When did language in its “modern” form – that is, with grammar, syntax and extended vocabulary – actually come from, in both space and time? How do languages such as French, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian and Romansch differentiate from a common source, Latin? Why do children acquire second or third languages much more easily than adults?  Our guests are both leading linguistic scholars: Fred Schwink of the University of Illinois and Jason Merchant of the University of Chicago in this 2005 discussion.  Incidentally, we try out some great tongue-twisters and try to identify some languages offered by callers.

The thousands of Holmesians in the world live by that precept. They know that Holmes, who retired 80 years ago, now lives in Sussex where he is a devoted beekeeper but still takes on occasional crime cases. Three of those students of the past and continuing career of Holmes joined us in this discussion. Though it occurred way back in 1994, the astonishing revelations presented that night still resonate.

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.

Before the heirarchs of the digital world became the heroes of business students and MBA professors, the most admired “captain of industry” was Jack Welch, the long-term  head of General Electric. Shortly after he retired in 2001 we chatted with him and found him delightfully and surprisingly bright, candid, unaffected and probably not really ready for retirement. As this conversation and his continuing public presence reveal.

Midrash is the Hebrew word for commentary, particularly commentary on the Hebrew Bible. Many secular intellectuals have been drawn toward that very challenge, among them Leon Kass, physician, philosopher and teacher of the humanities, now  a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. At the time of this 2003 conversation, he was a professor at the University of Chicago, on leave in Washington, where he chaired the President’s Commission on Bioethics.

The insights and meanings he finds in Genesis, as presented here, are focused not only on Creation but also on the possible realities behind the account of Abraham and his descendants and then upon the formation of the Jewish religion and its persisting “people.”