Do creatures other than humans use a complex language? What does this say about animal intelligence and consciousness? Can we have a dialog with another species? Tonight on Inquiry we talk with DR. IRENE M. PEPPERBERG, Associate Research Professor at Brandeis University about her years long research attempting to communicate with an African Gray Parrot. Her research has been considered very controversial, but tune in tonight and you can decide for yourself. Dr. Pepperberg talks about learning to talk with her long time partner in research, Alex. Dr. Pepperberg’s popular account of her research is titled ALEX AND ME: HOW A SCIENTIST AND A PARROT UNCOVERED A HIDDEN WORLD OF ANIMAL INTELLIGENCE AND FORMED A DEEP BOND IN THE PROCESS.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009 - 10:16am
Monday, February 23, 2009 - 1:45pm
Wise, scholarly,
evenhanded and elegant describes how famed historian Ronald White
informs and inspires with this new biography about our sixteenth
president Abraham Lincoln. With a new emphasis on the complex meaning
and timeless importance of Lincoln’s great words he re-kindles the
flame and continues to define Lincoln.This is a stand out biography by
one of our finest historians so tune in Sunday evening at 10:30.
Sunday, February 22, 2009 - 5:40pm
Inquiry welcomes back writer, journalist and editor MARCUS REEVES, whose latest book is SOMEBODY SCREAM! RAP MUSIC’S RISE TO PROMINENCE IN THE AFTERSHOCK OF BLACK POWER, now in paperback. Tonight, Marcus talks about an interesting and controversial topic: the relationship of President Obama to the hip hop community. Will rap music be even more political now that Obama has been elected president or does his election in fact render the more political hip hop music irrelevant? Tune in for an honest and complex conversation about hip hop and politics.
Monday, February 16, 2009 - 11:21am
One person may spend their entire life thinking about nothing but sheep, while another may be a scientist who spends all their time studying sheep. One of those people is considered an obsessive neurotic while the other is considered an icon of research. Where is the line between the clinical diagnosis of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and someone who just wants to avoid colds and flu by washing their hands often? Tonight on Inquiry we talk with LENNARD J. DAVIS, Professor in the Departments of English, Disability and Human Development and Medical Education at the University of Illinois, Chicago. Professor Davis will talk about the social and cultural history of obsession and the development of a bio-cultural view of this now widespread disorder. Before the 1970s, OCD was hardly known yet today it allegedly affects one out of a hundred people. Is it a brain dysfunction? A genetic dysfunction? Or is it a product of societal pressures? What IS obsession? Professor Davis’ fascinating and controversial book is OBSESSION: A HISTORY.
Monday, February 16, 2009 - 10:52am
What would it take to actually become the “Caped Crusader”? Unlike all other superheroes, Batman is just a "mere mortal" like you and me. Would it be possible to develop a physical training program that would allow us to swing from building to building and take countless blows from nefarious evildoers? Tonight on Inquiry we seriously attempt to answer those questions and many more. Our guest is E. PAUL ZEHR, Professor of Neuroscience and Kinesiology at the University of British Columbia. He has written an introduction to the physiology of exercise and martial arts that describes what would happen to our bodies if we were to train to become something more than Bruce Wayne. Did Batman ever take steroids? Does Batman exceed at strength or power? If Batgirl fought Batman, who would win? The answers will teach you a lot about what happens to your body and mind when you exercise. Professor Zehr’s book is titled BECOMING BATMAN: THE POSSIBILITY OF A SUPERHERO.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009 - 2:20pm
We are a paranoid nation, eager to believe in conspiracy theories and this is most evident in our films and television programs. Tonight on Inquiry, we talk with GORDON B. ARNOLD, Professor of Liberal Arts at Montserrat College about his latest film history CONSPIRACY THEORY IN FILM, TELEVISION AND POLITICS. Arnold’s book looks at our fascination for uncovering the dark powers behind the events in the news from the “Red Menace” to “Chinatown”.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009 - 2:15pm
Recently, a large shark was caught off Australia, shipped to Britain, where the artist Damien Hirst commissioned people to taxidermy it and place it in a large glass tank of formalin. He labeled this artwork “The physical impossibility of death in the mind of someone living.” It sold for twelve million dollars. Who determines the worth of contemporary works of art like this? What about issues of aesthetics? Will this work be worth even more in the decades to come? Tonight’s guest DON THOMPSON, who teaches marketing and economics in the MBA program at the Schulich School of Business at York University in Toronto has some of the answers. It has nothing to do with the intrinsic worth of the object but has everything to do with product “branding”. Tune in tonight for a revealing look at how the business of contemporary art is transacted. Thompson’s book is titled: THE $12 MILLION STUFFED SHARK: THE CURIOUS ECONOMICS OF CONTEMPORARY ART.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009 - 10:02am
With Wings Like Eagles: By Michael Korda
Michael Korda's brilliant work of history takes the reader back to the
summer of 1940, when fewer than three thousand young fighter pilots of
the Royal Air Force—often no more than nine hundred on any given
day—stood between Hitler and the victory that seemed almost within his
grasp. Relive the gallant "Battle Of Britain" and those who gave some
much to ensure a free England.Join me for this lively discussion with
this award winning New York Times bestselling author.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009 - 9:23am
Jazz musician Clyde Wheatley on The Public Eye
Monday, February 9, 2009 - 2:19pm
Inquiry talks with multi-award winning author and poet CAROLE BOSTON WEATHERFORD about her stunning collection of poems: BECOMING BILLIE HOLIDAY. This amazing cycle of poems traces Holiday's life from a very young girl to her singing "Strange Fruit" at Cafe Society. Besides reading an excerpt from her book, Weatherford also talks about why jazz is so important in American culture and how she began her long career in poetry and writing for children and adults.
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