The primary undertaking of "In Search of First Contact" is tracing the way in which the idea of a "Viking past" in the United States has informed politics and policies.

In recent years, research in the behavioral and biological sciences is indicating that anger can actually be good for you. When properly recognized and channeled, anger can lead to better health, enhance intimacy, further social justice, and even spur creativity.

Though "Hyde Park On The Hudson," is a drama, the comedic elements of the film initially got Murray hooked on the notion of playing Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

The popularity of "50 Shades of Grey" has accelerated a mainstreaming of the BDSM subculture already underway--and the trend has been especially pronounced in America's elite institutions of higher learning. But some students are finding the subculture is offering them more of an education than they expected.

Beginning with literature and growing to television and movies, over the years audiences have grown overly attached to a select number of canines, some which have even spawned just as much, if not more pathos in the audience than their human counterparts.

Salman Khan approaches education with the mindset of a Silicon Valley entrepreneur: Make something cool and people will use it.

Items once headed to the landfill are being turned into must-have purses, bags and jewelry. Call it "upcycling."

Nationalist superheroes aren't what they once were.

His military and government careers in ruins, General Petraeus missed an opportunity to make history. Rather than slink off with 'I messed up' as his terse professional epitaph, Petraeus ought to have ditched the Scarlet Letter and stood tall.

The latest eating trend promises improved health, a hot body and a longer life -- if you can handle going without. Amanda Khouv investigates intermittent fasting.

The environmentalist in you wants something functional that's made with a minimal impact. But your inner fashionista demands some style as well. Luckily several manufacturers of winter clothing have risen to the challenge.

The University of Central Lancashire recently launched an Institute for Dark Tourism Research in a bid to better understand why people want to visit places associated with death and tragedy.

Do plants have a nervous system? Can they feel pain? These are questions that have exercised everyone from Charles Darwin to L Ron Hubbard.

Political leadership is a form of storytelling, and no amount of mere fact-checking will ever serve to counteract a narrative that a significant mass of the public feels in its bones to be true.

Annual "best-of" list making remains an imperfect method for honoring significant work, and raises all sorts of questions.

The new films Argo and The Iran Job offer two very different portraits of the country and its people.

Before shooting began, Knightley studied both Tolstoy's 950-page novel and "Natasha's Dance: A Cultural History of Russia." But the actress made a point of staying away from the many screen and TV adaptations of "Anna Karenina" that have popped up through the years.

The new book, "The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can't Stand Positive Thinking," makes a case for pessimists.

There are two problems with Iran's latest military games. First of all, the Iranians tend to exaggerate. They hype their weapons to make them look more powerful than they really are to frighten and intimidate their enemies. Second is that the Iranians often pass off old versions of weapons as new.

In his latest book, How to Create a Mind, Ray Kurzweil argues that reverse-engineering a human brain is the best route to creating high functioning AI.