Novelist Michel Faber recommends one of his favorite books: "God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater," by Kurt Vonnegut.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Audio
Daniel Levitin reacts to a musical example Anne Strainchamps provides and talks about music and children's brains.
David Myers tells Jim Fleming humans are terrible at predicting what will make them happy and seem to be much more resilient than they give themselves credit for.
E.L. Doctorow's latest novel is called "The March" and is about the devastating effect on the South during the Civil War of General William Tecumseh Sherman.
John Cheever wrote hundreds of short stories and kept an extensive private journal, fabricated his accent and was primarily gay despite siring three children and remaining in a long marriage. We hear about his life from Blake Bailey, who wrote a biography on the great author.
Long before the discovery of water on Mars or Matt Damon's star turn in The Martian, Robert Zubrin has been advocating for a human mission to mars. His book, The Case for Mars, made a splash when it was first published in 1996, and has continued to be influential in both scientific and science fiction circles. Zubrin calls Mars "the Rosetta Stone" for understanding life in the universe. But he's not just interested in science. He also thinks the sheer challenge would bring positive and uplifting change to all of humankind.
Why has the story of Abraham and Isaac inspired generations of religious martyrs? Bruce Chilton tells us why.
David Carlyon tells Jim Fleming that Rice was once considered America’s greatest humorist. He was a talking clown, doing satiric commentary on current events.
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