LQ Podcast

#40 Crack in World Found at Sea!

Thursday, June 27, 2013

So said the New York Times headline when geologist Marie Tharp discovered the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, the gash in the earth that proved the theory of continental drift and helped establish the field of plate tectonics. Tharp made this discovery while producing the first comprehensive maps of the ocean floor. Author Hali Felt, who chronicled Tharp’s life in her book, Soundings, spoke to LQ about this remarkable and overlooked scientist. 

Discussed in this episode

More Podcasts

June 01, 2018

The World in Time:

Stephen Greenblatt

Lewis H. Lapham talks with Stephen Greenblatt, author of Tyrant: Shakespeare on Politics. More

June 13, 2025

The World in Time:

Episode 1: Lewis H. Lapham, Part One

“This episode, my first behind the microphone, won’t be a conversation, but it will be a duet. I’ll be sharing the microphone some with Lewis Lapham.” More

The Country School, by Winslow Homer, 1871.

November 13, 2020

The World in Time:

Derek W. Black

Lewis H. Lapham speaks with the author of Schoolhouse Burning: Public Education and the Assault on American Democracy. More

October 13, 2017

The World in Time:

Mark Kurlansky

Lewis H. Lapham talks with Mark Kurlansky, author of Paper: Paging Through History. More