Sabina Spielrein, Living Autopsy, We Have Chins for a Reason

Emma Morgenstern — Fri, 17 Apr 2015 20:15:22 +0000

We talk to Dr. John Launer, author of Sex vs. Survival: The Life and Ideas of Sabina Spielrein (Overlook Press, February 2015). Launer wants to bring Spielrein’s contributions to psychoanalysis to light, rather than dwelling on her brief erotic relationship with Carl Jung. We present our latest “People Are Strange”: Washington Irving Bishop, the mentalist who was alive for his own autopsy. And we speak to staff writer Josh Hrala about why we have chins, and what spiders can tell us about drugs. We also get a mole’s-eye view of New York City from producer Bishop Sand, in a story produced as part of the STEM Story Project, distributed by PRX with support from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

Princes at War, Seeing with Sound, Secret Life of Soot

Emma Morgenstern — Thu, 16 Apr 2015 21:41:22 +0000

Deborah Cadbury talks about her book, Princes at War (Public Affairs, April 2015), a deep exploration of the four British royal brothers before, during, and after World War II. She fills in the details of Wallis Simpson’s connection to the Nazis and shows how the three younger brothers stepped up in wartime, in a way their country never imagined they could. And from the PRX STEM Story Project, with support from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation: we learn about how some blind people are learning to see with echo-location, and we travel with soot particles to see how they become air pollutants.

Why Science Does Not Disprove God, Potato Ball Caper, Trend-Setting Presidents

Emma Morgenstern — Thu, 16 Apr 2015 21:15:17 +0000

This hour we talk to Amir Aczel, author of Why Science Does Not Disprove God (William Morrow, April 2015 paperback), a response to the New Atheist claim that God was not necessary for creation. Aczel uses the history of science and religion to, in his words, defend the integrity of science. We also hear the story of the potato ball caper and talk to staff writer Josh Hrala about trend-setting presidents: Eisenhower and Taft. And from the STEM Story Project, with support from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and distributed by PRX: producer David Schulman goes in search of a digital Stradivarius.

John Wilkes Booth, Irene Joliot-Curie, Poison Squad

Emma Morgenstern — Wed, 15 Apr 2015 01:50:49 +0000

On the 150th anniversary of President Lincoln’s assassination, we talk to Terry Alford about Lincoln’s killer, John Wilkes Booth. Alford wrote the definitive biography of Booth, out today from Oxford University Press. We also learn about the daughter of Marie Curie, who was a Nobel Prize winner herself, and we hear the curious origins of the FDA: the Poison Squad.

The Science of Hedonism, Loneliest Whale, This Is Your Life

Emma Morgenstern — Mon, 13 Apr 2015 20:25:31 +0000

This hour we talk to author Zoe Cormier about her book, Sex, Drugs, + Rock and Roll: The Science of Hedonism and the Hedonism of Science. She tells us why humans are special in the ways we have sex, do drugs, and derive pleasure from music. We’re also in the studio with Modern Notion contributor Sam Schipani to talk about space innovations, and we hear the sounds of the loneliest whale in the world.

America’s Obsession with Weight, an Enslaved Muslim Prince, DIY Space Gear

Emma Morgenstern — Fri, 10 Apr 2015 19:44:16 +0000

We talk with Harriet Brown, author of How Science, History, and Culture Drive Our Obsession with Weight–and What We Can Do About It (Da Capo Press, March 2015). Brown argues that focusing on weight as a measure of health is misguided and dangerous. Mark Hay, contributing editor to Modern Notion, joins us in the studio to tell the story of a Muslim prince enslaved in the American South. Plus, we hear stories of a family matzo company leaving the Lower East Side of New York and people who make their own space gear.

The Invaders—Humans & Wolf-Dogs, Cardiff Giant, World’s Deadliest Sniper

Emma Morgenstern — Fri, 10 Apr 2015 19:27:31 +0000

We talk with author and retired anthropology professor Pat Shipman about her book, The Invaders: How Humans and Their Dogs Drove Neanderthals to Extinction (Harvard University Press, March 2015). Shipman theorizes that the combination of early humans and wolf-dogs was an unstoppable force. We hear about the Cardiff Giant hoax in central New York and tell the story of Simo Hayha, otherwise known as “White Death.”

The Unpersuadables, Radium Girls, Typewriters, Iron Lung

Emma Morgenstern — Fri, 10 Apr 2015 19:18:44 +0000

This hour host Dara Katz talks to Will Storr, author of The Unpersuadables: Adventures with the Enemies of Science (Overlook Books, March 2015). Storr spent time with creationists, past life regression analysts, and Holocaust deniers to find out why they believe what they do, despite all evidence to the contrary. We sit down with Erin Blakemore, contributing editor to Modern Notion, to learn about the Radium Girls, and we visit a typewriter shop and a woman who uses an iron lung.

North Korea, Mary Pickford Films, Mars One

harkadmin — Wed, 08 Apr 2015 02:03:44 +0000

We talk with Blaine Harden about his book The Great Leader and the Fighter Pilot: The True Story of the Tyrant Who Created North Korea and the Young Lieutenant Who Stole His Way to Freedom. We also hear how never-before-seen Mary Pickford films were uncovered in a New Hampshire barn, and we talk with Mark Hay, a contributor to Modern Notion, about the Mars One mission.

Savage Harvest and A Tale of Cannibals

harkadmin — Wed, 08 Apr 2015 00:01:12 +0000

We talk with Carl Hoffman about his book, Savage Harvest: A Tale of Cannibals, Colonialism, and Michael Rockefeller’s Tragic Quest for Primitive Art. We also learn about the checkered past of the cyclotron, or proton accelerator, and we have the latest installment of People Are Strange.