Throughout history, the advantages and costs of technological innovations have been unevenly distributed between the powerful and the rest of society, assert economists Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson in their new book, Power and Progress: Our Thousand-Year Struggle Over Technology and Prosperity. In a Q&A, they discuss what’s wrong with today’s approach to automation, why machine usefulness is more important than machine intelligence,...

The question of what constitutes a fair price has been at the center of market interactions since the time of Aristotle. Should a seller sell to the highest bidder, or is there some other standard, such as a morally defined price, to be applied? Charles R. Geisst traces the ways that philosophers, religious leaders, and economists have sought to answer that question, from antiquity through the modern era. Aristotle's thinking on usury influenced the...

As a society, were in a constant struggle to control uncertainty and predict the unknown. Quite often, we think of scientific fields and theories as being separate from each other. But a more careful investigation can uncover the common thread that ties many of those together. From ChatGPT, to Amazons Alexa, to Apples Siri, data science, and computer science have become part of our lives. In the meantime, the demand for data scientists has grown,...

Hampton Court Palace has been the locus of monarchy, revolution, religious fundamentalism, sexual scandals, and military coups. Russell moves through the rooms and the decades to focus on the people who called Hampton Court their home. From the Tudors to the present, he captures the stories of the many sovereigns and servants who lived and worked in its halls. In doing so, Russell reveals the personal tragedy and political importance of this extraordinary...

The story of how the American Bald Eagle soared to its vaunted perch in American iconography, a symbol not only of patriotism but also of environmental activism and Native American traditions.

Henry Louis Gates helps actors Pamela Adlon and Kathryn Hahn decode scandals and secrets hidden within their roots, traveling from small-town England to the American frontier, revealing stories that their ancestors went to great lengths to conceal-and celebrating the virtues of accepting one's family members, whoever they may be.

The cowboy is the quintessential American — fiercely independent, brave and laconic. This episode examines the myths and realities of this archetype, which remains as potent as ever in the 21st century.

By the late 1880s, the buffalo that once numbered in the tens of millions have been reduced to fewer than 1,000 and teeter on the brink of extinction. But a diverse and unlikely collection of Americans have started a few private herds in different locations--and for different reasons. In the early 1900s, their efforts grow into a movement that rescues the national mammal from disappearing forever.

Henry Louis Gates uses DNA detective work to solve deep family mysteries for actor Rebecca Hall and producer/director Lee Daniels-uncovering close relatives whose names they had never heard before and revealing new aspects of their own identities. Along the way, Gates takes a nuanced look at the history of "passing"-shedding light on our nation's complex racial past.

Henry Louis Gates explores the deep Mexican roots of talk show host Mario Lopez and comedian Melissa Villaseñor, uncovering ancestors stretching back to the 1500s. Weaving together stories of migratory farmers, Spanish Conquistadors and Native Americans, Gates conjures up personal histories of diverse, sometimes conflicting, elements.