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On today’s episode of Modern Notion, we visit the salon in New York that originated Brazilian waxing. Jonice Padilha, one of the seven sisters behind Manhattan’s J Sisters salon, speaks to reporter Renee Gross about how the salon came up with the idea of taking it all off. From there, the trend took off—you’ll have to listen to find out why. Music this hour: “Forgiven Not Forgotten” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel “What True Self? Feels Bogus, Let’s Watch Jason X” by Chris Zabriskie, from the album Reappear  

What if we looked at the human body as a landscape, and mapped its features using a cartographer’s eye? That’s what Dr. Gavin Francis does in his new book, Adventures in Human Being: A Grand Tour from the Cranium to the Calcaneum (Basic Books, October 2015). On this episode of Modern Notion we dive into some of the case studies from Dr. Francis’s book, from electro-shock therapy to vertigo. Music this hour: “Oceanica” by Avaren, from the album For Others’ Use “Theme S” by Steve Combs & Delta Is, from the album Themes (Vol. 1)  

Our guest on today’s (new! improved! weekly!) Modern Notion is Gordon Edgar, the longtime cheesemonger at Rainbow Cooperative Grocery in San Francisco. Gordon turns his attention to a specific kind of cheese in his new book, Cheddar: A Journey to the Heart of America’s Most Iconic Cheese (Chelsea Green, October 2015). In the midst of a cheese renaissance, Gordon wants to understand cheddar’s place in American culture. Music this hour: “Chicken and Cheese 2 (Foot Village cover)” by Tussle

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On today’s show, we’re talking with author Simon Read about Winston Churchill—but probably not the Winston Churchill you already know. In his book, Winston Churchill Reporting: Adventures of a Young War Correspondent (Da Capo Press, October 2015), Read explores the five years Churchill spent as a war correspondent, which took him around the world, from Cuba to Sudan. In those five years, Churchill had experiences that impacted his later life as a world leader, and he solidified his feelings that he was destined for greatness. Music this hour: “get out” by Jahzzar, from the album Sketches “Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within    

On today’s show, our guest is Dave Goulson, a professor of biological sciences and the founder of the Bumblebee Conservation Trust in the UK. Goulson recently wrote a memoir of sorts about a farm he bought in France, called A Buzz in the Meadow: The Natural History of a French Farm (Picador, April 2015). For the last decade, Goulson has been turning the farm into a bug-friendly wildflower meadow, and along the way he’s recorded what species live there and conducted experiments on them, too. Music this hour: “Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within “Take Me Higher” by Jahzzar, from the album Tumbling Dishes Like Old-Man’s Wishes “Flight of the Bumblebee” by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

On today’s episode of Modern Notion Daily, our guest is David Talbot, the former CEO and editor-in-chief of Salon.com. Talbot has written a new book, The Devil’s Chessboard: Allen Dulles, the CIA, and the Rise of America’s Secret Government (Harper, October 2015). Dulles was the director of the CIA until President John F. Kennedy fired him; and now there’s evidence to suggest that Dulles might have been behind the plot to kill the president. But perhaps even more persistent in Dulles’s legacy is his role in creating a “deep government,” operating outside the bounds of democracy within our country. Music this hour: “Forgiven Not Forgotten” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel “Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within “eCommerce” by BoxCat Games, from the album Nameless: The Hackers RPG Soundtrack  

Jamie Holmes is our guest today, talking about his new book Nonsense: The Power of Not Knowing (Crown, October 2015). Holmes argues that embracing ambiguity can help us lead more productive and happier lives. Also on the show, reporter Lila Cherneff visits a zebrafish lab on Mount Desert Island in Maine to learn about the science of resilience. Plus, contributing editor Mark Hay tells an alternate history of the dodo bird. Music this hour: “Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within “Take Me Higher” by Jahzzar, from the album Tumbling Dishes Like Old-Man’s Wishes  

