Mad Men-era America, the CIA and Strongly Held Beliefs of All Sorts

A few weeks ago on Conversations with Richard Fidler (Australian Broadcasting Corporation), there was a personal interview that had historical scope and emotional depth, a sweeping narrative, along with all kinds of amazing details about Mad Men-era America, the CIA and strongly held beliefs of all sorts. (Not to mention a family that literally dropped off the grid, and went to live on a Pacific island, a la Mosquito Coast).

It was ridiculously entertaining. Of course, as a podcast, you can hear it, too, whenever you want. Fidler Interviews Scott Stevens (49mins). Recommended.

Scott Stevens was recently made the head of ABC's Religion and Ethics Website and it is Stevens' family history that is the focus of the interview. Fidler must have done a lot of homework for this interview, because they went right back to Stevens' early years, (in the U.S., and then the remote Solomon Islands) and got heavily into Stevens' crazy family (they were really, really out there). Stevens is a good story teller and Fidler does an excellent job of keeping the sprawling narrative on-track. It's a life story in under an hour.

picture: Richard Fidler, host of Conversations with Richard Fidler.