If there’s one writer who’s identified with the Mississippi River, it’s Mark Twain. He grew up in Hannibal, Missouri — on the river’s edge — and as a young man, he worked as a steamboat pilot. And then he wrote the “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” the novel that turned the Mississippi into myth. But it also created one of the most enduring controversies in American literary history: how to depict race relations in America's past. In this interview, Andrew Levy says that "Huckleberry Finn" is actually anti-racist — and when it was first published, the big controversy was about Twain’s depiction of wild children.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
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In 2009, Eric Glatt did the unthinkable for an unpaid intern — he sued his employer, Fox Searchlight Pictures, alleging that they violated the Labor Department's standards for internships. He describes why he believes unpaid internships threaten workers everywhere.
Maurice Sendak's new book, “Brundibar” is a collaboration with playwright Tony Kushner. It’s a story about confronting evil, based on events from the Holocaust.
Jason Goodwin won the Edgar Award for "The Janissary Tree," his first novel featuring Yashim Togalu, a eunuch who lives in 19th century Istanbul. Yashim is back in "The Snake Stone."
Peggy Orenstein tells Jim Fleming about her ambivalence about having children, her difficulties becoming pregnant, and her adventures with fertility treatments.
For centuries, the oddities of nature - like two-headed cats and conjoined twins - fascinated people. Science historian Lorraine Daston says a history of wonders is to some degree a history of pre-modern science.
Jeremy Campbell tells Steve Paulson about the ways Mother Nature uses deception to fool predators, and talks about Bill Clinton and the balance of the public good and personal morality.
Rachel Brennan suffered severe brain trauma and has no short-term memory. Karen tells the story of her daughter’s long road to recovery in the memoir “Being with Rachel.”
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