Alan Dale says laughing at slapstick is - at its heart - an expression of our sympathy with TV and film characters who get hurt. He says it's also relief that, for once, it's not us in pain.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
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Mary Karr's latest memoir is called "Lit" and chronicles her alcoholism and alcoholic family.
Novelist Jane Hamilton remembers her old piano teacher and their battles over practicing.
Writer and writing coach Natalie Goldberg tells Anne Strainchamps how two of the most important men in her life - her father and her Zen master – failed her.
Filmmaker Philip Groning talks with Anne Strainchamps about the six months of silence he filmed with the Carthusian monks of the Grand Chartreuse in the French Alps.
Cognitive researcher Douglas Hofstadter explains how gendered words and phrases — like using "guys" to refer to mixed company — can oftentimes reinforce sexist attitudes.
Pulitzer Prize winning novelist Michael Chabon has written both for adults and young readers. In a recent book of essays, "Manhood for Amateurs," Chabon tackles his own childhood.
Novelist Nicholson Baker tells Anne Strainchamps that e-readers have some advantages over the printed book, but the Kindle isn't his favorite.
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