James McBride won the National Book Award for "The Good Lord Bird," his novel about the abolitionist John Brown. He explains why he doesn't like most fictional portraits of slavery and how he tried to tell a different story.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Audio
Mike Greenberg is a self-described metrosexual who cares a lot about his appearance and lifestyle.
Jonatha Brooke is a singer and songwriter who was invited by Woody Guthrie's daughter to visit her famous father's archives and use some of his unpublished material. The result is an album called "The Works."
Many things can evoke a memory. Like a smell. Or a touch. When Mamek Khadem wanted to evoke the memory of her native Iran during the Islamic revolution in 1979, she did it with music.
Environmentalist Bill McKibben believes it's time for a new environmental paradigm: small and local.
When he was a young professor, philosopher Mark Rowlands adopted a wolf named Brenin, who turned into his constant companion. He reflects on the life lessons he learned from Brenin.
Alex Abramovich recommends "Blues People: Negro Music in White America" by Leroi Jones, who later changed his name to Amiri Baraka.
Gram Rabbit is a rock band whose members live in the Joshua Tree Desert. Their CD is called "Music to Start a Cult to."
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