Classical pianist Leon Fleisher was sidelined for many years by a medical condition that crippled his right hand.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Audio
Jody Lewen is the executive director of the Prison University Project, a degree-granting program for the inmates at San Quentin State Prison in California. She's seen first hand the transformative power of knowledge and education and thinks the most important feature of higher education should be accessibility.
Nicholas Ostler talks to Jim Fleming about how languages spread and the similarities and differences between Chinese and English.
Susan Tom has adopted a dozen or so special needs children, plus has two of her own. Jonathan Karsh has made a film about her family called “My Flesh and Blood.”
Laura Hillenbrand tells Ann Strainchamps how the story of this ugly animal with a ferocious will to win reflects the history of the United States as it left the frontier behind.
John Nichols tells Jim Fleming that the new anti-terrorism laws are endangering civil liberties. He says Congress is depriving the country of the open policy discussion a democracy needs.
Robert Kurson talks about his new book, “Shadow Divers: The True Adventure of Two Americans Who Risked Everything to Solve One of the Last Mysteries of World War II.”
Julia Mickenberg tells Steve that some of the best known children's book writers were longtime political radicals.
Pages
