Is the use and abuse of your personal information a constant, undeniable worry? We’ll explore the way privacy functions on the virtual frontier and in our everyday lives with Christena Nippert-Eng, whose new book is “Islands of Privacy” (University of Chicago Press, 2010).
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Does bountiful farming require a vast outdoor plot of land, or could agricultural systems thrive in a high-rise city building? We’ll spend this hour with Columbia University microbiologist Dickson Despommier, whose new book is “The Vertical Farm: Feeding the World in the 21st Century” (Thomas Dunne Books, 2010).
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Do the great oceans of the world have their own unique biographies? We’ll spend this hour with Simon Winchester, whose new book is “Atlantic: Great Sea Battles, Heroic Discoveries, Titanic Storms, and a Vast Ocean of a Million Stories” (HarperCollins, 2010).
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What philosophical factors determine our relationship to nature? We’ll spend this hour with Richard Galvin and John Harris of TCU’s Department of Philosophy. They will deliver a lecture this week on “Moral Standing and the Environment” as part of TCU’s Sustainability Lecture Series.
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Who were the titans, engineers, and test pilots racing to deliver the world’s first transatlantic passenger jet? We’ll talk this hour with journalist Sam Howe Verhovek, author of the new book “Jet Age: The Comet, the 707, and the Race to Shrink the World” (Penguin, 2010).
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What was Texas like when it was still wild – just after independence in the mid 19th Century? Journalist S.C. Gwynne tells the legendary story of the 1836 kidnapping of nine-year-old Cynthia Ann Parker and its consequences in his highly-acclaimed new book “Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History” (Scribner, 2010). He’ll be our guest this hour.
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Why are vampires making such a comeback in current literature, film and television? We’ll talk this hour with Rechelle Christie gothic literature specialist at UTA and Rick Worland, SMU film professor and author of the book “The Horror Film: An Introduction” (Wiley-Blackwell, 2006).
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Are bananas moldering on your countertop? Is lettuce withering in your refrigerator? If so, you’re not alone. We’ll explore the issue of food waste this hour with journalist Jonathan Bloom, author of the new book “American Wasteland: How America Throws Away Nearly Half of Its Food (and What We Can Do About It)” (Da Capo Lifelong Books, 2010).
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Why do we revere but also revile our celebrities and why has fame always been such a captivating concept? We’ll find out this hour with classicist Tom Payne, author of the new book “Fame: What the Classics Tell Us About Our Cult of Celebrity” (Picador, 2010).
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How did the United States transform itself from a largely agrarian economy to a powerhouse on the world stage and how did it happen so fast? We’ll spend this hour with H.W. Brands, the Dickson, Allen, Anderson Centennial Professor of History at the University of Texas in Austin and author of the new book “American Colossus: The Triumph of Capitalism, 1865-1900” (Doubleday, 2010).
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We never got those jetpacks or flying cars, but we do have laptops, MRI machines and hi-def television systems in our homes. How did we get here? We’ll spend this hour with James Kakalios, the Taylor Distinguished Professor in the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Minnesota. His new book is “The Amazing Story of Quantum Mechanics: A Math-Free Exploration of the Science that Made Our World” (Gotham Books, 2010).
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What was life really like in the Holy Land of the biblical era and what were the actual and mostly overlooked roles of women? We’ll spend this hour with noted biblical scholar, archeologist and Duke University professor Dr. Carol Meyers, who will deliver tonight’s 13th annual Gates of Chai Lectureship in Contemporary Judaism, sponsored by TCU’s Brite Divinity School.
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