The Oxford English Dictionary was created in 1857, and was expected to be finished within ten years. The first edition was finally completed 71 years later.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Audio
Howard Axelrod was accidentally blinded in one eye in a freak accident when he was in college. Disoriented and depressed, he retreated to an off-the-grid cabin in the Vermont wilderness. He stayed there, alone, for 2 years. Now he's published a memoir about his period of renunciation, "The Point of Vanishing."
This book really got us excited. 12 x 36. 10 pounds. Everyone wanted to touch it. Borrow it. Talk about it. It felt like magic. And the title was just as mysterious – Codex Seraphinianus. Publisher Charles Mier tell us what the hell it is (and what is isn't).
Want to see the first 74 pages of the "world's weirdest book"?
Stephen Thompson is the founder of the A.V. Club, the arts section of the satirical newspaper, "The Onion," originally based in Madison, Wisconsin. Thompson eventually left Madison for Washington DC, to work at NPR as an editor and reviewer at NPR Music. In this interview, Thompson tells Steve Paulson about the forces that drew "The Onion" staff to New York, and what it means to be an artist in the Heartland.
Steven Hall’s debut novel is called “The Raw Shark Texts.” Hall reads from the books opening, and talks with Jim Fleming.
Karl Marlantes served in the Marines in Vietnam, so he knows first hand what it means to go to war. He talks with Jim Fleming about what we get right in training our soldiers, and what we get wrong when they come home. This is an uncut version of the interview.
Historian Susan J. Matt talks to Jim Fleming about her book, "Homesickness: An American History."
Thomas Moore is a psychologist and philosopher. He talks with Anne Strainchamps about the spiritual meaning of treasure hunting.
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