When Iranian interrogators accuse fashion models of being part of a cabal led by Kim Kardashian, do they believe their own loony charge? Journalist Maziar Bahari thinks they might. We talk about the effects of official propaganda, the plight of Iran’s Baha’i community, and his own imprisonment – all more amusing than you’d expect in the hands … Continue reading »
Monthly Archives: July 2016
Episode 136: Jan Gehl
For opera lovers, it’s the Wagner conundrum. For movie goers, it’s the Woody Allen problem. Dubious people have done wonderful work. But Jan Gehl, the Danish urban planner, sees architecture differently: “If you don’t love people, you can not make good architecture.” For him, architecture is a moral act. A conversation with a champion of humanistic … Continue reading »
Episode 135: Anaïs Mitchell and Rachel Chavkin
“Failure is a very creative place,” asserts James Nicola, artistic director of New York Theater Workshop where singer-songwriter Anaïs Mitchell and director Rachel Chavkin developed their flamboyantly successful Hadestown, a folk opera based on the Orpheus myth. But is failure really so useful, or is it just, well, failure? Rachel and Anaïs consider that … Continue reading »