Of the many programs we have done on evolutionary theory and research none was more sharply and effectively focused on the (failed) challenge to Darwinism posed by the “theory” of intelligent design. In this discussion from 2002 two great guests, Robert Richards and Robert Roose, review the general evolutionary view and take on the ultimate issue concerning the complexity of the human eye.

That can be said to be the basic assignment of psychologists, psychiatrists and, these days particularly, neuroscientists. But the original investigators of the human mind were those we now call philosophers. They are still at it and, using only mind itself, they sometimes clarify many issues and come upon many exciting prospects that one does not get from the more formally scientific investigators. Here then, from a conversation in 2006, are two accomplished and articulate “philosophers of mind” illuminating human mentality itself.

Among the major figures who have tried to understand it “all” is Joel Primack, physicist at the University of California. He helped discover the “dark matter” of which 25 percent of the  universe is  composed. He and his wife, Nancy Abrams, joined us in this 2006 conversation to discuss their book, “The View From The Center of the Universe.” Among the less-than-trivial questions addressed are: how did the universe begin? How is it structured? What purpose, if any, does it reveal? What does it suggest about a transcendent power or powers? Does it have any neighbor universes? Once again we find that the best way to stretch the mind is through cosmology.

The French really do admit getting joy out of life. Two who seem to make that claim with authenticity are Mirais Guiliano, author of “French Women Don’t Get Fat,” and Dominick Toigne, Parisian chef. Here in 2006 they ruminate joyfully on cuisine and then wander into the sociology or philosophy of actual real life in modern yet still-traditional France.

Not necessarily, says Steven Smith of Yale in his recent book (Reading Leo Strauss) and in this conversation. The Iraq War, the Weekly Standard, “noble lies” in politics, renascent Judaism as a source of political analysis, “exoteric” and “esoteric” political commentary: these are some of the areas into which one must venture, says Smith, when trying to account for Strauss’s thought and his influence upon the rise of neo-conservatism.