Michelle Wildgen recommends "Crossing to Safety" by Wallace Stegner.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Audio
Craig Werner, Afro-American Studies professor at the UW-Madison, tells Jim Fleming why rapper Tupac Shakur is revered today.
According to historian Thomas Laqueur, neither sanitation nor the soul fully explain the rang of rituals we've developed for caring for dead bodies. For him, there is a deeper anthropological truth at work: caring for the dead marks the human transition from nature into culture.
Esperanza Spalding is one of the brightest young stars in jazz - except she resists being labeled a "jazz musician." In fact, her new album "Emily's D+ Evolution" sounds more like rock than jazz. When she sat down in our studio with Steve Paulson, she talked about her childhood roots in classical music before her momentous discovery of jazz improvisation.
Daniel Wolff tells Anne Strainchamps that most Americans learn what they really need to know outside of school and that, as a society, we believe contradictory things about the value of public education.
Colum McCann tells Steve Paulson what made Rudolf Nureyev the greatest dancer of his time and that his life was shaped by his ambition and his physical beauty.
Bruce Feiler is the author of “Abraham: A Journey to the Heart of Three Faiths.” He tells Jim Fleming that Abraham is a central figure for three great religions - Christianity, Judaism and Islam - but their interpretations of his story are different.
Media theorist Douglas Rushkoff's Dangerous Idea? Open source currency as the next money model.
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