People I (Mostly) Admire

She’s a botanist, a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, and the author of the bestselling Braiding Sweetgrass. In her new book she criticizes the market economy — but she and Steve find a surprising amount of common ground.  SOURCES:Robin Wall Kimmerer, botanist and founder and director of the Center for Native Pe

Palliative physician B.J. Miller asks: Is there a better way to think about dying? And can death be beautiful?  SOURCES:B.J. Miller, palliative-care physician and President at Mettle Health.  RESOURCES:A Beginner’s Guide to the End: Practical Advice for Living Life and Facing Death, by Shoshana Berger and B.J. Miller a

Historian Tom Holland narrowly escaped a career writing vampire novels to become the co-host of the wildly popular podcast The Rest Is History. At Steve’s request, he compares President Trump and Julius Caesar and explains why the culture wars are arguments about Christian theology.  SOURCES:Tom Holland, historian and

John Green returns to the show to talk about tuberculosis — a disease that kills more than a million people a year. Steve has an idea for a new way to get treatment to those in need.  SOURCES: John Green, best-selling author and YouTube creator.  RESOURCES: Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our

Abraham Verghese is a physician and a best-selling author — in that order, he says. He explains the difference between curing and healing, and tells Steve why doctors should spend more time with patients and less with electronic health records.  SOURCES:Abraham Verghese, professor of medicine at Stanford University and

Jens Ludwig has an idea for how to fix America’s gun violence problem — and it starts by rejecting conventional wisdom from both sides of the political aisle.   SOURCES:Jens Ludwig, professor of economics at the University of Chicago and director of the University of Chicago Crime Lab.  RESOURCES:Unforgiving Places: Th