Welcome to the Osmocosm

… sciences, history, and public affairs; reports on cutting-edge works in progress; long-form narratives; and compelling excerpts from new books. Hosted by Stephanie Bastek.
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Rage Against the Machine

… “canon” that can serve as a kind of Rosetta Stone for understanding art feeds and strengthens the system. In the Internet age, as professional critics’ voices are diminished, institutions under attack lose power, cultural “norms” fragment, and any definitive “canon” loses authority.
A better frame for understanding history in the arts might be as …

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Fifty Years of Song

… sciences, history, and public affairs; reports on cutting-edge works in progress; long-form narratives; and compelling excerpts from new books. Hosted by Stephanie Bastek.
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Download the audio here (right click to “save link as …”)
Have suggestions for projects you’d like us to catch up on, or …

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Ordinary Madness

… sciences, history, and public affairs; reports on cutting-edge works in progress; long-form narratives; and compelling excerpts from new books. Hosted by Stephanie Bastek.
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Download the audio here (right click to “save link as …”)
Have suggestions for projects you’d like us to catch up on, or …

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The Degradation Drug

… new behavior might seem to fall within the normal range of variation. But when your husband, a stoic Presbyterian banker, abruptly begins to dress in drag and feed the casino slot machines, you will naturally suspect an external cause—even if your husband doesn’t feel the change himself.
In “A Lecture on Freedom of …

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Smarty Pants Podcast

Smarty Pants
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Tune in every week to catch interviews with the liveliest voices from literature, the arts, sciences, history, and public affairs; reports on cutting-edge works in progress; long-form narratives; and compelling excerpts from new books …

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