John and Lynn talk with Professor Kyle Harper from the University of Oklahoma who has written a history of humans and their germs. The book Plagues upon the Earthweaves together a grand narrative of global history with insights from cutting-edge genetics. Harper explains why humanity’s uniquely dangerous disease pool is rooted deep in our evolutionary past, and why its growth is accelerated by technological progress.
Then, journalist and author Stephen Kurczy, author of The Quiet Zone: Unraveling the Mystery of a Town Suspended in Silence. Deep in the Appalachian Mountains lies the last truly quiet town in America. Green Bank, West Virginia, is a place at once futuristic and old-fashioned: It’s home to the Green Bank Observatory, where astronomers search the depths of the universe using the latest technology, while schoolchildren go without WiFi or iPads.
(1:34) Professor Kyle Harper from the University of Oklahoma
(23:35 ) Journalist and author Stephen Kurczy