In Connie Willis' world, historians can actually go to the past to study.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Audio
Brian Smith tells Jim about his family’s “Recycled Christmas.” None of the gifts could be new, and the only gift wrap allowed was old newspaper. He says that Christmas was one of his best ever.
Anne speaks with Claire Tomalin, Austen's biographer. They talk about Jane Austen and the contemporary fascination with her.
Jon Ronson's Dangerous Idea -- Can Too Much Christmas Drive Kids to Kill?
No matter what genre you’re writing for, adding a cello can increase the melancholy.
Jazz musician Ben Sidran talks with Jim Fleming about the tremendous influence Jewish immigrant composers and songwriters had on American popular music.
<p>Novelist, actor, screenwriter and playwright Ayad Akhtar talks about growing up in a Pakistani-American household in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.</p>
Music historian Henry Sapoznik tells the story of Blind Alfred Reed and one of the early American protest songs.
Pages
