Patricia Smith is an African American who's the four-time champion of the National Poetry Slam.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Audio
Jon Stewart gives Steve Paulson his take on the 2004 Presidential Election Campaign, and gives good reasons why people should vote for George Bush and for John Kerry.
Lorrie Moore responds to Hillary Clinton as a cultural symbol and public personality.
Correction: This interview refers to a survey finding that only 22% of Americans trust government at all levels. The actual survey was limited to trust in the federal government, and found that 22% of Americans trusted the government in Washington "almost always or most of the time".
We all know it's important to be involved in local government, but can political participation also be fun? Josh Lerner thinks so. He believes local governments could boost the fun factor in the political process by borrowing a few ideas from game design.
The French satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo, was presented with a Freedom on Expression award from the PEN American Center this week. Six high-profile writers boycotted the awards ceremony at PEN's big annual gala. Hundreds more protested, while others gave the magazine's editors a standing ovation. The chariman of the PEN World Voices Festival is Colm Toibin, the celebrated Irish novelist. Toibin shares his thoughs on the controversy.
James McBride won the National Book Award for "The Good Lord Bird," his novel about the abolitionist John Brown. He explains why he doesn't like most fictional portraits of slavery and how he tried to tell a different story.
We explore the fine art of creative collaboration and start with the music of John Lennon and Paul McCartney.
Mario Vargas Llosa is one of the godfathers of Latin American fiction. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2010. He also once ran for president of his native country, Peru. Politics and literature are the driving forces in his life.
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