Month: June 2014

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World Book Club - Per Petterson

This month World Book Club comes to a surprisingly sunny Oslo as part of our mini Norwegian season to talk to one of the country’s most feted novelists Per Petterson, about his phenomenally successful novel Out Stealing Horses.

Per will be answering questions from a rapt audience here in the elegant canteen of his publishers about his poignant, compelling multi-award-winning tale.

Through passages of often achingly beautiful prose Out Stealing Horses explores universal themes of isolation, loss of innocence, paternal love and sexual passion and the unexpected betrayals that can follow in their wake.

Photo: Per Petterson by Tom Martinsen)

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The Gist - Freakonomics Is Basically a Peanut Butter Cup

Today on the Gist, Politico magazine editor Susan Glasser talks with Mike about “politicization,” and why politicians, of all people, like to demonize it. Mike also asks Stephen Dubner about the secret sauce that helped the Freakonomics empire take hold in book and podcast form. For the Spiel, let’s partake of national doughnut day.

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Motley Fool Money - Motley Fool Money: 06.06.2014

General Motors CEO Mary Barra fires 15 employees in the wake of an internal investigation.  Pandora hits a sour note.   And Krispy Kreme serves up some not-so-sweet earnings.   Our analysts discuss those stories and share three stocks on their radar.  Plus, we talk about the business of soccer with Stefan Szymanski, co-author of Soccernomics:  Why England Loses, Why Germany and Brazil Win, and Why the U.S., Japan, Australia, Turkey--and Even Iraq--Are Destined to Become the Kings of the World's Most Popular Sport.

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More or Less: Behind the Stats - What’s Scottish Independence Worth?

Scottish independence - yes or no? Which will line your pocket more? The Scottish government says a Yes vote will leave Scots ?1,000 each better off; the UK treasury says a No vote means a ?1,400 bonus for Scots. More or Less looks at exactly what these claims mean, the key assumptions underlying them, and asks whether either number is likely to be accurate. Plus: the "zombie" statistic that each year 100,000 Christians are martyred around the world; getting people to agree to make major life decisions based on the toss of a coin and World Cup Office Sweepstake strategy.

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The Gist - Fancy Private College vs. Good-Enough U

May’s unemployment numbers aren’t out until Friday, but today’s Gist explores what these monthly numbers actually tell us with Adam Davidson of Planet Money. Then Emily Yoffe of Slate’s Dear Prudence column joins us for a post-Prudie impact statement with a conflicted mother weighing the price of sending her son to his dream school vs. a good, cheaper state school. In today’s Spiel, Mike discusses eulogies and his new state of being uncle-less.

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The Gist - The Downside of Waiting for More Marshmallows

Today on the show, a look at a Tea Party resurgence in Mississippi’s GOP Senate primary with Slate’s David Weigel. Then, in our regular segment “Is This BS?,” Maria Konnikova explains why psychologist Walter Mischel’s famous marshmallow study has come to loom so large in child-rearing theories, and what its limitations might be. In the Spiel, Mike asks you to guess which words are used more by Democrats, and which by Republicans.

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