Back in 1969, Marine Karl Marlantes was dropped in the middle of a jungle in Vietnam - at the age of 23, put in charge of the lives of 40 other young men. He says he wasn't psychologically or spiritually prepared for that, or for what came after the war.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Audio
David Mikics talks about his book, "Slow Reading in a Hurried Age."
Russell Shorto is the author of "Descartes' Bones: A Skeletal History of the Conflict Between Faith and Reason."
Stephen Thompson is an editor at The Onion newspaper, and editor of “The Onion A.V. Club: The Tenacity of the Cockroach.”
Sarah Vowell is obsessed by presidential assassinations.
Novelist Michelle Wildgen shares a conversation about food, art, and the creative imagination with chef and food activist Alice Waters, founder of the legendary Berkeley restaurant Chez Panisse.
J.R. Thornton was once a serious tennis player on the junior circuit. Then he moved to China and spent a year training with the Beijing National Team, where he discovered just how different the life of an aspiring champion could be. His novel "Beautiful Country" reveals the incredibly difficult demands on young athletes in China.
The Canadian surrealist sketch comedy trio, The Vestibules, with their brilliant commercial parody, "Laurence Olivier for Diet Coke."
Pages
