Added 9/10/18. Milt in this 2012 episode interviews popular science author Dava Sobel about the subject of her then-latest book, “A More Perfect Heaven: How Copernicus Revolutionized The Cosmos.” The Renaissance mathematician and astronomer played it cagey on proofs and details after in 1510 issuing notice that the universe revolved in fact, around the sun, not the earth, as had been long supposed. Frustratingly, he kept the details private for several decades thereafter. So how was it that he eventually came to “show his work” in 1542? Sobel in her book sandwiches a provocative fictional treatment of the subject in the form of a play, in between nonfiction sections. She and Milt explore the life and times – and informed speculation surrounding – the man behind the Heliocentric breakthrough.

Added 6.12.18. Milt in this 2011 interview debriefs Sara Anson Vaux, who taught religious studies and film at Northwestern University and authored the treatise, “The Ethical Vision of Clint Eastwood.” She contends Eastwood’s films, while broadly understood to be ripping good stories, also cover important ethical, religious, and philosophical grounds which should not be given short shrift. She and Milt delve into motifs in Eastwood’s ouvre including divine judgement and the hereafter, reconciling terrible misfortune with a divine presence, and the moral implications of war. The proceedings are further enlivened by audio clips of various signal moments from some of the Eastwood films under discussion.

Added 5.22.18. In this 2012 episode, Milt talks with two experts about man’s similarities and differences with primates. Is our own free will to some extent an illusion, because we’re hard wired to act in certain ways in certain situations? Discussants probe the tension between our biological programming and our higher nature, which stems from a more acute consciousness, ethics and the physical ability to produce nuanced linguistic expression. Guests are Paul Reber, Northwestern University psychologist and head there of the Brain, Behavior and Cognition program; and Dario Maestripieri, author of “Games Primates Play: An Undercover Investigation Of The Evolution And Economics Of Human Relationships.”

The mode of ultimate inquiry represented by the likes of Plato and Aristotle still flourishes. One of the most significant practitioners of modern philosophy is Martha Nussbaum, with whom we had this memorable conversation focused on classical and contemporary concerns.

Three veteran journalistic observers of the great game sat down one night in 2002 to share their wisdom. Here is the fascinating outcome – a general treatise about the game that is definitely not a mere set of predictions about the then-current season (in which the Cubs did not particularly distinguish themselves).