Anne Strainchamps sat down with the great Turkish writer Elif Shafak. Her latest novel, “The Architect’s Apprentice,” is an epic tale set in the height of the Ottoman Empire. It has bloodshed. It was palace intrigue. It has romance. And, yes, it has architecture.
Shafak’s tale centers around a 16th century mosque architect named Mimar Sinan. Though a character in her novel, Sinan was also a real person – considered to be the greatest architect in the Islamic World.
Tom Lutz wrote "Doing Nothing: A History of Loafers, Loungers, Slackers, and Bums in America." He tells Steve Paulson it was his way of dealing with his teen-age son, who never left the couch.
Russell Stannard is professor of physics emeritus at Open University in London and the author of the Uncle Albert books – a series of books for children about physics.
Will Russell and Scott Shuffitt are the founders of "Lebowski Fest," an annual event that celebrates Joel and Ethan Coen's 1998 film, "The Big Lebowski."
Geneticist Steve Jones tells Jim Fleming that biologically men, who have a Y chromosome, are the second sex.
First Amendment lawyer Ron Collins talks with Steve Paulson about the renegade comedian and junkie Lenny Bruce who was repeatedly arrested for obscenity.
One of the many utopian groups that started during the late 19th century and early 20th century was the House of David—perhaps the first cult to become a pop culture sensation. Their compound in Benton Harbon, Michigan had an amusement park and a zoo; they had a baseball team that once played an exhibition game against Babe Ruth and the Yankees, and they had bands—highly regarded, touring bands. Here's Henry Sapoznik—the director of the Mayrent Institute for Yiddish Culture here at the University of Wisconsin—on the mythology and music of the House of David.
Sherman Alexie is a celebrated fiction writer who is also Spokane, and who has strong opinions about what it means to be a real Indian.
