Evil Genes?; Human Nature and War; Women, Lingerie and Sexuality; The History of Whaling in America
Evil Genes?
Have you ever met a person who left you wondering, "How could someone be so twisted? So evil?" Larry Mantle talks with author Barbara Oakley, whose studies suggest that people may be genetically predisposed to be bad. Drawing on recent advances in brain imaging, Oakley links the behavior of Hitler, Stalin, Mao TseDong, and even her own sister, and makes the argument that evil behavior may be caused by a brain disorder. If this is true, Larry Mantle asks, how responsible are malevolent people for their own behavior?
Human Nature and War
Larry Mantle talks with David Livingstone Smith, author of The Most Dangerous Animal: Human Nature and the Origins of War (St. Martin's Press), about his new book that delves into the evolutionary, anthropological and psychological reasons why war has continued to exist as a human compulsion.
Women, Lingerie and Sexuality
Jill Fields speaks with Larry Mantle on a variety of topics related to the history of women's undergarments. Her new book An Intimate Affair, is a provocative examination of the how women's underwear became lingerie and how intimate articles of clothing became high fashion.
The History of Whaling in America
Author Eric Jay Dolin joins Larry Mantle to discuss his new book Leviathan, a richly detailed history of American whaling and the men who built an industrial empire through the pursuit of whales.