Today on The Scramble, one of our favorite writers, A.J. Jacobs takes us deep inside the world of modern ancestry research where websites are all too happy to tell you that you're distantly related to Gwynyth Paltrow, Michael Bloomberg, Quincy Jones, and King David. Those are all actual examples of people A.J. was told are his relatives.
A.J. also recently road-tested Google Glass, the wearable internet connection that allows you to read Moby Dick or look up answers or watch porn while you're ostensibly doing nothing of the kind.
Later on the show, we'll talk to a Yale School of Drama classmate of Lupita Nyong'o, one of last night's Oscar winners and an actress that has rocketed toward success before she even graduated.
We also talk to a Hearst newspaper writer who offered up over the weekend an article suggesting that several Connecticut investigations into political corruption are inter-related.
GUESTS:
- A.J. Jacobs is an author and a journalist. He’s written four New York Times best sellers including most recently, Drop Dead Healthy: One Man’s Humble Quest for Bodily Perfection. He is also editor-at-large at Esquire magazine, a commentator on NPR, and a columnist for Mental Floss magazine.
- Michael Place was a classmate of Lupita Nyong'o at the Yale School of Drama. They called themselves The Wilsons.
- Neil Vigdor is the statewide political writer for Hearst Connecticut Media, which includes The Connecticut Post, Danbury News-Times, The Stamford Advocate, and Greenwich Time
