Richard Holmes is fascinated by what he calls "The Age of Wonder." The subtitle of his book is "how the romantic generation discovered the beauty and the terror of science," and he tells Steve Paulson about how Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" came directly out of the scientific climate of the time.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Audio
One of England's most famous atheists talks about the role supernatural miracles play in his life.
Rachel Naomi Remen is a doctor and the co-founder of the Commonweal Cancer Help Program. She talks with Steve Paulson about the transformative effects of cancer.
How's this for a novel premise? Owen Lerner is a pediatric psychiatrist. One day, he's struck by lightning. He survives but he has a new obsession -- with barbecue. That's the premise behind Mary Kay Zuravleff's novel, "Man Alive!" She talks about its inspiration and the book's themes.
Architect Lisa Mahar is the author of “American Signs: Form and Meaning on Route 66.” She says that the signs started out plain, but became grandiose neon monuments by the 1950s.
Alex Abramovich recommends "Blues People: Negro Music in White America" by Leroi Jones, who later changed his name to Amiri Baraka.
Jasper Fforde talks with Steve Paulson about the adventures of his fictional character Thursday Next, a literary detective.
Mark Barrowcliffe wasted his youth playing Dungeons and Dragons. Now he's turned his obsession into a book.
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