James McBride won the National Book Award for "The Good Lord Bird," his novel about the abolitionist John Brown. He explains why he doesn't like most fictional portraits of slavery and how he tried to tell a different story.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
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The French satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo, was presented with a Freedom on Expression award from the PEN American Center this week. Six high-profile writers boycotted the awards ceremony at PEN's big annual gala. Hundreds more protested, while others gave the magazine's editors a standing ovation. The chariman of the PEN World Voices Festival is Colm Toibin, the celebrated Irish novelist. Toibin shares his thoughs on the controversy.
Jimi FlorCruz tells Steve Paulson that political events in the Philippines made it impossible for him to return from what was supposed to be a three week visit to China.
Mitchell Joaquim and the Terreform 1 team are looking for new, organic ways of building homes… and cities. He says part of the answer might be tree houses and… meat houses. Yes, you heard that right, MEAT houses.
Jonatha Brooke is a singer and songwriter who was invited by Woody Guthrie's daughter to visit her famous father's archives and use some of his unpublished material. The result is an album called "The Works."
So romance is about attraction, about intimacy, and sometimes about sex.
Sometimes, it's also about love.
So now for an even larger question: what the heck is love?
Psyhchologist Barbara Fredrickson's says love is more brief - and more available - than we think it is.
Nature writer Robert Finch gives Steve Paulson an insider's view of the ecosystem of the Cape Cod town of Wellfleet. They walk along the outskirts of Wellfleet, and visit shellfish growers Pat and Barbara Woodbury, who are raking for clams.
You can see photos from Cape Cod here.
Alex Abramovich recommends "Blues People: Negro Music in White America" by Leroi Jones, who later changed his name to Amiri Baraka.
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