Michael Dirda won the Pulitzer Prize for his literary criticism in the Washington Post Book World. Among his collections of essays is Classics for Pleasure.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Audio
Richard Weiss tells Steve Paulson why figures like Horatio Alger, Norman Vincent Peale and Dale Carnegie are so compelling for Americans, and why we’re unlikely to give up our national optimism.
So, there’s a serious proposal on the table. Should we genetically engineer disease-carrying species of mosquitoes out of existence? The technology exists and some pretty prominent scientists think we should.
Let’s check in with Sonia Shah. She’s a science journalist who writes about pandemics and pathogens and the social history of disease. She wrote one of the best histories of malaria – a book called “The Fever”, and she has a pretty different perspective on the kill or be killed debate.
There are currently 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the US. Jose Angel N is one example.
Anne Strainchamps talks with Robert Pinsky, 39th Poet Laureate of the United States, who reads several of the poems people have been sending him since the attacks.
John Strausbaugh says blackface (and whiteface) have long histories in this country and helped Americans learn to live with each other.
Margot Peters is the author of “Design for Living” - a biography of Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne.
Economist Juliet Schor co-founded The Center for a New American Dream. Among her many proposals to fix the economy: create more jobs by adopting a 30-hour work week and 3-day weekend.
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