Piers Vitebsky studies the Eveny or Reindeer People of Siberia. They keep herds of reindeer for meat, but also have personal, consecrated reindeer animal doubles, which they believe will die for them.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Audio
This week, we're remembering the British mystery writer P.D. James, who died recently at the age of 94. James wrote some of the most widely admired literary crime fiction of the last century, and was the creator of one of the most beloved fictional detectives, Scotland Yard investigator Adam Dalgliesh. Steve Paulson spoke with P.D. James about her life of writing crime fiction in 2000.
The Book of Revelation is the Bible's last - and most controversial - book. Renowned historian Elaine Pagels explains the enduring power of this apocalyptic story.
In 1776 there were no radios or telephones or honking cars, but there were other sounds. The church bell, the town crier, and women beating their laundry all had distinct sounds.
Novelists have always mined their own lives for inspiration. But no ever's gone quite as far as Karl Ove Knausgaard. People call him the Norwegian Proust. He recently came out with the sixth volume of his autobiographical novel, "My Struggle." What's remarkable about Knausgaard is not just that he's telling the story of his life as a novel. It's the incredible level of detail.
Laure-Anne Bosselaar talks with Jim Fleming about finding nature in the city. Bosselaar reads several poems from the poetry anthology she edited, “Urban Nature.”
Robert Mankoff and Roz Chast talk about what characterized New Yorker cartoons of the past, and how new cartoons are edited at the magazine.
Kevin Smokler tells Steve Paulson that the Internet is changing the world of letters but he thinks it’s progress. Smokler sees a welcome democratization of literature.
Pages
