Jazz pianist and cognitive scientist Vijay Iyer just won a MacArthur "genius" award. He's also landed a job at Harvard teaching music. He tells Anne Strainchamps how he incorporates science into his music.
Jazz pianist and cognitive scientist Vijay Iyer just won a MacArthur "genius" award. He's also landed a job at Harvard teaching music. He tells Anne Strainchamps how he incorporates science into his music.
When you talk about Japanese popular culture, there's one name that towers above all others. Literally. Godzilla. The giant green lizard recently became an official Japanese citizen. William Tsutsui knows all there is to know about this larger-than-life movie star; he's the author of "Godzilla on My Mind."
Writer Stephen Kuusisto is blind. He talks of what he remembers about visiting the seashore and a stable in Finland as a child.
Filmmakers Jon Betz and Taggart Siegel talk about their documentary "Queen of the Sun: What are the Bees Telling Us?"
Laura Van Den Berg has the kind of literary success writers dream of. Her debut novel comes out later this month, and already it's become one of the most anticipated books of the year. But for Laura, writing hasn't always been easy.
The process of data sonification is exactly what it sounds like: the translation of data points into various sounds, each with unique characteristics that can change over time. So instead of turning your spreadsheets into charts and graphs, they can now be turned into a kind of music. Matt Kenney demonstrates how it's done.
How do foods become trendy seemingly overnight? Journalist David Sax tracked the origins of a variety of food fads for his book, "The Tastemakers: Why We're Crazy For Cupcakes But Fed Up With Fondue."
Michelle Clay brings us a story that gives new meaning to the idea of locally sourced food.