Inquiry

A Crying Saucer!

THOMAS CATHCART and DANIEL KLEIN return to Inquiry to talk about the logical fallacies that make up most of what we call political discourse. Talking to Tom and Dan is like trying to converse with some mad mythological creature that is part stand-up comedian, part Harvard philosophy professor. Hilarious and thought provoking. Tune in for another wild and wooly discussion as Thomas and Daniel  talk about their new book: Aristotle and an Aardvark go to Washington: Understanding Political Doublespeak Through Philosophy and Jokes.  

Is there life on other planets in our solar system? Is there a galactic civilization that occupies this tiny end of the universe? If there are aliens out there, how come we haven’t bumped into them yet? As Enrico Fermi put it: “Where is everybody?” Tonight on Inquiry, JEFFREY BENNETT, astrophysicist, author and educator will attempt to answer some of these questions. His very scientific approach to the search for life on other world is titled BEYOND UFOS: THE SEARCH FOR EXTRATERRESTRIAL LIFE AND IT’S ASTONISHING INPLICATIONS FOR OUR FUTURE. Tune in and find out why crop circles are a really dumb idea.

One of the most unique and fascinating social histories of America is JEFF WILTSE’s CONTESTED WATERS: A SOCIAL HISTORY OF SWIMMING POOLS IN AMERICA. On tonight’s Inquiry, Wiltse, Assistant Professor of History at the University of Montana, describes how public pools were originally designed as bathhouses for the urban poor. But over the course of the first half of the 20^th Century, as the function of pools changed, these municipal spaces became the focus for heated and often-ugly debates about class, race and sexual equality that culminated in violence and riots. Tune in for a little known, but important, history of America! 

Put down that iPod and take a hike! That’s some of what RICHARD LOUV recommends in his book Last Child In The Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder. What is happening to the minds and bodies of this current generation of children who seem to never experience the out of doors? Louv talks about the numerous health benefits to our children that time playing in that local woodlot or field can offer and why many parents fear letting their children roam outside. 

Did you know that 58% of the area of the lower 48 states no longer supports natural vegetation? Or that 57% of all ecological communities in the United States are “imperiled” or “vulnerable”? One of the important indicators of these recent environmental changes are the dramatic decreases in certain bird populations. Birds are important indicators of the “health” of our environment and their declines are due to factors like climate change, habitat loss and degradation, poor water management and the effects of sprawl. On Inquiry tonight is JEFFREY V. WELLS, Senior Scientist for the Boreal Song Bird Initiative, Visiting Fellow at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and former Director of Bird Conservation for the National Audubon Society. His new book THE BIRDER’S CONSERVATION HANDBOOK: 100 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS AT RISK, lists those species most at risk and what can be done about it.  

Roses may be red, and violets of course may be blue, but why? Why is one rose white while another is pink? On Inquiry we speak with DAVID LEE, Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Florida International University and Director of the Kampong of the National Tropical Botanical Garden in Miami. Lee’s NATURE’S PALETTE: THE SCIENCE OF PLANT COLOR is one of the few books that combines a deep knowledge of organic chemistry with an artistic love of the aesthetics of plants in the garden and forest. Lee explains why leaves, flowers, seeds and bark are the colors they are. Tune in and find out about leaves that can quickly change color back and forth, the mysterious iridescent plants of the jungle floor, why blue flowers are so damned strange and how some flowers can even look like rotting meat. 

Inquiry has a fascinating talk with writer and journalist MARK HARRIS about the evolution of Hollywood films in the 1960s by closely looking at the trials and tribulations of the films: The Graduate, Bonnie and Clyde, In the Heat of the Night, Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner? and Dr. Doolittle. By meticulously examining how these movies got produced, cast and directed, all films up for Best Picture in 1968, Harris paints a vivid portrait of the “Old” and “New” Hollywood in the 60s. His endlessly entertaining history PICTURES AT A REVOLUTION: FIVE MOVIES AND THE BIRTH OF THE NEW HOLLYWOOD is crammed with enough crazy stories and wild dish to keep the most jaded film fanatic satisfied. 

Inquiry welcomes back DANIEL H. PINK, writer and lecturer on economic transformation and the rapidly changing world of work. Daniel has written a new career guide unlike any other you have seen before. It’s a manga, and a highly entertaining one at that. Tune in as we talk about THE ADVENTURES OF JOHNNY BUNKO: THE LAST CAREER GUIDE YOU WILL EVER NEED.

