Why smart people do stupid things
“To get the most out of life, we should know as much as we can about the universe and the rules by which it operates. The more we invest the mind with diverse knowledge, the more strategies we have for living in the world well. Cultivating and exercising curiosity provides us with the means for conceiving our relationship with and our place in the world.
Everyday Survival is a book of changes. A book that will take you into the bowels of the earth and to the depths of the oceans in search of the origins of life and to the edge of the universe to discover where it all began. Everyday Survival demonstrates how our origins as humans shape our behavior today and it delves into the natural human systems that can often trip us up.”
Tonight, Mike and Mark speak with Laurence Gonzales about this fascinating book, the world we inhabit, and how we inhabit it.
About the guest:
Laurence Gonzales won the 2001 and 2002 National Magazine Awards from the American Society of Magazine Editors for National Geographic Adventure Magazine. Since 1970, his essays have appeared in such periodicals as Harper’s, Rolling Stone, Men’s Journal, National Geographic Adventure, Smithsonian Air and Space, Chicago Magazine, San Francisco Magazine, and many others.
He has published a dozen books, including two award–winning collections of essays, three novels, and the book–length essay, One Zero Charlie published by Simon & Schuster.
His latest book, Everyday Survival, published by W.W. Norton & Company, is available at book sellers now.
His previous book, Deep Survival, is now out in paperback.
Laurence Gonzales’s first book was the novel Jambeaux (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1979), which Rolling Stone called “the best rock-and-roll novel since Harlan Ellison’s Spider’s Kiss, which is to say it’s the best in almost twenty years.” His second and third novels, The Last Deal (1981) and El Vago (1983), were published by Atheneum.
By then he had turned his attention to writing nonfiction, and his book of essays, The Still Point, was published by the University of Arkansas Press in 1989. It won the Carl Sandburg Literary Arts Award. One of the essays was a finalist for the National Magazine Award. In an unsolicited comment, Kurt Vonnegut responded to The Still Point by praising, “the excellence of Laurence Gonzales’s writing and the depth of his reporting.” The book-length essay, One Zero Charlie (Simon and Schuster, 1992) won the 1993 Chicago Book of the Year Award and remains a classic of aviation literature. One of the essays in his next book, The Hero’s Apprentice (University of Arkansas Press, 1994), was also a finalist for the National Magazine Award.
His 2003 book, Deep Survival (W.W. Norton) has become a bestseller and is available in six languages. His latest book, Everyday Survival, was just published by W.W. Norton.
Laurence Gonzales has also written plays, screenplays, poetry, and a book of short stories titled Artificial Horizon (University of Missouri, 1986). He has been Managing Editor of the journal Tri-Quarterly, Contributing Editor for Paris Review, Articles Editor for Playboy, Artist in Residence at the University of Missouri, Contributing Editor for Men’s Journal, Adjunct Professor at Northwestern University, and is now Contributing Editor for National Geographic Adventure Magazine, where he writes a monthly column.
He has lectured before diverse groups ranging from the Santa Fe Institute to Legg Mason Capital Management and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
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