William Powers had returned home from abroad, in shock at the excess of American culture. Then he found a woman he calls Dr. Jackie Benton, living sustainabily in a 12 x 12 house in rural North Carolina. He tells her story in the book "Twelve by Twelve."
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Audio
You've heard the saying, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." Journalist David Rieff thinks that's rubbish, and he says if you want peace, it's sometimes better to forget historical crimes than try to get justice.
We all love the feeling of getting lost in a good story and seeing the world through a character’s eyes. Recently, psychologists have been studying whether that experience actually changes readers. Novelist and cognitive psychologist Keith Oatley tells us about the latest research connecting fiction with empathy.
Ry Cooder made history with the record album “Buena Vista Social Club.” He’s been back to Cuba several times to make music and has a new album called “Mambo Sinuendo.”
Steve Paulson talks with Sharyn November, senior editor for Viking Children's Books and head of Penguin Putnam's Firebird, about the current boom in children's fantasy writing.
Summer festivals are a huge part of the American music scene -- and of the music marketplace. Why do millions of people risk sunburn and dehydration when they could hear the same music better with earbuds? Music critic Maura Johnston unpacks the economics and the atavistic lure of the summer music festival.
Thebe Medupe is an astrophysicist who grew up under apartheid. He talks about the stories he grew up hearing from his village elders and the astronomical legends of the Dogun people in Mali.
Ron Corn Jr. is one of about 20 fluent speakers of the Menominee language. He has devoted his life to saving his language from extinction through the community-based Menominee Language Institute.
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