Bill Vossler is the author of “Burma-Shave: The Rhymes, the Signs, The Times.” He talks about where the classic rhyming signs came from, and reads several examples.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Audio
TTBOOK producer Doug Gordon attempts to interview Chris Murphy and Patrick Pentland of the Halifax Indie band Sloan.
Charles Mann tells Steve Paulson how there got to be two Bayer companies making aspirin; how it was marketed in South America, and what makes Anacin different from aspirin.
David Syring is descended from the German immigrants who settled the Texas Hill Country. He tells Jim Fleming about his problematical grandfather, and why he still feels rooted to his family's home place.
If we think of cities as organisms, their DNA is the hodgepodge of rules that shape development. Urban planner Emily Talen talks about how city zoning, coding and laws got started, and how they need to be changed to help us build more livable cities.
Take a look at a visual archive of city plans.
Karen Russell bookmarks "A High Wind in Jamaica," by Richard Hughes.
Corby Kummer is the food writer for The Atlantic Monthly. He talks with Anne Strainchamps about Flur de Sel, a gourmet sea salt imported from France.
David Brooks coined the word “bobo” to describe the people he calls Bourgeois Bohemians. He says they’re wealthy people who believe they’re motivated by social concerns - they buy “practical” Range Rovers.
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