Mark Robert Rank tells Steve Paulson that American society is structured to accept a certain amount of poverty but that other capitalist societies have chosen to do things differently.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Audio
Earlier this year, the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet handed over the last of his political power, to a secular, Harvard-educated politician. Lobsang Sangay left his fellowship and family in the United States to take up his new post, and all of its challenges.
The music of avant-garde composer Philip Glass is distinct and memorable. His span reaches across opera and symphonies to film scores and popular music. One cannot exaggerate the influence this world-renowned composer has had on modern classic music. And now, at 78, Philip Glass has given us one more work to ponder: his memoir, called “Words Without Music.”
Katy Lederer is a poet who used to manage a hedge fund. Her latest book is "The Heaven-Sent Leaf." She reads from it and talks about her work with Anne Strainchamps.
John Updike is celebrated as a novelist but is also an essayist and art critic.
Historian Rebecca Spang tells Judith Strasser that "restaurant" originally meant a cup of broth and explains how it evolved into the culinary paradise we know today.
With the militant group ISIS threatning the stability of Iraq, we're thinking about sectarianism in the country. To get some context on the divide between Iraqi Sunnis, Shias and Kurds, we turn to David Rohde. He's a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and the author of Beyond War: Reimagining America's Role and Ambitions in a New Middle East.
Wisconsin Public Radio's Jim Fleming provides an essay about memory and his aging father.
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