Susanna Clarke is the author of “Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell.” It’s a huge novel that’s being called “Harry Potter for grown-ups.”
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
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Most of us are hungry for light. We crave sunny days and clear skies, we like big windows and well-lit rooms. But some people have a more complicated relationship with light. John Merfeld, a physics student at Tufts University, has a genetic condition called albinism that renders his body unable to properly absorb light. It's made him acutely aware of its unique power, beauty, and danger.
Anousheh Ansari became the first Muslim woman to venture into space when she traveled aboard the International Space Station.
Robin Swicord wrote and directed "The Jane Austen Book Club." She talks with Anne Strainchamps.
By now, it's almost commonplace to worry that the amount of time you spend on the Internet is actually rewiring your brain. But the first person to really put the issue on the cultural map was the writer Nicholas Carr -- in a book that's become a contemporary classic: "The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains."
Nobel Prize-winning economist Daniel Kahneman talks about his book, "Thinking, Fast and Slow."
Ron Shaich, the founder of Panera Bread Company, has come up with a new business model: cafes where customers pay what they want or can afford.
David Gessner discovered the American West as a young man, and the huge mountains and wide open spaces changed his life. He recently took a road trip through the West, following in the footsteps of two literary heroes, Edward Abbey and Wallace Stegner. Gessner says their books help us see the West in all its complexity.
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