Pir Zubair Shah is a Pakistani journalist who risked his life reporting for the New York Times from his homeland -- Waziristan, in the heart of Taliban-controlled Pashtun area. He won a Pulitzer Prize for his work, but had to leave his country.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Audio
Jay Rubin is the author of “Haruki Murakami and the Music of Words.” He talks about why he first read Murakami, and talks about some of his stories, especially one called “The Elephant Vanishes.”
Odessa Piper is the chef and proprietor of L’Etoile Restaurant in Madison, Wisconsin and a champion of cuisine prepared from locally available food.
Mario Vargas Llosa is one of the godfathers of Latin American writing. His novel “The Feast of the Goat” deals with the Dominican Republic under the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo.
Nicholas Rogers is a historian at York University in Canada and the author of “Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night.” He says that Halloween has both pagan and Christian roots and that the modern holiday once involved more treats than tricks.
Richard Rodriguez tells Steve Paulson why he celebrates being brown and says Hispanics are the first minority to self-identity by culture rather than race.
Drive-in movie critic Joe Bob Briggs is the author of "Profoundly Disturbing: Shocking Movies That Changed History."
Oscar Hijuelos is the first Latino to win the Pulitzer Prize for literature for his book "The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love." His memoir is called "Thoughts Without Cigarettes."
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