The first stories in "Thousand and One Nights" were written down in the ninth century. They’ve been added to over the years. In some ways, it’s not so much a book as a living river of stories. Some of the most recent additions come from the celebrated novelist Salman Rushdie.
You can also hear many more interviews with Rushdie.
Peter Edelman says government policies can either help or hinder people on the road to economic stability. Edelman’s the longtime policy advisor who quit Bill Clinton’s administration when the President signed new welfare laws that – in Edelman’s opinion – destroyed the social safety net.
Imagine the government has sealed off part of Florida after people start dying there and strange new life forms pop up. Just what is happening in Area X? That's the premise of Jeff Vandermeer's mind-bending Southern Reach Trilogy.
Jesse Ball's new novel is called "How to Set a Fire and Why." The protagonist is a teenage girl who joins a secret Arson Club at her new school.
Steve Levin is the producer of a documentary film, "Jerabek," which follows the family of a young Marine killed in the ambush at ar-Ramadi on April 6, 2004.
Alena Graedon's debut novel is an intellectual thriller set in the near future. Print is dead, words have been monetized, and a "word flu" is running rampant. The book is called "The Word Exchange."
In the run-up to this show, many of you sent in your stories of wonder. Here they are, crafted into an eight-part soundscape with the voices of Michael Arnold, Cynthia Woodland, Caryl Owen, and Peter Sobol. Thanks for sharing your stories!
What's Nobel Prize-winning physicist Steven Weinberg's Dangerous Idea? How beauty leads to scientific discovery.
