Cash

The Strings Attached To Big-Ticket Donations

Articles

Journalist Anand Giridharadas says that sometimes, major philanthropic gifts are a lot less altruistic than they may appear.More

Latest Stories

Making Kin: An Interview with Donna Haraway

person and dog
Articles

Ecofeminist philosopher Donna Haraway has a reputation for tackling the big intellectual questions of our time — and blowing them wide open. Steve spoke with her for the Los Angeles Review of Books.

Giving Happiness That Lasts, Rather Than Things That Take Up Space

give the gift of a clean kitchen
Articles

Psychologist Elizabeth Dunn on how to spend money on ourselves and others in a way that maximizes happiness.

Length: 
08:54

Werner Herzog on 'The Peregrine'

Werner Herzog
Bookmarks

Filmmaker Werner Herzog, whose films include "Grizzly Man" and "Cave of the Forgotten Dreams," recommends a nonfiction collection of J.A. Baker's observations of peregrine falcons, recorded in the early 1960s.

Length: 
3:18

What You Learn In The 'Magic Circle'

Catan
Articles

Board game critic Eric Thurm argues that games carry subliminal messages — and that even some of the most innocuous games are often more political than we think.
 

Length: 
14:47

Picking Up The Pieces Of Mahjong

Mahjong tiles
Interactive

Board games are a tradition for a lot of us. But have you ever thought about where those traditions come from? Producer Angelo Bautista investigates the history of mahjong.

Length: 
22:56

Chess, A Perfect Game for Crushing Your Opponent’s Ego

chess fight
Articles

Chess has a reputation as a highly-intelligent, elegant game. But sportswriter Brin-Jonathan Butler says it’s also addictive — and sadistic.

Length: 
11:30

Martin Amis on 'The Adventures of Augie March'

Martin Amis
Bookmarks

Martin Amis has written his fair share of novels and essay collections. For a writer, you expect their favorite books to be a source of inspiration. For Amis, Saul Bellow's 1953 novel is a source of writer's block.

Length: 
3:58

Perfectionism Is Making Young People Miserable. Here’s How To Help.

desks
Articles

Young people seem to be feeling the pressure to be perfect more than anyone else. Social psychologist Tom Curran tells us how neoliberalism and the digital age created a generation that feels guilty about falling short of flawlessness.

Length: 
6:54

Should Judges And Juries Look For Remorse?

prison
Articles

Feeling regret about committing a crime matters in criminal sentencing. But if emotion isn't supposed to have a place in the law, should it matter? Susan Bandes tells us how judges and juries evaluate remorse, and why.

Length: 
9:26

Jericho Brown on 'The Witches Of Eastwick'

Jericho Brown
Bookmarks

As a black, gay poet, Jericho Brown considers it “hilarious” that he discovered sex through one of the whitest writers in American history — John Updike. 

Length: 
3:11