Patricia Smith is an African American who's the four-time champion of the National Poetry Slam.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Audio
James McBride won the National Book Award for "The Good Lord Bird," his novel about the abolitionist John Brown. He explains why he doesn't like most fictional portraits of slavery and how he tried to tell a different story.
Today we celebrate the 40th anniversary of Punk. For 40 years, punk has influenced not just music, but fashion, film, art… not to mention hairstyles. So what makes punk… punk? Music journalist Legs McNeil is the guy who named it. And chronicled it. Along with Gillian McCain wrote THEE book on the history of punk. It’s an oral history called “Please Kill Me.”
The French satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo, was presented with a Freedom on Expression award from the PEN American Center this week. Six high-profile writers boycotted the awards ceremony at PEN's big annual gala. Hundreds more protested, while others gave the magazine's editors a standing ovation. The chariman of the PEN World Voices Festival is Colm Toibin, the celebrated Irish novelist. Toibin shares his thoughs on the controversy.
Environmentalist Bill McKibben believes it's time for a new environmental paradigm: small and local.
Joan Richards teaches the history of mathematics at Brown University. Her book chronicles how her faith in mathematical laws was shaken when her son suffered a seizure.
Mitchell Joaquim and the Terreform 1 team are looking for new, organic ways of building homes… and cities. He says part of the answer might be tree houses and… meat houses. Yes, you heard that right, MEAT houses.
Many things can evoke a memory. Like a smell. Or a touch. When Mamek Khadem wanted to evoke the memory of her native Iran during the Islamic revolution in 1979, she did it with music.
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