5.6.14: Human Behavior In Bonobos & The Commencement Speech Heard Round The World

Have a taste for variety? From human-like bonobos to beauty pageants, we offer the variety you crave. Join us for our Tuesday show and share comments and suggestions on Twitter and Facebook! (Praise also welcome).

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Human Behavior in Bonobos

• Frans de Waal’s latest book The Bonobo and the Atheist : In Search of Humanism Among the Primates provides evidence that the roots of human social behavior can be observed in other animals, and addresses the persistent question of whether humans are ethical by nature.

"Good Fences Make Good Neighbors"

• Here's a story of two neighbors, one fence, and what happened when it all came tumbling down.

"You're Not Special"

• It was the high school commencement address heard ‘round the world. When English teacher David McCullough, Jr. addressed 2012 graduates from the public high school in Wellesley, Massachusetts, he told them, "You are not special."

"Maker Movement" and diy.org

• Jon Kalish tells us about this grass roots movement that is teaching kids science, technology, engineering and math, hands-on outside the classroom.

Unusual College Courses: How to Win a Beauty Pageant

• At the collegiate level, there are many courses that take an unorthodox approach to core subjects. Case in point, Oberlin College's "How to Win a Beauty Pageant: Race, Gender, Culture, and U.S. National Identity." Here's Oberlin Assistant Professor Afia Ofori-Mensa talking about it.