On today’s show, novelist and English professor Eileen Pollack is discussing her new book, The Only Woman in the Room: Why Science Is Still a Boys’ Club (Beacon Press, September 2015). Pollack graduated from Yale with a bachelor’s degree in physics, but she believes that a lack of encouragement, and even active discouragement, led her to pursue a career in the humanities instead of male-dominated STEM fields. This book is a response to Larry Summers’s famous comments about women in science, urging us as a society to foster women’s increased participation in STEM. Music this hour: “Forgiven Not Forgotten” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel “Flutter” by Jahzzar, from the album Onus “Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within  

On today’s show, our guest is Clint Emerson, author of 100 Deadly Skills: The SEAL Operative’s Guide to Eluding Pursuers, Evading Capture, and Surviving Any Dangerous Situation (Touchstone, October 2015). Emerson uses his experiences a Navy SEAL to give tips on how to stay ahead of “the bad guys”—mostly by using “bad guy” tactics. He gives detailed instructions on how to make an improvised Taser with a disposable, plus many other ways to be prepared for the worst. Later in the hour, well, we hear about the worst: when several severed feet washed up on the shores of the Salish Sea. (That’s from contributing editor Mark Hay.) Music this hour: “Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within“ “Forgiven Not Forgotten” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel “Oceanica” by Avaren, from the album For Others’ Use “2.2.05” by BOPD, from the album 2005 Stayin Alive InstruMentals

On today’s episode of Modern Notion Daily, our guest is Wayne Wiegand, author of Part of Our Lives: A People’s History of the American Public Library (Oxford University Press, October 2015). Wiegand argues that libraries are about much more than books: they’re a community meeting place. And to answer the question in the headline: they’re not going anywhere. Music this hour: “Kelli’s Number” by U.S. Army Blues, from the album Live at Blues Alley “Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within“ Forgiven Not Forgotten” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel

On today’s episode of Modern Notion Daily, we’re talking with Tim Spector, a professor of genetic epidemiology at Kings’ College London and author of The Diet Myth: Why the Secret to Health and Weight Loss Is Already in Your Gut (The Overlook Press, September 2015). Using twin studies, and testing out various diets for himself, Spector has uncovered the importance of a person’s microbiome—i.e. the bacteria residing in the gut—to overall health and wellness. Later in the hour, contributing editor Mark Hay reveals the story behind the ban on birthdays in Tajikistan. Music this hour: “Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within “What True Self? Feels Bogus, Let’s Watch Jason X” by Chris Zabriskie, from the album Reappear “It’s Always Too Late to Start Over” by Chris Zabriskie, from the album Direct to Video

The guests on today’s Modern Notion Daily show are Steve Ettlinger and Dwight Eschliman, coauthors of Ingredients: A Visual Exploration of 75 Food Additives and 25 Food Products (Regan Arts, September 2015). Ettlinger, who had previously written about artificial ingredients in his book Twinkie Deconstructed, teamed up with Eschliman, a photographer who has deconstructed food in previous visual projects, to really find out what all of these ingredients are. Among their discoveries: MSG doesn’t cause headaches; a lot of additives are some variation on white powder; and it’s really hard to get a sample of high fructose corn syrup these days. Later in the hour, contributing editor Mark Hay recounts of the story of a murderer on the loose near his hometown. Music this hour: “Octopus” by Jahzzar, from the album Sunlight “Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within

Our guest on Modern Notion Daily is Susanna Moore, author of Paradise of the Pacific: Approaching Hawaii (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, September 2015). The book was recently longlisted for the 2015 National Book Award. Moore details the history of the archipelago, first inhabited by humans in the sixth century. We’ll learn about the origin of the word “taboo,” we’ll put the myth that Hawaiians cannibalized Captain James Cook to rest, and we’ll meet Queen Ka’ahumanu. Music this hour: “Island Pop” by Drama by Yamaha, from the album Archipelago “Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within      

