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Scholar Donald Norman on Bad Design

Norman's book, called the Psychology of Everyday Life, is about the effect of poor industrial design has on our interactions with new and familiar technology. He says not enough consumers complain; without their influence, corporations will continue to produce difficult-to-use products.

11:04
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Other segments from the episode on August 21, 1990

Fresh Air with Terry Gross, August 21, 1990: Interview with Arno Penzias; Commentary on Larry Williams; Interview with Donald Norman; Review of Salman Rushdie's essay "Is Nothing Sacred?"
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22:33

Dr. Arno Penzias on "Ideas and Information"

Scientist Arno Penzias won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1978 for his work supporting the big-bang theory. He's now vice-president of research at AT&T, and is concerned with the human implications of technological innovation. Penzias' book, Ideas and Information, is a popular history of computers and communications technology.

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06:24

After a Brief Moment of Success, Larry Williams' String of Bad Luck

The early rock singer had a few big hits in 1957. By 1959, after a series of flops, he was washed up. What followed included jail time for a drug-related crimes and, eventually, death by a gunshot wound that may have been self-inflicted. Rock historian Ed Ward has this profile.

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03:45

Salman Rushdie on His Reluctant Martyrdom for Artistic Freedom

The author of The Satanic Versus has been in hiding due to threats on his life. He's written a new essay, published in Granta and separately as a pamphlet, about his life since then, and his evolving perspectives on literature and religion. Maureen Corrigan has this review.

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27:25

A New Corporate Culture for the 1990s

Business writer Rosabeth Moss Kantor says the past decade's trends of rugged individualism in the workplace and excessively long hours are unsustainable. Looking ahead, she believes corporations should be leaner, foster an independent an entrepreneurial spirit in its employees, and allow for a better work-life balance.

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03:47

Corporate Speak as Linguistic Shell Game

Language commentator Geoff Nunberg argues that the increasingly insular and unintelligible vocabulary of businesses stems from a growing adherence to corporate culture.

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52:30

Daughter of Warhol star looks back on a bohemian childhood in the Chelsea Hotel

Alexandra Auder's mother, Viva, was one of Andy Warhol's muses. Growing up in Warhol's orbit meant Auder's childhood was an unusual one. For several years, Viva, Auder and Auder's younger half-sister, Gaby Hoffmann, lived in the Chelsea Hotel in Manhattan. It was was famous for having been home to Leonard Cohen, Dylan Thomas, Virgil Thomson, and Bob Dylan, among others.

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43:04

This fake 'Jury Duty' really put James Marsden's improv chops on trial

In the series Jury Duty, a solar contractor named Ronald Gladden has agreed to participate in what he believes is a documentary about the experience of being a juror--but what Ronald doesn't know is that the whole thing is fake.

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