Robert Wright tells Steve Paulson that the history of monotheism was shaped by the political events of the turbulent ancient Middle East and that Jesus was not a prophet of peace but a typical Jewish apocalyptic preacher obsessed with the approaching End Times.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Audio
Mark Brend tells Anne Strainchamps about odd inventions like the Ondes Martenot and how composers have used them.
Jessica Helfand tells Jim Fleming that people constructed unique personal narratives out of whatever materials were at hand, long before there was a scrapbooking business to help them.
Pearl S. Buck’s last novel, “ The Eternal Wonder” was discovered last year in a storage locker in Texas. Anne Strainchamps talked with her son and literary executor, Edgar Walsh, about his mother’s life and legacy and her difficult last years.
Richard Goldstein, executive editor of the Village Voice, is appalled by the rampant chauvinism of popular culture.
Steve Paulson presents a profile of the late writer Noel Perrin, best known for his essays on rural life.
Novelist Jane Hamilton remembers her old piano teacher and their battles over practicing.
Mary Karr's latest memoir is called "Lit" and chronicles her alcoholism and alcoholic family.
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