When Samuel Clemens took on the pen name “Mark Twain,” he was doing more cleverly appropriating a measure of depth. He was also tapping into one of the most well-known sounds along the river: sounding calls. Owen Selles tells about these calls in this piece, adapted from an essay he originally wrote for the online magazine Edge Effects.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
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In her book, "Do Metaphors Dream of Literal Sleep?: A Science-Fictional Theory of Representation," Seo-Young Chu argues that science fiction is a kind of "high-intensity realism." She spoke with Jim Fleming.
Nick Bantock talks about his book, "The Trickster's Hat: A Mischievous Apprenticeship in Creativity."
Youngstown, Ohio is the center of the Rust Belt. During steel's heyday, Youngstown was a city of nearly 200,000. Now, it’s under 70,000. The steel mills closed in the 1980’s, people left, and no one replaced them. Steve Paulson sat down with urban planner Justin Hollander talk about what to do next - what Hollander calls "smart decline."
Film director Rodney Ascher recommends Paul Schrader's 1988 movie, "Patty Hearst."
One more story from Walter Moskowitz, the last of the Bowery Scab Merchants. Walter tattoos 80 men in a day.
Jane Austen abandoned her novel "Lady Susan," but filmmaker Whit Stillman has revivied it - in a new film and novel, both called "Love and Friendship." He talks about why he loves Austen and the 18th century.
Timothy Ferris is the author of nearly a dozen books of popular science, including “Seeing in the Dark: How Backyard Stargazers Are Probing Deep Space and Guarding Earth from Interplanetary Peril.”
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