30/06/2012 GMT
Our selfish and our selfless selves. Are they so very different? Insights from the novelist Jeffrey Eugenides, an ant entomologist and a neuroscientist.
The Forum is broadcast from partner station WNYC in New York this week, a city renowned for its assertive inhabitants. But are they really selfish?
We explore what it means for us to be selfish and selfless. Are these motivations so very different? And how does the world of insects compare?
Guest host astrophysicist Janna Levin is joined by Pulitzer-prize winning novelist Jeffrey Eugenides, who explores selfishness in his latest work, The Marriage Plot, as his characters fall in and out of love. We also hear from Heather Berlin, a neuroscientist who focuses on how our brains relate to our behaviour and entomologist Mark Moffett, who has immersed himself in the world of ants in order to understand the way that their societies operate.
Illustration by Emily Kasriel: New York generously sharing it's heart? Or does it only seek to protect itself?
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Chapters
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Part 1
New Yorkers: Selfish or Selfless?
Duration: 03:35
Jeffrey Eugenides
Jeffrey Eugenides
Duration: 11:17
Heather Berlin
Heather Berlin
Duration: 08:08
Part 2 60 Second Idea
Heather Berlin: Adopt an Elder
Duration: 06:21
Mark Moffett
Mark Moffett
Duration: 11:09
Broadcasts
- Sat 30 Jun 2012 22:05GMT大象传媒 World Service Online
- Sun 1 Jul 2012 01:05GMT大象传媒 World Service Online
- Sun 1 Jul 2012 11:05GMT大象传媒 World Service Online
Do you think political or business leaders need to be charismatic? Or do you prefer highly competent but somewhat stern people?
![Do you think political or business leaders need to be charismatic? Or do you prefer highly competent but somewhat stern people?]()
We鈥檇 love to hear your views on charm and charisma for a future Forum.
Podcast
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The Forum
The programme that explains the present by exploring the past
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