You know that the first settlers called Manhattan "New Amsterdam"? But the Dutch didn't just bring their sailing prowess and placenames with them. Russell Shorto thinks that liberal Dutch ideas about politics and society came too, and shaped the New World.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
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Kendall Taylor is the author of the most complete account yet of the marriage of Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald. Taylor tells Steve Paulson that the marriage was volatile from the beginning.
Novelist Jonathan Carroll talks about his book “White Apples.” It’s the story of a man who finds out he’s already dead, and the afterlife is right here.
Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky are the celebrated husband and wife team who've translated many of the great Russian writers. They've just come out with a new version of Tolstoy's "War and Peace."
Can you fall in love with anyone? More than 20 years ago, psychologist Arthur Aron made two strangers fall in love in his laboratory. How? He asked them 36 questions. This year, Mandy Len Catron tried out the 36 questions with a guy she barely knew. Now they’re in love.
Judith Thurman tells Steve Paulson that Colette was a great writer who personified “the new woman” and led exactly the life she wanted, despite society’s outrage over her career choices and sexual behavior.
Former casting director Joanna Merlin talks with Jim Fleming about the auditioning process. Her book is “Auditioning: An Actor-Friendly Guide.”
So maybe you're not going to be the next Richard Pryor.
Even if you don't get many more laughs, you can laugh more. Katie West tells us how.
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