Writer, artist and teacher PAUL KARASIK has collected the works of one of the most bizarre and unique comic book artists that ever put pen to superhero. Fletcher Hanks worked for third-rate comics in the late ‘30s and early ‘40s.  Till now, his strange tales of banshee-like jungle goddesses and vengeful intergalactic superheroes with insane powers have only been known to a select few collectors. Karasik aptly describes Fletcher Hank’s style as “harsh and naïve, ugly and beautiful, loud and silent as a tomb.” Paul Karasik has collected some of Hanks’ works in his new book: FLETCHER HANK'S: I SHALL DESTROY ALL THE CIVILIZED PLANETS. But that’s only part of the story. Karasik then decided to track down the real Fletcher Hanks. Find out the rest of this unique tale of art and torment tonight on Inquiry.

 

At 9:30, Inquiry welcomes back artist and teacher SUSAN SWINAND. Susan will talk about her stunning new work and her upcoming exhibition. To see some examples of Susan’s rambunctious and wild paintings, go to: 

Inquiry talks with MARY POPE OSBORNE and NATALIE POPE BOYCE,  authors of the beloved Magic Tree House series of children’s books and their fascinating non-fiction companion research guides. Tune in and find out how this series of now forty titles first began; how Mary gets ideas for new titles and learn about the new Magic Tree House musical. Host Mark Lynch is joined tonight by special guest co-host: eight-year old SAMANTHA CARROLL, grand-daughter and passionate reader of the Magic Tree House series.  

 

Inquiry welcomes back award-wining children’s book author, illustrator and environmental activist LYNNE CHERRY. Lynne talks about her new book, written with GARY BRAASCH, titled How We Know What We Know About Our Changing Climate. This new textbook for middle school aged children, is a hard scientific look at what we know about global warming as well as an inviting guide to “citizen science” children can do in their own classroom. If you care about science education in our schools, be sure to tune in!

Join us for a full hour of lively conversations about contemporary art. Inquiry welcomes DINA DEITSCH, Assistant Curator at the Decordova Museum Sculpture Park. She will be discussing the always exciting and interesting Decordova Annual Show that features new works from a number of the northeast’s most challenging artists. Dina is joined by two artists from the exhibition: MITCHEL AHERN and CATHERINE D’IGNAZIO, who will discuss their work.

Inquiry speaks with PHILIP F. GURA, the William S. Newman Distinguished Professor of American Literature and Culture at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill about his wild history AMERICAN TRANSCENDENTALISM: A HISTORY. On Sunday: tune in, turn on and drop out…old school style.

Guest, writer and Kerouac scholar PAUL MAHER JR. has written a book that ties together Jack Kerouac’s actual adventures across America: JACK KEROUAC’S AMERICAN JOURNEY: THE REAL-LIFE ODYSSEY OF “ON THE ROAD”.  

What can a 17^th Century painting by the Dutch artist Vermeer tell us about the aesthetics of the rich and powerful in China? Our guest tonight is TIMOTHY BROOK, who has written a unique history of the 17^th Century, a time when commerce and culture from all around the globe collided in unexpected ways to form the beginnings of the modern world, entitled VERMEER’S HAT: THE 17^TH CENTURY AND THE DAWN OF THE GLOBAL WORLD.

Have you ever smelled a color? Or heard the song of a day of the week? If so, you may be a synesthete. CRETIEN VAN CAMPEN's discoveries open up an amazing world beyond our basic five senses and look at how synesthesia, far from being a problem that should be cured, may actually aid our creativity. Cretien van Campen’s book is THE HIDDEN SENSE: SYNESTHESIA IN ART AND SCIENCE.

Ethel Merman started out as a working class girl who literally brought the house down one fine night. Tonight, Inquiry speaks with CARYL FLINN, Professor of Women's Studies and Media Arts at the University of Arizona, about her new rich biography BRASS DIVA: THE LIFE AND LEGENDS OF ETHEL MERMAN.

 
Then at 9:30: Do you remember The Poky Little Puppy? Scruffy the Tugboat? Tootles? The Color Kittens? Tonight on Inquiry we speak with noted children’s literature historian LEONARD MARCUS about his fascinating and charming history GOLDEN LEGACY: HOW GOLDEN BOOKS WON CHILDREN’S HEARTS, CHANGED PUBLISHING FOREVER, AND BECAME AN AMERICAN ICON ALONG THE WAY.