Journalist Mark Pendergrast tells Steve Paulson that coffee came from Ethiopia, functioned as a patriotic symbol during the early days of the American Republic, and prolonged the slave trade in places like Brazil.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Audio
Noah Adams tells Jim Fleming that researching his book "Far Appalachia" let him learn about his own family’s origins in Kentucky.
We've got theme parks on the brain so we're revisiting Steve's conversation with Karen Russell re. her novel, "Swamplandia!," which is set in a gator wrestling theme park.
Patricia Person confesses she is a procrastinator in this audio essay.
Laurel Kendall is one of the curators of "Mythic Creatures," a blockbuster exhibition at the American Natural History Museum.
Rob Sheffield talks with Anne Strainchamps about his relationship with his late wife and how they communicated by exchanging mix tapes of their favorite music.
Journalist Peggy Orenstein tells Jim Fleming about the raw food movement. She explains why they think food should never be heated above 118 degrees.
Jeanne Safer and Richard Brookhiser would seem like an unlikely couple. She's a lifelong liberal, while he's a senior editor for the conservative National Review, and yet the two have been happily married for more than 35 years. They shared the secrets of a lasting marriage across party lines.
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