Alice Walker talks about some of the poems in her book “Absolute Trust in the Goodness of the Earth,” inspired by the events of September 11th.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
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Shattered by her father's sudden death, writer Helen Macdonald began dreaming of wild hawks. In an effort to move beyond her grief, she bought and trained a wild goshawk -- one of the world's fiercest birds of prey. But between the bird and her grief, she became, in her words "more hawk than human."
Essayist Andre Aciman is fascinated by memory , though he says what we remember is rarely straightforward. He talks with Steve Paulson about memory and writing.
In his new book “Better Living Through Criticism,” A.O. Scott distills his decades-long career into a simple to read manifesto that not only explains the qualities of a good critic, but argues their fundamental importance to any culture.
Albert Glinsky is the author of “Theremin: Ether Music and Espionage.” The book is a biography of Leon Theremin and a history of the instrument that bears his name.
What's the perfect drug for a culture of distraction? Adderall. Sales of the prescription drug have increased exponentially and not always legally, especially to young adults. Casey Schwartz spent her twenties gulping down prescription stimulants to help her get through school and start her career. She wrote about her experience in a story for "The New York Times Magazine" called "Generation Adderall."
Ali Allawi is a visiting fellow at Harvard and the former Minister of Defense and Minister of Finance in Iraq. He talks with Steve Paulson about Islam and modernism.
Storytelling is all the rage these days - and everyone seems to have a life narrative. But not philosopher Galen Strawson. He says life stories often create an inauthentic version of ourselves.
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