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.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Audio
Jasper Fforde talks with Steve Paulson about the adventures of his fictional character Thursday Next, a literary detective.
Richard Nisbett argues that parenting styles have an enormous impact on the IQ of children and so does simply telling middle-school children that influencing their IQ is within their control.
Jonathan Baillie is the lead scientist at the Zoological Society of London and directs its new EDGE of Existence Program.
Mark Barrowcliffe wasted his youth playing Dungeons and Dragons. Now he's turned his obsession into a book.
The scientific genius Kurt Godel is on our minds this week. So Anne Strainchamps talks with the French writer, Yannick Grannec, about her novel, "The Goddess of Small Things," which is based on Godel's relationship with his wife, Adele.
Nature writer Robert Finch gives Steve Paulson an insider's view of the ecosystem of the Cape Cod town of Wellfleet. They walk along the outskirts of Wellfleet, and visit shellfish growers Pat and Barbara Woodbury, who are raking for clams.
You can see photos from Cape Cod here.
Biographer Joan Schenkar thinks Patricia Highsmith deserves to be recognized as the author of one of the great American novels.
Pages