On today’s episode of Modern Notion Daily, our guest is Sasha Abramsky, author of The House of Twenty Thousand Books (New York Review Books, September 2015). Abramsky recalls his grandparents’ London home, filled with a vast rare book collection—but more importantly, he remembers the ideas discussed among those treasured volumes. Later in the hour, reporter Jessie Wright-Mendoza tells the story of Harman Blennerhassett, who helped Aaron Burr in his attempt to create a treasonous state. Music this hour: “Lord Gordon’s” by Andy McGann “Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within “Miri’s Magic Dance” by Kevin MacLeod, from the album Oddities “Forgiven Not Forgotten” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel “The Presidents March” by The United States Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps, from the album Celebrating 50 Years Sound effects: “Courthouse Lobby Ambience” by Tomlija

Our guest on today’s episode of Modern Notion Daily is Frances Dinkelspiel, author of Tangled Vines: Greed, Murder, Obsession, and an Arsonist in the Vineyards of California (St. Martin’s Press, October 2015). Dinkelspiel was intrigued by the 2005 arson of Wines Central, which destroyed hundreds of millions of dollars worth of wine. But ultimately, her journey to tell that story led her to other darkness that lurked in the shadows of the wine business on the West Coast. Music this hour: “Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within “Il Pleut des Informations (ou Mass Media en Masse à Partir de Notre Cumulonimus Fiable)” by Monroeville Music Center, from the album Le Progrés

On today’s show, our guest is Robert Weintraub, author of No Better Friend: One Man, One Dog, and Their Extraordinary Story of Courage and Survival in WWII (Little, Brown and Company, May 2015). This is the story of Judy, a pointer dog who was a Japanese POW. She befriended Frank Williams, a British POW, and the two cared for each other through the war and beyond. Music this hour: “Theme S” by Steve Combs & Delta Is, from the album Themes (Vol. 1) “Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within “Who Let the Dogs Out?” by Baha Men

On today’s Modern Notion Daily podcast, our guest is Gillen D’Arcy Wood, author of Tambora: The Eruption That Changed the World (Princeton University Press, paperback September 2015). In 1815, the Tambora volcano on Sumbawa (part of Indonesia) erupted for three days, producing volcanic ash that was absorbed into the Earth’s atmosphere and stratosphere. People blame this volcano for famine, cold weather, and a cholera outbreak over the next three years around the world. Later in the show, staff writer Josh Hrala traces the postmortem history of Napoleon’s nether regions. Music this hour: “Forgiven Not Forgotten” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel “Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within “Quasi Motion” by Kevin MacLeod, from the album Global Sampler  

Our guest on today’s episode of Modern Notion Daily is Caitlin Doughty, a mortician and author of Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Stories from the Crematory (W. W. Norton & Co., paperback September 2015). Doughty promotes “death positivity”—which does not mean you should be happy when a loved one dies, but that you should embrace the dying and post-death process. In the interview, Doughty reveals her plans for her own body after she dies. Later in the hour, reporter Erika Beras takes us south of the border to Oaxaca, Mexico, to learn about making mezcal. She visits with artisanal producers of the drink, as well as people making the smoky spirit in their own homes. Music this hour: “Hairy Fairy Hotaruna” by Monroeville Music Center, from the album Musique Concrete for Beginners “Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within  

On Modern Notion Daily, our guest is Lillian Faderman, author of The Gay Revolution: The Story of the Struggle (Simon & Schuster, September 2015). Faderman starts this detailed account of the treatment of LGBT people and communities in the 1950s, when police raided gay bars and prosecuted people for their sexuality in courts of law. How did we get from there to 2015, Faderman asks, when LGBT people can serve openly in the military and marry whomever they choose? Later in the hour, contributing editor Mark Hay takes us to Viking School in Norway. Music this hour: “Forgiven Not Forgotten” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel “The Departure” by nisei23, from the album elevenandtwelve “Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within