Syd Straw is an indie singer-songwriter best-known for her work with other musicians. She's just released her first new album in 12 years.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Audio
What's the best way to fight the homogenization of America?
Ziauddin Sardar, a London based scholar and cultural critic, tells Steve what’s needed now is “an Islamic science” and explains what that is.
Film-maker Shu Kei tells Steve Paulson about his film, “A Queer Story.” It’s the story of a gay couple in Hong Kong, and created a lot of discomfort for its straight audiences.
According to self-described "space dork" Andy Weir, he was just sitting around at home one day imagining a manned Mars mission — not with any goal in mind, but just as a thought experiment. Soon, he realized this would be a pretty good premise for a story. And boy was he right. His novel "The Martian" started as a series of blog posts and has become a blockbuster motion picture. In this interview, he reads excerpts from the novel and discusses the balance between pure fantasty and scientific accuracy in science fiction.
TTBOOK producer Charles Monroe-Kane is a great storyteller who's led an adventurous life. Here's a wild story from his memoir "Lithium Jesus" about smuggling mob money when he lived in Prague in the '90s.
Humorist Roy Blount Junior talks about some of his favorite rambles in New Orleans, with observations on oysters, New Orleans characters and the city’s history.
Sandra Luckow is a ventriloquist herself, who tells him Fleming about her relationship with her "carved figure" Juanito.
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