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Full episode
38: Simulated Worlds
Act Two

Dinosaur Exhibit

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Writer Jack Hitt discovers that the world of dinosaurs is a man-made creation, a simulated world that may or may not accurately reflect what happened on earth 100 million years ago. Talking with dinosaur experts like Jack Horner (whose work was the basis of much of the film Jurassic Park), Hitt finds that most of what you think you know about dinosaurs is probably wrong, and that Americans' ideas about dinosaurs go through "fashions" that reflect the national mood: We believed dinosaurs were more aggressive when we were on the brink of World Wars One and Two. And these days we focus on their family values. (16 minutes)

By

Jack Hitt

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More by Jack Hitt

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699: Fiasco!
Apr. 3, 2020

Act One: Opening Night

Jack Hitt's Peter Pan story continues. (18 minutes)Jack is a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine and Harper’s.
549: Amateur Hour
Feb. 27, 2015

Act One: Theater of War

Fort Bragg Army base was suffering a number of unnecessary deaths — so they decided to attempt to save soldiers’ lives through the art of musical theater.
510: Fiasco! (2013)
Nov. 1, 2013

Act One: Opening Night

Jack Hitt's Peter Pan story continues.
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