On todays episode of Modern Notion Daily, our guest is Siobhan Roberts, author of Genius at Play: The Curious Mind of John Horton Conway (Bloomsbury USA, July 2015). Roberts spent seven years writing this biography of one of the most famous contemporary mathematicians and creator of the Game of Life. The magnitude of Conways genius is matched only by his playfulness and charisma; Roberts even describes him as seductive. But that intensity has a dark side, too.

Music this hour:

“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within

“Forgiven Not Forgotten” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel

“get out” by Jahzzar, from the album Sketches

On todays Modern Notion Daily show, our guest is Matthew Cobb, a zoology professor and author of Lifes Greatest Secret: The Race to Crack the Genetic Code (Basic Books, July 2015). Cobb traces the history of genetic discoveries from Mendel and his predecessors (yes, he stood on the shoulders of other early geneticists) to CRISPR and other up-to-the-minute techniques that could change our lives moving forward.

Music this hour:

“Octopus” by Jahzzar, from the album Sunlight

“Forgiven Not Forgotten” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel

“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within

On todays Modern Notion Daily podcast, our guest is Arissa H. Oh, author of To Save the Children of Korea: The Cold War Origins of International Adoption (Stanford University Press, June 2015). During the Korean War and the rise of war orphans, Americans began adopting Korean children in large numbers; that trend spiked in the 1980s. Oh explores the reasons why Korea became such a hub of adoption and the struggles faced by adopters and adoptees.

Music this hour:

“Forgiven Not Forgotten” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel

“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within

“wherever” by Jahzzar, from the album Sketches

This hour, our guest is Michael Knox Beran, author of Murder by Candlelight: The Gruesome Crimes Behind Our Romance with the Macabre (Pegasus, August 2015). Beran explores three murders from the 19th century that showcase peoples changing attitudes toward the macabre at that time.

Music this hour:

“Miri’s Magic Dance” by Kevin MacLeod, from the album Oddities

“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within

“Forgiven Not Forgotten” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel

On todays episode of Modern Notion Daily, our guest is Deborah Davis, author of The Trip: Andy Warhols Plastic Fantastic Cross-Country Adventure (Atria Books, July 2015). Based on Warhols trove of receipts and other ephemera, Davis recreated his 1963 road trip from New York to Hollywood, where a friend was throwing him a party. That trip became a dividing line in Warhols life, and Davis explores its significance as she follows in Warhols footsteps. Later in the hour, contributing editor Mark Hay tells us about the local foods he ate during a recent sojourn to Sardinia.

Music this hour:

“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within

“Persian Lamb Rag” by Heftone Banjo Orchestra, from the album Music Box Rag

On todays episode of Modern Notion Daily, our guest is Matthew Battles, author of Palimpsest: A History of the Written Word (W. W. Norton andamp; Co., July 2015). Battles explores the trajectory of writing, from the forms it takes (cuneiform, pictographs, letters, characters, emojis) to the way its been produced (on clay tablets, on parchment, on a digital device). Writing has surprising impacts on how we think, remember, and communicate, Battles argues, even if much of that impact lies under the surface.

Music this hour:

“Forgiven Not Forgotten” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel

“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within

“Flutter” by Jahzzar, from the album Onus

On todays episode of Modern Notion Daily, our guest is Rinker Buck, author of The Oregon Trail: A New American Journey (Simon andamp; Schuster, June 2015). After coming across an Oregon Trail marker in Kansas, and then reading that it had been decades since anyone traversed it, Buck decided it was his turn. It took him and his brother, Nick, four months to travel the length of the trail with their pack of mules and covered wagon, but Buck found it immensely rewarding. Later in the hour, contributing editor Emma Bryce tells us about the staunch Darwinist whose scientific work ended up adding fuel to the creationist fire.

Music this hour:

“Forgiven Not Forgotten” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel

“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within

Guatemala - Panama March by Heftone Banjo Orchestra, from the album Music Box Rag

On todays Modern Notion Daily podcast, author Guy Lawson joins us to talk about his new book, Arms and the Dudes: How Three Stoners from Miami Beach Became the Most Unlikely Gunrunners in History (Simon andamp; Schuster, June 2015). It could only have happened in the internet age, argues Lawson: three kids from Miami Beach won a 300 million dollar contract with the United State Department of Defense to supply the Afghan army with weapons. But when their illegal (but state-sponsored) gunrunning was exposed, the government turned on them. You wont want to miss this one. Later in the hour, contributing editor Emma Bryce presents the theories behind the name of one of our hosts favorite cocktails.

Music this hour:

“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within

“Forgiven Not Forgotten” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel

“Quasi Motion” by Kevin MacLeod, from the album Global Sampler

On todays show our guest is James McGrath Morris, author of Eye on the Struggle: Ethel Payne, the First Lady of the Black Press (Amistad/HarperCollins, February 2015). Payne was one of the first African-American women journalists, and her heyday was in the 1950s and 1960s. Before she even got into journalism professionally, Payne was an activist in the civil rights movement, forcing her way into a leadership role even when the men tried to dismiss her. She took that gutsiness with her throughout her life—from asking controversial questions at White House press conferences while reporting for the Chicago Defender, to covering apartheid in South Africa, to showing up for the signing of the Voting Rights Act. Even though she blazed a trail for black women in her field, Payne is largely forgotten today, and biographer Morris explores why. Later in the hour, contributing editor Emma Bryce talks about the scientist experimenting with fake blood to curb the spread of disease via mosquitoes.

Music this hour:

“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within

“Forgiven Not Forgotten” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel

Freedom Highway by The Staple Singers

A Change Is Gonna Come by Same Cooke

Go Tell It on the Mountain by Peter Tosh andamp; the Wailers

On todays show our guest is John Sweeney, author of North Korea Undercover: Inside the Worlds Most Secret State (Pegasus, July 2015). Sweeney, a journalist, posed as a professor taking students on a tour in order to get into North Korea. While there, he wasnt able to see much—but even the absence of certain fundamentals (no students in the university, no animals at the farm) were a clear picture of what is going on in this authoritarian country. Later in the hour, Emma Bryce joins us to talk about the dead man with a briefcase who may have helped the Allies win World War II.

Music this hour:

“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within

“Forgiven Not Forgotten” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel

Serenity by Jason Shaw, from the album Audionatix