Douglas Brinkley: "American Moonshot: John F. Kennedy and the Great Space Race"

11/18/24 • 18 min

Michael spoke to historian Douglas Brinkley about the book he wrote the year of the 50th anniversary of the first lunar landing. In the bestselling "American Moonshot," the award winning historian and perennial New York Times bestselling author takes a fresh look at the space program, President John F. Kennedy’s inspiring challenge, and America’s race to the moon. Original air date 3 April 2019. The book was published on 2 April 2019.

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Richard Dawkins: "The Greatest Show on Earth"

From deep in the archives, Michael's conversation with Richard Dawkins, author of "The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution (A Brief History of the Natural World)." In the New York Times bestselling book, he launches a fierce counterattack against proponents of "Intelligent Design." "Intelligent Design" is being taught in our schools; educators are being asked to "teach the controversy" behind evolutionary theory. There is no controversy. Dawkins sifts through rich layers of scientific evidence—from living examples of natural selection to clues in the fossil record; from natural clocks that mark the vast epochs wherein evolution ran its course to the intricacies of developing embryos; from plate tectonics to molecular genetics—to make the airtight case that "we find ourselves perched on one tiny twig in the midst of a blossoming and flourishing tree of life and it is no accident, but the direct consequence of evolution by non-random selection." Original air date 23 November 2009. The book was published on 22 September 2009.

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Peggy Noonan: "A Certain Idea of America"

For a quarter century, Peggy Noonan has been thinking aloud about America in her much-loved Wall Street Journal column. In this new collection of her essential recent work, Noonan demonstrates the erudition, wisdom and humor that have made her one of America’s most admired writers. Michael welcomes the Pulitzer-prize winning Wall Street Journal columnist and New York Times bestselling author with her new book, "A Certain Idea of America: Selected Writings." Original air date 25 November 2024. The book was published on 19 November 2024.