Nicholas Basbanes tells Steve Paulson that people destroy books to annihilate the culture of their enemies and remembers some of the heroes who fought to save books from the Nazis and in Bosnia.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Audio
Richard Powers reads an excerpt from his novel, "Orfeo," inspired by the music of Mahler and set to Mahler's "Kindertotenlieder."
Less than 30 percent of Americans have filled out an advanced directive for end-of-life care, but 90 percent of the people in La Crosse, Wisconsin have one. Rehman Tungekar reports on Gundersen Health's remarkable effort to get an entire city talking about death and dying.
Poet and writer Kenneth Goldsmith talks about his "Uncreative Writing" course in which students are penalized for showing any originality and creativity. Goldsmith is the author of "Uncreative Writing: Managing Language in the Digital Age."
Robert Gordon tells Steve Paulson that he discovered the great Black Blues players while still a white boy in high school and that the racial complexities of Memphis have always been at the heart of its music.
Paul Collins describes his experience as an antiquarian bookseller in the Welsh town of Hay-on-Wye in his book “Sixpence House.”
Listen to some of the voices from the Occupy Wall Street protest at 60 Wall Street in New York.
Laura Blumenfeld wrote a book called “Revenge: A Story of Hope.” It recounts how she went to Jerusalem and sought out the family of the Palestinian man who shot her tourist father.
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