Mukoma Wa Ngugi is a poet and English professor who writes crime novels set in his native Kenya. He says the crime genre lets him write truthfully about race, class and violence in cities like Nairobi.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Audio
Mitch Horowitz tells Anne Strainchamps that belief in the occult is as old as the colonies and that spiritualism was America's first great religious export.
There's a nagging question at major sporting events: Are the athletes cheating? Steroids, human growth hormones and blood doping techniques are extending the outer limits of performance, and athletes can use them if they want -- unless they're professionals or Olympic athletes. But is doping really a problem? Australian philosopher and bioethicist Julian Savulescu has a simple litmus test: What contribution is coming from the technology and what is coming from the athlete?
Nicholson Baker talks about his new novel, "House of Holes: A Book of Raunch," which is set in a sexual theme park.
Nicholson Baker's "House of Holes" page on Simon and Schuster's website
Joe Garden is features editor at the satirical newspaper, "The Onion." He tells Jim Fleming the campaign season was a great one for comedy, but it went on way too long.
For Jeannette Walls, one of the things she struggled with most was keeping her past a secret from just about everyone.
In this UNCUT conversation, Jonathan Lethem talks about "Dissident Gardens" and the many faces of a novelist.
Robert Leleux talks about growing up gay, in Texas, with his plastic surgery junkie and drama queen of a mother, whom he adores and who is accompanying him on his book tour.
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