The Unintended Consequences of Technological Innovation
Edward Tenner is author of "Why Things Bite Back" from Knopf. It's about the unintended effects that new technological breakthroughs bring. Tenner is also a researcher at Princeton University in the Department of Geological and Geophysical Sciences.
Other segments from the episode on August 6, 1996
Writer Irene Vilar on Three Generations of Troubled Women
Vilar's memoir "A Message from God in the Atomic Age" chronicles three generations of self-destructive behavior: in 1954, her grandmother was imprisoned for opening fire at the U.S. House of Representatives; in 1977, her mother leapt to her death from a speeding car; and in 1988, Vilar herself was committed to a psychiatric hospital after attempting suicide. Alternating between her notes from the psychiatric ward and the chronicling of the history of her family, Vilar tells of her own attempts to come to terms with her family history.
A Late Nigerian Musician Had a Strong Pop Sensibility
Commentator Milo Miles has this profile of late Nigerian Juju music master I.K. Dairo. His music became very popular in Africa in the 1960's.
PBS Is Still the Best Place for Single-Topic TV Documentaries
TV critic David Bianculli reviews this week's edition of the PBS summer series "P.O.V."
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