Jonathan GottschallWhat do fiction, dreams, and children's make believe have in common? Why is storytelling found in every human culture? These are among the fascinating questions explored in The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Makes Us Human by Jonathan Gottschall.

I have just posted an interview with Jonathan Gottschall (Books and Ideas #48) in which we talk about some of the key ideas in his new book. Gottschall's goal is to look for clues about why storytelling is such an universal behavior. He also argues that it should be possible to form testable theories about the purpose of storytelling.

Listen to Episode 48 of Books and Ideas

Episode Transcript (Download Free PDF)

Subscribe to Books and Ideas Podcast:

Announcements:

• The next Brain Science Podcast will be an interview with Bruce Hood about his latest book The Self Illusion: How the Social Brain Creates Identity.
• Don't forget to read my new eBook Are You Sure? The Unconscious Origins of Certainty.
• Send feed back to me at gincampbell at mac dot com.
• Follow me on Twitter @docartemis.