美国国家公共电台 NPR Decades After An Iconic Protest, Tommie Smith Has Something Else On His MinWe Got Your Letters: Listeners Puzzled By Tom Wolfe's Words On Evolution

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We Got Your Letters: Listeners Puzzled By Tom Wolfe's Words On Evolution 

play pause stop mute unmute max volume 00:0001:40repeat repeat off Update Required To play the media you will need to either update your browser¹ to a recent version or update your Flash plugin. SCOTT SIMON, HOST: 

My interview last week with Tom Wolfe sure struck a nerve. "The Kingdom Of Speech" is the first nonfiction book in 16 years by the author of "The Right Stuff" and "The Bonfire Of The Vanities," a writer who's previously² taken on modern art and Wall Street.

This time, it's Charles Darwin. Tom Wolfe is an atheist³ and not a creationist. But he says in this book that he doesn't believe human evolution, as propounded⁴ by Darwin, explains the development of speech, which he calls the attribute of attributes.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED BROADCAST)

TOM WOLFE: And I think it's misleading to say that human beings evolved from animals. I mean, actually, nobody knows whether they did or not.

SIMON: I'm surprised our inbox survived the onslaught. A listener named Paul Personne wrote (reading) I have read and enjoyed many of Tom Wolfe's books. But his past accomplishment⁵ is no reason that we should be subjected to his thoroughly⁶ ridiculous ideas about some sort of separate origin for humans that is scientifically several steps behind intelligent design.

Another listener, David Frye, writes (reading) listening to your interview with Tom Wolfe - I had to laugh. It was the equivalent of interviewing an expert on evolutionary⁷ biology who never reads novels to get his opinions about how novelists can write better stories.

And this from Susan Wernimont (reading) Tom Wolfe is not a scientist. He is wholly unqualified to talk about speech, evolution or the biological distinctions between humans and animals. This interview was a disappointment.

We enjoy hearing from you, though. You can reach us at npr.org - click on the contact tab - or WEEKEND EDITION's Facebook page. Or you can reach me directly on Twitter - @nprscottsimon - all one word.