Inquiry

Inquiry
Golden Wings and Hairy Toes - Todd McLeish

Golden Wings and Hairy Toes by natural history writer and Rhode Island native TODD McLEISH is one of the most enjoyable and informative books on New England wildlife published in some time.

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Leonard Marcus on Golden Books

Do you remember The Poky Little Puppy? Scruffy the Tugboat? Tootles? The Color Kittens?

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Trying Leviathan -Graham Burnett

In 1818, through a bizarre series of circumstances, taxonomy and science were put on trial in a courthouse in New York City. What started as a minor case about the inspection of barrels of whale oil, became a showcase trial on the publics understanding of natural history and the new order of nature. The whole cause célèbre court case revolved around a deceptively simple question: was a whale  a “fish” or a “mammal”?

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Caryl Flinn on Ethel Merman

Ethel Merman started out as a working class girl who literally brought the house down one fine night.  From that moment on, she was known around the world as a legendary singer. Merman was the toast of Broadway in its heyday in the late 30s and 40s. She could belt out the songs of Girl Crazy, Annie Get Your Gun or Hello, Dolly!

Inquiry
PLATO AND A PLATYPUS WALK INTO A BAR: UNDERSTANDING PHILOSOPHY THROUGH JOKES

After discussing the meaning of the universe, it’s time for some philosophy, and I can think of no better guests to have that discussion with than THOMAS CATHCART and DANIEL KLEIN. They met decades ago in the Harvard Philosophy Department and have gone on to write one of the flat out funniest AND intelligent books on philosophy this side of Satre’s Nausea. In person, they are the equivalent of trying to discuss Schopenhauer with Bob and Ray…only funnier.