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.
In all this talk about the future, we should probably remember that the past repeats itself. Here's lauded Latin American author, Eduardo Galeano reading from his “Children of the Days.”
You can also listen to our extended conversation with him.
Ziauddin Sardar responds to the question "is there really a clash of civilizations?"
Steve Paulson reports on the state of Chinese literature today. He talks with Annie Wang, Nobel Prize Laureate Gao Xingjian and National Book Award winner Ha Jin.
Shakespeare expert Stephen Greenblatt says Shakespeare believed all rulers suffered from insomnia.
When is government surveillance appropriate? Shane Harris talks about the rise of American surveillance, cyber warfare and privacy.
Celebrated novelist T.C. Boyle talks about his latest book, "The Harder They Come," which explores the roots of violence in America.
One hundred years ago, Fritz Haber invented the first chemical weapon and convinced the German army to use it. His wife Clara, also a chemist, fiercely opposed her husband's project. When she couldn't stop it, she committed suicide. Judith Claire Mitchell tells the story in her tragic and yet funny novel "A Reunion of Ghosts."
