Point of Inquiry

Kurt Andersen, Fantastyland, and How Irrational Thought Worsened the Pandemic


Listen Later

Kurt Andersen is the author of the novels Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire: A 500-Year History (2017), True Believers (2012), Heyday (2007), and Turn of the Century (1999). He's also written for film, television, and the stage and is the former host and co-creator of the Peabody Award winning Studio 360, a weekly radio show about arts and culture. He regularly appears as a commentator on MSNBC, CNN, PBS, and the BBC. He is also the former editor of New York Magazine and co-creator of Spy magazine.

On this week's episode Andersen speaks with Point of Inquiry's new host, Leighann Lord, to discuss his book, Fantasyland and if the United State's "fantasyland" thinking helped create the current predicament the country finds itself dealing with. Andersen and Lord offer context on Fantasyland to better understand what happens when the departure from empirical reality-based thought plays out during a global pandemic. You can also watch Andersen's CSICon talk where he goes into riveting detail about Fantasyland and how he came to write it.

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Point of InquiryBy Center for Inquiry


More shows like Point of Inquiry

View all
Big Picture Science by Big Picture Science

Big Picture Science

933 Listeners

The Atheist Experience by The Atheist Community of Austin

The Atheist Experience

2,368 Listeners

Skeptoid by Brian Dunning

Skeptoid

2,649 Listeners

Skeptics with a K by Skeptic Media Limited

Skeptics with a K

427 Listeners

Rationally Speaking Podcast by New York City Skeptics

Rationally Speaking Podcast

709 Listeners

TheThinkingAtheist by The Thinking Atheist

TheThinkingAtheist

2,828 Listeners

Cognitive Dissonance by Atheist and Skeptical News

Cognitive Dissonance

4,041 Listeners

Dogma Debate by Serious Circus, Inc

Dogma Debate

951 Listeners

Inquiring Minds by Indre Viskontas

Inquiring Minds

825 Listeners

Talk Nerdy with Cara Santa Maria by Cara Santa Maria

Talk Nerdy with Cara Santa Maria

955 Listeners

Friendly Atheist Podcast by Friendly Atheist Podcast

Friendly Atheist Podcast

1,396 Listeners

The Bart Ehrman Blog Podcast by John Mueller, Bart Ehrman Early Christianity Historical Jesus

The Bart Ehrman Blog Podcast

194 Listeners

The Michael Shermer Show by Michael Shermer

The Michael Shermer Show

904 Listeners

Sean Carroll's Mindscape: Science, Society, Philosophy, Culture, Arts, and Ideas by Sean Carroll | Wondery

Sean Carroll's Mindscape: Science, Society, Philosophy, Culture, Arts, and Ideas

4,111 Listeners

The Origins Podcast with Lawrence Krauss by Lawrence M. Krauss

The Origins Podcast with Lawrence Krauss

489 Listeners